Smrt Lernins

I’ve signed up to participate in National Blog Posting Month (see the little dealy in the side bar on the right?), so I now have absolutely nothing to write about, naturally. I suppose it seems reasonable to blog about blogging in general as an official kickoff off NaBloPoMo (not a portmanteau of my own devising, I assure you).

Since I seldom write about My Life Prior to Homeschooling™ here, I’m sure I haven’t mentioned that I used to be a part of a NCLB-funded grant program, run through the journalism department of my local university, that involved teaching middle and high school teachers how to blog and integrate blogging into their classrooms. My job was to actually teach the teachers how to set up their blogs and give suggestions as to how they could use them. I helped set up student blogs. I encouraged developing a blogging community between teachers, both interschool and intraschool. Unfortunately, most of the teachers were unwilling to exert the kind of effort needed to use the blog effectively, and the project tended to fizzle out by the end of each school year, leaving us to start from scratch with the next year’s batch of teachers. After two years of this, I decided not to re-up as a contractor with the program.

During that time, however, I did develop a huge appreciate for the role blogging could play in education, both for teachers and for students. Now that I am homeschooling, I find blogging to be a useful tool in several ways, as an outlet for emotion, a mean of recording experiences, a networking opportunity, and on down the line.

So, why should homeschoolers blog? Here are some ways that blogging may be helpful to you as a homeschooler:

Record Keeping — If you’re anything like me, keeping track of paper records is something of a challenge. I really have more of a failing system than a filing system. With three kids, mentally tracking what we’ve covered and when is also on the taxing side. I overcome both these challenges through weekly curriculum updates in my blog. Each week, I detail what was covered and how it went, so that later on, if it’s ever called into question or I need to refer back to it, I can look through my Weekly Reviewins category. It’s easy to look at progression through subject areas, the speed at which we covered curricula, and the areas in which Captain Science excelled or struggle. It’s also a handy way to track whether things like changes of weather, schedule, or other day-to-day minutiae created any sort of noticeable behavior pattern that I might use to alter when and how I teach.

Assessing Curricula — Writing about curricula isn’t just helpful for other homeschoolers, who might be interested in your input and experiences, but is also an effective way to explore your responses to the curricula you’re using. Sometimes, writing about curricula helps you spot issues or patterns that aren’t immediately obvious. I was reading back through old post and noticed that I had mentioned several times how clunky and tedious the IEW Ancient History-theme writing curriculum seemed, and several concerns about Biblical references. In any individual sitting, I was willing to take the blame for inadequately understanding and appreciating the curriculum, but when I saw the pattern, I realize the issue was actually curricular incompatibility. Sometimes, just writing about my issues with a curriculum helps me clarify my thoughts about it or understand portions that were troubling or confusing me. Writing a post in praise of a curriculum helps me better understand what qualities work in curricula work best for us, so that I can seek those out in the future.

Compiling Resources — Blogs provide a great place for keeping track of resources like website, books, and destinations. Because you’re sharing the information contextually, you’re helping avoid the questions of “Now why did I write this web adddress down? Did I jot down this book to buy it or avoid it?” You can also create a great resource list for others in your philosophical or physical area, who might be encouraged to create their own, providing even more opportunities for you!

Social Dialoguing — Blogging is a way of connecting with other homeschoolers, both as individuals and as a community. Even if your posts aren’t a direct address to another person or the community at large, blogging is a social dialogue. Every blog post is the start of a conversation, though your readers won’t always take you up on that every time. You are opening your experience and opinions up for commentary, sometimes positive and sometimes negative, and inviting outside participation in your educational choices. Through comments, readers can share their own experiences (which may be similar to yours or very different), offer advice, and yes, sometimes offer criticism. Sure, no one likes to hear that some think you’re “doin’ it wrong,” but don’t delete those disagreeing comments out of hand. Use them as a way to explain your position, clarify a statement, or correct a misunderstanding — this is just another part of the social dialogue. You (or your critic) may learn something vital about homeschooling or yourselves. You may even change a mind about an important issue.

Networking/Community Building — Many of us interact with other homeschoolers on forums, but those are largely impersonal places, where only a portion of our personalities and experiences come out. They can tend towards the cliquish. In our own blogs, however, we can express other aspects of our homeschooling lives and invite people with similar interests (or who simply find us interesting) to come learn more about us and our methods. For people like me, secular classical homeschoolers, stumbling upon someone with similar goals and ideals is like an online goldmine! Take advantage of weekly update posts and posting signatures on forums, because they often include links to the commenter’s own homeschool blogs. If you like what that commenter has to say, check out his/her blog. If you like what you read there, comment and let him/her know and consider adding the blog to your own Blogroll, favorites list, or links. Check in with your Blogroll often, as your comments will remind them to come read your posts. Building an online community or support network takes effort and nurturing, but the benefits are many. You’ll have people to turn to with curriculum questions, recommendation, or venting.

Saving Your Sanity — Speaking of venting, blogging your homeschooling adventures may be the best way to blow off steam at the end of a trying day. Rant and rave, laugh at yourself, retell the situation in excruciating (and hilarious) detail, and you’ll find that you feel much better about it. It will allay the fear that you’re failing your children, because that community you’re cultivating will be there to assure you that they’ve screwed up just as badly without permanently damaging their kids. It will give you a place to unload the embarrassment and anger that your child’s behavior (or even yours) might have caused you, because once it’s on the screen, it’s suddenly less of a burden on your mind. People can SEE it; it’s not something you have to hide or repress. They know what you did or what your kids did…and they are reading you and still like you anyway. Of course, it can be easier to talk about your shameful failures regarding scheduling and your child’s hellacious tantrums in the Dollar Spot at Target if you, like me, use pseudonyms for everyone, so perhaps this is an argument for adding the sweet spice of anonymity to your blogging ventures as well.

Keeping Your Brain From Turning to Jell-O — Forcing yourself to blog has another useful benefit for the water-logged (or mother-logged) brain of the homeschooler; using your mind keeps it sharp. You’re making yourself think, keeping your language skills honed, and getting the added satisfaction of sharing your words with others. Even if you aren’t a literary genius, you can be a published author every time you hit that “post” (or “publish”) button. Practice will make blogging easier, because the more you work your brain, the stronger it will become. Blogging encourages you to seek out new information, too. You’ll start looking for other blogs to read, pages that will make great links, subjects that need you to write about them. Blogging can be a part of turning you into a lifelong learner, and isn’t that something in and of itself worth blogging about?

These are just a few suggestions of ways to use your blog as a tool to help make your homeschooling experience better. I’m sure you can think of many more. How do you use your homeschooling blog?