Computer skills for kids

When she was just 11 years old, Jasmine Lawrence got upset when she put relaxer on her hair and almost all of it broke off.  So she concocted some natural hair oil and tested it. By the time she was 13, she was selling her stuff to her delighted friends. When she was 15, Oprah interviewed her. And her business took off. The experience was good for her; now she’s in college, with a good solid company supporting her.

How can we homeschoolers encourage our kids to consider entrepreneurship?

Starting small and early would be a good idea.  Perhaps your child would be interested in making baked goods, chocolate, or jewelry to sell at craft fairs, yard sales, or kids’ soccer practices. Or creating computer images for peers, such as avatars. Starting small is how Jasmine did it.

ttp://dreamerent.com/2009/11/interview-with-young-entrepreneur-jasmine-lawrence/

Jenny Peterson of Lillington, NC, and her 10-year-old son are working through my ebook teaching children to make a web page, Let’s Make a Web Page. Here’s what she had to say about it:

My son is only 10 and has been able to do almost everything on his own, so that is a testament to how well done your book is.  Thanks again!  Jenny

Shared with permission.

In case you didn’t see my last post, I wanted to contact you again before a FREE homeschool event takes place this week. It’s complimentary for you! And don’t miss the daily giveaways! Learn from the Homeschool Super Heroes!

My friend Kerry Beck is organizing this week’s Homeschool Super Heroes. Each day she will be offering interviews of real-life, experienced homeschoolers. In each interview, you’ll discover practical tips & tricks you can use THIS school year. I will be speaking on general homeschooling tips and computer tips on TUESDAY AFTERNOON.

You can listen to 10 veteran homeschool parents that will encourage you as you begin this new school year. Including me!

Check it out!
>> https://familyebiz.infusionsoft.com/go/hsh2011/phylliswn/e2

Warmly,

Phyllis Wheeler

Take advantage of this GREAT wisdom & advice!

P.S. – If you know other homeschool parents who would like to listen to these interviews, please email them, post it on your blog or share Homeschool Super Heroes Week on facebook & twitter.

Check it out now!
https://familyebiz.infusionsoft.com/go/hsh2011/phylliswn/e2

I’ve been wanting to offer a product that shows newbies how to make a blog website. Here’s why: regular blog entries bring your website to the attention of the search engines. That’s a very good thing. The higher your Google ranking, the more readers you’ll have, because your site will be easier to find. I’ve converted nearly all my websites to blogs!

I have struggled to write something like this myself, but the topic has been too huge for me. So I’ve kept my eye out for products offered by others who have more experience than I do in this.  I thought I found one two years ago, and asked the author for some modifications, but they never happened. She was too busy.

Finally the perfect thing crossed my inbox this week. It’s a set of videos from Steve Beck, homeschooling dad of three grown children. Steve is a businessman who went to seminary before turning to Internet marketing to support his family and his ministry. I have known Steve and Kerry Beck for six years now, during which they’ve succeeded at teaching Internet marketing to many people, and have managed a tidy income for themselves too.

These videos of his have an amazingly low price at the moment. I bought them and watched them. They are detailed and make good sense out of a complex topic.  He’s got a free intro video for you to watch, and you can get pointers just from that alone.

https://familyebiz.infusionsoft.com/go/mmfb/phyllisw/e1

If you’ve ever struggled to get something going online, this video may be your answer.

I hope this information is a blessing to you.

Phyllis Wheeler
Computer Lady from MotherboardBooks.com

https://familyebiz.infusionsoft.com/go/mmfb/phyllisw/e1

The Computer Lady from MotherboardBooks.com (that’s me) dispensed wisdom this month to the many thousand subscribers of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine’s online newsletter, Teacher’s Toolbox.

It’s a newsletter available only to subscribers of the magazine, so I can’t share the whole newsletter with you. But I CAN share my article. Here it is.

FIVE WAYS TO IMPLEMENT COMPUTERS IN YOUR HOMESCHOOL

Coursework: There are plenty of computer-based curriculums and online courses that may provide just the education your child needs in a particular subject. You can experiment to find out whether a particular child takes to it or not.

Research safety: The Internet is a marvelous tool, supplying answers to all kinds of questions. But how do you protect your children? I recommend:

• Put the computer in the same room where you are.
• Use a login password that only the adults know.
• Let younger kids use your email account.
• Use a good filter. Which one? My family is happy with Covenant Eyes, but there are plenty of others.

Fun collaboration: A little-known fact about the Internet is that students can use it to work together on projects, and they like doing this. Public schools have found that when kids collaborate in researching and writing a common online document, kids get interested in learning.

For instance, your kids could write a report about current events or snails or whatever and create an illustrated report with friends who live somewhere else. I’ve written an ebook about this, How Flat Is Your Homeschool World? It will tell you what the tools are. Best thing: the tools are free.

