I say this blog is for them because I am trying to do things with them and for them to enhance their learning skills with computer stuff and communication with others. I just started so things are in those beginning stages. I began with opening an email account just for this purpose. I sent an invitation to all of the parents first and let them know what I was doing. The parents then agreed to it and got their kids involved in reading the emails that I began sending.
One thing that I do with email is I send out a thought for the day. This actually goes to the kids ans to their parents. I do not really know how they are receiving it (meaning, I don't know if they really care at this time about what I am saying) but it gives me a little chance to express how I feel about things and to give my point of view of things. It is a simple thought and I always try to have a little learning message with it. Hopefully, family members will be inspired by it a little and we can all try to improve our outlook on life's situations. If nothing else, it is a little thought journal for me. They can discard it and I will never know!
The blog is geared more towards the kids. I began with a picture and asked them to try to guess what it was. This was the picture:
It seemed easy to me because it is something all of them had seen and some quite often. I was surprised that few really knew what it was. I offered camp points (which I will explain in a minute) for guessing. Later I posted the full picture -
This is a picture of my dog Lucky. The white spot was from the top of her head.
I have also posted riddles and other fun things. I am encouraging the kids to post things also. One grandson posted a poem. Many of the grand kids (I have 24 1/2) are talking about things they want to post. They can earn camp points (as the name of my blog is Camp Maw Paw) for things they submit and answers they give to my riddles and pictures. These camp points can eventually earn them a little spending money. (100 points can be cashed in for $5,00). Who doesn't want to earn money?
What this blog is doing for them is teaching them some things about using email, using the Internet, writing stories and poems, planning activities, and using their minds to figure out riddles. They are learning how to take pictures and process them through the computer (download to a file, adjust the picture quality, and email it to me). It also enhances their reading skills. Most of all, it gives me some special time with the grand kids even when I can't be right there with them.
Having this blog for the grand kids is a win win situation. I love it because it gives me time to think about ways to connect with them and I hope it gives them something fun and clean to do on the Internet. It also helps all of us to be a little closer as a family. We are always mentioning the grand kid's names and giving praises and such. Hopefully this will be a special memory in their lives about something they did with their grandma.
