Using the Internet With My Children

Thursday, June 10, 2010

This is a guest post by Jennica Smalls

I am entering a new phase in my life--or should I say my daughter is entering a new phase in her life. Either way she is starting kindergarten in the fall. Very soon, we will be buying school supplies and lunchboxes and backpacks and school clothes. This is so weird to me.

As we are about to enter this stage in life, I suddenly realized that she needs to know some school skills since she didn't go to preschool. I don't believe she needed to go, but readying her for school might not be a bad thing. So this summer, I decided that I am going to take time with her on some educational internet sites using our hughesnet Michigan internet service.

She already enjoys watching videos on hulu and youtube. She enjoys playing games on AddictingGames.com and tells me to send messages to people on facebook. Through blogging with hughes internet, she has enjoyed getting to know other people and wants to visit them!

I have a very computer savvy little girl, but I think the time has come for me to actually help her to learn some basic skills. So this summer we will visit pbskids.org and other educational websites. I can be pretty protective about the internet even with our hughes internet service. However, I have decided that it can be a great tool as well in teaching basic knowledge.

Does Television Rot Your Brain?

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Some people are against having their children watch television because they don't want them wasting their time. Others say that there are too many inappropriate shows, and they don't want their kids being exposed to such things.

There is a lot of trash out there, but there are also plenty of good, family-oriented programs. We home school our children (which is another subject), and they've learned a lot about animals from Animal Planet, and found ideas for science projects from the National Geographic channel.

We do need to take responsibility for what our children watch, and if you take the time to look, you will find quality shows that help children realize that other kids are dealing with the same issues they are, and they may even learn a lesson from the program without having to learn it the hard way.

Spending too much time in front of the tv isn't good for anyone, regardless of age. We do need to get out and enjoy the fresh air, get some exercise, and do something productive. But, who says that watching television has to be a time for mindlessly staring at the screen? Sometimes, my favorite time of day is snuggling up with my kids and watching a movie that we can all enjoy together!