Homeschool students create blogs for all sorts of reasons. Some keep track of current events; some write their own news stories; some use blogs to publish fiction or poetry. For as many reasons people have found to write and publish, there are that many types of blogs. Here are a few ideas for creative ways to incorporate blogging into a homeschool curriculum.
Homeschool Blogs Can Include Personal Narratives
Most students have fun relating stories from their daily experiences. Additionally, writing personal narratives is a skill addressed in almost every set of writing standards from Kindergarten through middle school.
Homeschool Blogs Can Include Summaries of Learning
Writing summaries of what the student learns each day is another great idea for a homeschoolers blog. People tend to remember less than 10% of what they hear in a lecture or get from a text. To write a summary requires the student to dissect the information and recreate it in a new form. This process of making connection to learning and taking ownership of the knowledge seems to be essential to memory. As the old proverb says, “To teach is to twice learn.”
Homeschoolers Blog About Current Events
Blogs are a great place to gather and comment on current events. Students can review major news sites and collect photos, videos, and sound bites. These artefacts can easily be inserted on a blog site, to which homeschoolers can add maps, opinions, analysis, critical review, and calls for action.
Homeschool Blogs Can Include Essay Writing
Parents can give students topics for essays. Essay prompts can be found through a search engine at sites like Collegeboard.com and sat-essay.net.
Students can even use the blog to practice writing timed essays. Not only is the SAT essay a difficult hurdle for most high school students, the initial college application almost entirely depends on how well a student can write a thoughtful essay. Homeschoolers can make use of their blogs to practice and get feedback.
Homeschool Blogs Can Center Around Persuasive Arguments
Homeschoolers can use their blogs to write persuasive arguments. The persuasive texts can be sent to the appropriate recipients (state representatives, businesses, etc.), but they can also be collected on a blog.
Homeschool Blogs for Creative Writing
Homeschoolers can keep a creative and humorous blog from another perspective. They might choose any point of view from a pet hamster to a 17th century explorer.
Homeschool Blogs Connect Learners
Many homeschoolers use their blogs to read and comment on other blogs from around the world. It is fairly common for a blogger to respond to comments left on his or her own site. One idea is to keep a blog that maps a student’s thoughts about the blogs he reads.
Parents can check out related articles covering how to start a free homeschool blog, how to help students craft polished blog entries, and more fun ways of incorporating technology into the homeschool curriculum such as wikis and audio or video podcasts.
