I am a fan of old-school books, but they can be expensive. One time, in an effort to save money on print books, I tried accessing e-books via an app which can crossover to multiple libraries. For my own reading appetite, it really is very good—I can just borrow and return the e-books whenever I am finished with them. However, this is not the case in our homeschool. Different senses are engaged whenever we hold a paperback or hardbound. (We love flip-flipping the paper and also tablets can get really uncomfortably hot when held for a longtime.) So lately I have been giving greater preference and going back to traditional print books. It is a good thing that e-books are not the only forms of learning technology. You can take advantage of technology in other ways in your own homeschool.
Using the Internet for Research
The most obvious usage is the internet. We *heart* the internet! In our home, if we do not know something, my child and I would automatically say “We should research!” and that means going into the internet (or accessing Siri if we are a bit…lazy). Kids love videos, and we learned a lot by watching YouTube. From science to history to art (and even news on Queen Elizabeth II), we think YouTube is one of the best inventions ever! But of course, as parents, we should protect our children from unhealthy information and marketing. So I always watch with my child and choose appropriate videos with him. We “Skip Ad” as necessary and avoid commercials when we can. Computer addiction is real, hence we have a limit on the number of videos to watch every day.
Television and Audio Books
But the internet is not the only source of videos. Television, cable, and DVD’s are also great sources. We have repeated seasons of our favorite science shows over and over again. And in relation to the e-book and print book argument, some people thrive on audio books. This is another wonderful way you can make technology work for you (and mom takes a rest from reading out loud once in a while).
Typing Scribed Assignments
Here is one of my most favorite ways we have been using technology in our homeschool. It is so simple, I have always wondered how come I have never thought of this before. My little boy is the most creative and imaginative person I know. But when it comes to creative writing, it seems that his gift of gab flows out the window.
I found a techie-solution and married it with inputs from other homeschool parents. A lot of wise parents highly recommend being the scribe of their child. If the assignment requires the student to produce any output (sentence or paragraph), he or she is encouraged to dictate it to the teacher, and the teacher writes or scribes it for the student! I found it works wonders! The child is not pressured with using the correct spelling and punctuation because for this specific writing assignment, we are focusing on learning how to write and the organization of it all.
Oh but I have not gotten into the fun part yet! Instead of using pen and paper, I type it all for him using a word processor! There is a different kind of joy and fascination of seeing your written work on the computer screen and printed on fresh paper—at least for us. He is more confident and excited to complete the writing assignment—“Let’s write a paragraph!” The longer the page count of his output, the better for him. And we get to look back at it again and again because I just compile them in one place.
I love technology! (We enjoy engaging Siri in a conversation, haha!) At first, I was so scared that I was raising a kid glued to the computer screen. (He truly enjoys watching videos online.) But then he himself voiced his strong preference for print books. Yup, we are definitely not fans of e-books. It really is about making technology work for you and not the other way around. Do not be guilty of using apps to make your homeschool life easier. I sometimes daydream of the pioneer lifestyle in Little House on the Prairie, but I used a reading app to help me teach my child to read. Raise your hands if you did the same, Momma!
What about in your family? How do you use technology in your homeschool? Do you have a tech hack for learning a specific subject?
Written by Katherine Tanyu
Aside from God, her family, homeschooling (and books!), Katherine's love lies in stationeries. She and her husband manage growing stationery brands ForestmillⓇ, PrevailedⓇ, and Boss StationeryⓇ in the Philippines [https://www.facebook.com/ForestmillPaper]. She is also the community moderator of a Facebook group for Office and School Supplies Wholesalers [https://www.facebook.com/groups/officeschoolsupplieswholesalers]. Katherine blogs at kmtanyu.wixsite.com/ThisKatWrites [https://kmtanyu.wixsite.com/thiskatwrites].
"Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it" (Proverbs 22:6).