Blogging and Typing

I have grown to like blogging after almost three months at it.

My main reason for blogging was to have a digital record of our homeschool days. Previously, I was recording, with the help of a program called Homeschool Tracker, the material I used and the time we spent on each activity. The program was great and I felt good for a while. But on looking back at the records I have collected thus far, they just seem pretty meaningless to me.

In blogging, however, I get to record what we learn, read about, and what our experiences and thoughts were. In other words, at the end of the day, I get a personal journal of the highlights of my homeschool days. These things are what I want to remember my homeschool days by; not a list of numbers. What's more? Blogging also allows me to share my ideas and resources with other like-minded homeschoolers.

Looks like I will be at it for quite a while more :-)

It then occurred to me that perhaps my children would also enjoy blogging as much as I have. They have seen me blogged. And there were times when I will tell them my plans about what I intend to blog about. They must have caught some of my excitement because they subsequently asked me if they could have their own blogs too!

I was more than willing to help them start one. So far, it has all turned out very well.

My beginner writers now write because they WANT to, and not because mummy said they HAVE to. They even have their own ideas about what topics they want to post. I respect their views of course.

I must admit that I have used blogging as a carrot to motivate them to write. My boys have been used to giving oral narrations after our read aloud sessions. I am starting them out with written narrations. Resistance was great at first. Now, I tell them they can post their written narrations on their blogs and that had been received with great cheer.

The other advantage to blogging is that my boys are now motivated to learn to type the proper way. I have previously started them on a series of typing lessons. But at that time, there wasn't a real need for them to type fast. They were happy typing with their pointers. They weren't interested in completing the lessons. Now that they are blogging, they WANT to learn to type. In fact, they picked up typing (using an online program) in just ONE WEEK!

It is amazing what a difference intrinsic motivation makes to the ease of learning.

So, if you have wee ones at home struggling to write or type, start them blogging!


Visit Rumphius English Webpage to find out more about how we approach English in our homeschool.