Today I am going to share a little bit about technology in the classroom – the homeschool classroom that is. I think this is an area where some of us fall down – just a little. Have no fear – I will offer you a little insight as to how you might want to be guiding your children in this area. It’s not unusual, I know, for many kids to be much more tech savvy than their parents, so yes – they probably know how to access the iTunes store and can download a movie on the tablet faster than you can say jack rabbit.
BUT how good are they are using Microsoft Word? Do they know how to create a folder on the computer where all the pictures for the science project they are collecting can be kept? Or have you experienced that moment when you open the pictures file on your computer so as to choose a picture of the baby’s baptism to send to the grandparents only to find hundreds of selfies of the 13 yr old and thirty photos of the disappearing Bengal tiger your 11 year old is studying mixed in with the baptism photos….
What about PowerPoint – do you children know how to create a PowerPoint presentation? (For that matter do you?) Ok – so we have established that there is a good possibility that some basic technological expertise might be missing from your homeschooling endeavors; so what do you do?
A good place to start would be to search for your state’s educational standards for technology. For North Carolina they can be found here. When you open it there are quite a few links on the page so I took a screenshot of the section you want to explore. It looks like this:
You can open up the grade appropriate description as a PDF or a word document. And yes – it is a little intimidating when you first look at it. Just take a deep breath and relax. Once you have scanned it over a bit you will begin to recognize a lot of what they are listing there and possibly realize you already do a lot of this already. (BTW – if you don’t want to go through the bother of determining what your state’s curriculum technology standards are, just use the ones I have linked to as they will be pretty much the same across the country. You’re welcome!)
I realize that exploring these lists of technological expertise your child should have by graduation can be anxiety inducing. I am going to start you off with a simple list that you can use to jump start teaching technology to your homeschooler.
As I hinted above, your adolescent child, despite knowing how to operate your cell phone better than you, is quite likely lacking in some basic computer skills so here is the promised list you can use to take inventory of their skills (or lack of).
Are your students are already proficient in the basic skills of:
- How to locate the document files and picture files on your computer.
- How to create a folder and name it.
- Learn how to save a document or picture in the folder of your choice.
- Know to pay attention when saving a photo or document from a search so as to direct it to a specific folder as to avoid it getting lost within the downloads or a folder you did not realize was open.
- Know where the download file is for when the above happens.
- How to search for files on the computer you are using.
- How to transfer documents and photos from one folder to another and/or to a memory stick.
- How to write an essay with an office word document (or similar program), name it, and save it to the folder of your choice.
Once you are convinced your student/s know how to do all of this, you are ready for the next challenge – a PowerPoint presentation.
I know how to use PowerPoint because I am married to the guy who teaches technology at our local school and we both worked for six months creating a PowerPoint presentation about safety on the internet a few years ago. (I’m lying – it was almost a decade ago but moving right along…)
If, like many people, you have never created a PowerPoint presentation you can go here to view the internet’s free version of PowerPoint for dummies online.
Or you can buy a copy of the actual PowerPoint for Dummies. (I have never read this book so I cannot vouch for how easy it is to read and or to follow their instructions but they offer you a free sample if you want to check it out) I have glanced at the free 27 slide PowerPoint presentation on PowerPoint linked above and it’s fairly complete and should give you enough confidence to create a small power point yourself before getting your kids to do one on let’s say – the history of your state, your family, or the even the baby’s baptism. Creating a PowerPoint presentation can and should be fun. This year my youngest four students are creating their own presentations and we will be inviting guests for coffee and treats to enjoy while each child presents their provincial projects ala PowerPoint.
Hopefully this post has stimulated your imaginations and built your confidence in your ability to introduce technology to your home school experience. If you are already experiencing success in this area please share in the comments section what you have incorporated in your schooling, as well as any resources you have found online to help with this. For example have you found free typing classes online or instructional site or videos about different technology skills you have introduced to your children.
Last but not least – be sure to teach your children about internet safety and if you don’t already have one – create an internet safety contract that you and your children can sign and agree to abide by. Here are some sites where you can brush up on internet safety:
Netsmartz and safekids.com and here is a good example of an internet safety contract for your younger children and here is one for your teen. Don’t feel restricted by these samples those though. We have actually had our older children write their own contracts after discussing what we need to do to stay safe online.
(photo credits: kid with laptop was taken from a post about setting technology rules for kids)
the menu given to her by the waitress. She had asked the kids ‘who can read’ and Alicia excitedly put her hand up and proudly took one of the menus. I watched carefully because I had not been convinced the school had, in reality, imparted any reading skills to her. They just had the kids memorize and memorize all year long – convincing the kids they could read… I suppose a few connected the dots – but how many more are experiencing that moment when they are handed a bunch of words that they have not yet encountered and don’t have the phonetic skills to break them down and ACTUALLY read. My heart broke when Alicia’s expression of delight to be a big girl and read a menu like her big sister clouded over as she perused the menu and the realization of “I can’t read this” dawned on her. I had a lump in my throat when she handed the menu back to the waitress and mumbled “Never mind – I can’t read.” I can’t wait to start teaching her phonetics – as scared as I am with the enormity of it all. But I succeeded with Caroline – I can do it again. Next time she gets offered a menu she won’t be cheated of that moment of pride and victory!
me. She thinks with five very young kids I should be able to get a few weeks worth of home help paid for through OHIP. That would be great – I still have not completely unpacked from the move here last summer. Being on bed rest most of Elizabeth’s pregnancy kind of made it impossible to get the house completely unpacked and organized.
discussion with his teacher and she agreed with my suspicion – my son was coming home and pummeling his younger brother most likely as a result of the aggression he was seeing on the play ground. She readily agreed five year old kindergarten was not a prerequisite for grade one and he could as easily learn his numbers and letters with me at home. Little did we know then that it would be another ten years before he stepped foot inside another brick and mortar place of learning. For his other siblings – most would never enter a “real” school room until they left home for college, while a couple got to sample of public school life for one year while they attended a Montessori Charter school.
th a huge bloody nose and THAT’S what you tell her? Then Thursday I had to call a taxi because the school called again and I still had Caroline home recuperating from the getting smashed in the face. This time Alicia had fallen from the monkey bars … they think. She might have lost consciousness … they think, but are not sure. Apparently the teachers on lunch duty didn’t even notice Alicia lying on the ground until some of her classmates went to get one of them to help her. I was livid when I found her barely able to sit up straight in the chair outside the principal’s office. (It was interesting trying to fit all five children and myself into the taxi!) Now here’s the good news!!! When I met with the principal to tell her that my girls would not be returning the rest of the school year and I didn’t think they would be back in the fall, she didn’t even bat an eye. She just nodded when I said they would be joining the Mary Immaculate School. She knows full well that’s our small homeschool that the mums in the area have set up. When I told Marie about it she laughed and said – ‘they’re probably afraid of you suing them. I bet you don’t even get a call or letter from the school board.’ I guess that’s the silver lining to my poor girls getting hurt so badly at school. Well, it’s too quiet downstairs – I better go see what the kids are up to!
Welcome back for part two of the