When I was a little girl, I remember checking a book out of the library many times over with a title of something like, Life in the Year “2010”. I was fascinated by all of the modern advances described in the book that were yet to come in the future, maybe in my lifetime. One of the things that stood out to me was an illustration and description of “school at home” through the computer. It explained how the student wouldn’t even have to leave their home to go to school. It could all be done right from a home computer. At that time, a home computer was practically unheard of. Little did I know that someday I would be using not only a computer but many other technological advances to educate my own children at home.
This week’s Blog Cruise Question is, “Do you use technology in your homeschool?” And I will answer that with a BIG YES. We love technology in our home. It is a modern way of life, and although there are some days when I enjoy being out and leaving it all behind…it does help to make homeschooling a little bit more easy and fun at times too. So, what are some ways that we use technology?
- Computers – We make good use of our home computers by using interactive curriculum like Download N Go and Amanda Bennett Unit Studies, The Wanna Be Series from TOS, and many others with clickable links. There are also Educational Power Point Presentations and videos on the web that we occasionally use in our studies. The Princess enjoys writing, and has really taken advantage of the word processing software on the kids’ computer to compose a play she is working on. She has also started her own blog, but because of her age, it is private so that only her and I can view it. The reason I like using the computer at home and in the homeschool, is that it teaches children how to find information, and keep up with modern technology. The are very good at navigating their way around a computer screen, and this will be helpful to them someday when they are adults. They might be wondering about a certain topic, like volcanoes or hurricanes, and they can easily search and find information on the web and learn as they go. I do have parental controls (I use Windows Life Family Safety) installed on their computers, as well as home sharing active so that I can monitor anything and everything that is done online.
- iPod Touch – Big D got me an iPod Touch for Christmas last year, and I absolutely love it! I’ve also used it in my homeschool to download educational and helpful apps to use in our homeschool. Some of my favorite iPod Touch apps to use in our homeschool are:
- Olive Tree Bible Reader – a quick and easy way to look up a verse or find a scripture reading for the day
- iHomeEducator Apps – I’ve reviewed some here at THD. Great fun with math!
- Words with Friends – a game that has helped build spelling and vocabulary
- Chess with Friends – a great game of strategy
- WordJong – another fun word game
- BookMyne – an easy way to search our library’s catalog
- Wikipedia – an iPod Touch/iPhone version of the web app
- Horses – an app that quizzes you on different horse breeds
- iBooks – a way to read books as well as PDFs on the iPod Touch
- iTranslate – translate many languages with this app, a lot of fun!
- Dictionary – a thesaurus is included too, this one is real handy.
- Digital Camera – I have a digital camera that I let The Princess use when she was working on her Digital Photography Unit Study. Miss M also has her own that she got for Christmas last year that can be used as well.
- DVDs and Educational Channels –
- The History Channel
- Animal Planet
- National Geographic Channel
- Science Channel
- Discovery and Discovery Kids
- The Weather Channel Specials
- CDs - We have also learned Bible Verses by listening to the Sing the Word Great in Counsel and Mighty In Deed CD and Science by listening to Lyrical Life Science, and many more.
- GPS – More recently we bought a GPS, which was mainly to keep me from getting lost everywhere I go, (okay, no giggling at that one!) but it can also be used to try out Geocaching, a scavenger hunt of sorts!
Do you use technology in your homeschool? And, if yes, what do you use? Or would like to use? I’m sure as the years go on, I’ll find plenty more technology to add to our homeschool day!
Be sure to stop by The TOS Blog Cruise to read how my Crewmates are using technology in their homeschools by clicking on the button at the top of this post!
Jodi
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