Recently I decided to hand over my homeschool blog {Joyful Homeschool} to my 9-year old daughter. I wasn’t utilizing it as much as I thought I would and she has shown interest in wanting to blog. There are several reasons I have allowed her through this door:
- She is just like me. She enjoys writing and needs a creative outlet in which to do it. As soon as she was given a blog, she grabbed a journal and began jotting down ideas on what she could write about. It’s inspires her to write down what she’s learning and develop her own thoughts in a fresh way. I have been impressed with the flow of ideas coming out of her.
- We live in a technologically advanced world. I have been keeping her from this technology long enough. It’s time to face the facts that technology is a large part of life and without fully knowing what the future holds, it might be a good idea if she knew a thing or two about using computers {other than using the mouse for games}.
- It allows others to comment on her own thoughts and work as well as enables her to engage with others her age, including a close friend of hers who moved away.
Blogging is a neat hobby that she and I can do together and has actually deepened and strengthened our connection as we share this common interest.
I also chose to allow her this privilege because I want her to know I value her interests. What she likes is important to me and rather than simply tell her, I want to show her.
Some rules we follow:
- My daughter is assigned a topic Monday thru Thursday and on Fridays she may choose her own topic. She does not post on the weekends. All posts are read and approved by me before going live.
- All schoolwork must be completed before any blogging takes place.
- The blog is monitored by me and only accessed by me. At this time, I open the draft post and she writes. I’m sitting with her the whole time. Excessive? Nah, I don’t have any parental controls set up yet.
- All comments are monitored by me as each one comes to my email inbox.
My goal isn’t necessarily to shelter her, but to protect her. The Internet is a dangerous place for children if left unmonitored. But I do want her to see that God has good coming out of all this technology as well, and He uses it for His glory, too.
My daughter is such a blue print of myself, it’s sometimes unbelievable. In fact, she is such a copy of me that at times we clash as a result. It should come as no surprise that she would be interested in blogging–as I myself have found such a creative outlet through it.
Do you have a child who blogs, even if only for family to view?
Christin is a mother and homeschooler of five. You can find her writing at Joyful Mothering and tweeting as ChristinWrites.
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I have recently allowed my daughter to have a ‘popular’ networking account fibbing the date of birth a little. I monitor everything and sit with her while she writes to people. This has been a fun adventure because friends that she had when we lived in another state can send their updates and pictures to her and she just lights up. Family that is scattered hither and yon can send her jokes or respond to her random sillies and daily fun. She’s always been the social type and I feel like there is an education to be had in writing letters to friends and family and learning to move around on the computer.
Have fun!!
what an awesome idea. My 9 year old is a writer and just made a blog re: texas regions for a school project. She loved it. I am trying to begin homeschooling again and my blog is often neglected…I may assign her a day and see how it goes!
thanks!
I don’t have my girls (ages 9 and 10) blogging yet, but I decided about a year ago that I will set that up for them in the next couple of years – for all the same reasons you are doing it. :^)
Blogging, assuming you are doing it safely, is such a great idea for students. It’s a great outlet for students who love to write, but I think it’s also a good way to encourage less enthusiastic writers to see that writing has relevance… and an audience. Blogging helps them feel like their writing matters.
That’s a really neat idea. I have been thinking about setting up a blog to document our homeschool journey and having a page setup for my daughter. If you don’t mind, what type of assignments do you assign your daughter?