Learn by doing: Computers can help you address another lesser-known need in your homeschool. I’m sure you know that young children love to learn by doing. Kids love to act and explore, not just memorize. This is the teaching of educator Charlotte Mason, and many homeschooling families have picked up on it.

But can kids explore on the computer in a way that sharpens their minds? Yes! Through Logo, a computer language created just for kids as young as 8 at MIT.

Seymour Papert, Logo’s creator, said it’s one thing for a child to play a computer game. But “it’s another thing altogether for a child to build his or her own game. In building his own game, the child hypothesizes, explores, experiments, evaluates, and draws conclusions. In short, he learns.”

And for older kids: Reasoning challenges in programming can sharpen the brain for middle and high schoolers. And if there are creative elements, computer training becomes part of a great education for any student, not just the technically inclined. And my curriculums from MotherboardBooks.com have plenty of exercises to get creative juices flowing!

Phyllis Wheeler of MotherboardBooks.com wrote the award-winning computer enrichment curriculum, Computer Science Pure and Simple, beloved by thousands of homeschoolers. A writer and an engineer, she believes in creative exercises alongside logic challenges, exercising both halves of our brains.

Practical Homeschooling Magazine has announced the winners of its 2011 Reader Awards, and Computer Science Pure and Simple once again took first place!

Pure and Simple, Motherboard Books’ popular computer science curriculum, has been taking first place in this reader’s choice award in the computer science category since the category was created in 2010.

The curriculum teaches an array of computer skills, including programming and creating websites, along with using spreadsheets. It taps into the creative side of the student, making a fun experience.

An academic study published by the American Education Research Association found a significant improvement in creativity in students learning the Logo computer language.

The study, authored by Douglas H. Clements, tested 73 eight-year-olds before and after “treatment.” The treatment consisted of 25 weeks of 1. Logo computer programming; 2. non-Logo creativity lessons; and 3. no similar lessons, a control.

The results: “After 25 weeks of treatment, the Logo programming group had significantly higher scores than either of the other groups on the total assessment of figural creativity, and both the Logo and comparison group had significantly higher scores than the control group on verbal creativity.”

The Logo computer language was developed at MIT to teach reasoning to kids. It does a great job! Teachers know what a marvelous teaching tool Logo is. And now homeschoolers have the opportunity to use this for their kids! Logo Adventures, a MotherboardBooks.com curriculum, specifically sparks creativity and reasoning in kids aged 8 to 12.

ref: Am Educ Res J March 20, 1991 vol. 28 no. 1 173-187

Mel over at MamaBuzz, a review site, just evaluated a copy of Logo Adventures. She loved it!

“As a homeschooling mom, I search for programs and curriculum that are going to help my child down the road, and this is one program that deals with so many different aspects of education. From geometry to math to logic and reasoning skills, to computer science, this is something that has definitely given Jacob a thirst for more. He’s anxious to do more lessons and learn how to navigate his way around a computer. I also appreciate how the program has given him a chance to be creative.”

Take a look:  http://www.mamabzz.com/2010/07/motherboard-books-logo-adventures-ex.html

Jen, also affiliated with MamaBuzz, found it to be great too:

“My boys loved any excuse to “play” on the computer and they learned plenty.  What I appreciated the most was the way the program challenged them to develop their reasoning skills.”

http://whitetrashmama.blogspot.com/2010/06/geek-heaven.html

The Wall Street Journal raised this question in an article June 5:  Does the Internet make you smarter or dumber?

Arguing smarter was Clay Shirky, who points out that those who think the newest thing will make you stupid have been saying that since Gutenberg’s printing press went to work.  What’s happening now is that some of the time we used to spend watching TV is being spent in more creative ways on the Internet, he suggests.

Arguing dumber was Nicholas Carr. Carr argues that the constant distractions and interruptions are turning us into shallow thinkers.  Research shows that people reading text studded with links comprehend less than those reading traditional text.  People watching multimedia presentations remember less than those taking information in using more focus and time. Those juggling many tasks are less creative and productive than those who do one thing at a time. And so on.

How much can you divide your attention and still get positive results? That’s an interesting question that probably is different for each individual. I can tell you that for me, I need to not divide my attention much at all, or I get nothing done.  Even when I think I am accomplishing something, it’s certainly easy to cruise around the Internet looking up stuff and not remember what I “learned” later.

How can we as homeschooling parents guide and guard our kids on this?  I think it’s pretty clear we need to get them to work on one school project at a time, for starters. We can patrol their work areas to make sure they aren’t wasting time while supposedly doing a research project. We can demand creative output, and we can be wary of letting them goof around.  Good Internet habits will include working on one project at a time!

Two door prize winners from my talk at TOS’s Online Expo have been selected and received their free copies of Let’s Make a Web Page.  They are M.Z. and T.W.  Congratulations!