B is for Blogging...Using Blogging as Writing Assignments

Sample of Gabriel's Gmod comic.

I enjoy blogging.  

It is liberating.  

It is creative.  

It is fun.  

It is very useful.

I see so many uses to blogging.  I think bloggers are able to speak on their platform and/or what they believe.  Bloggers can encourage others with regard to a given topic, like activism or education.  I love that blogging can help one make new friends and network.  I also believe that blogging can help homeschooling.

That's why I encouraged my two oldest to blog.  I allowed my teens to create their blogs.  They picked their templates and style.  They chose the font type and what the blog would be called.  I wanted them to stretch those creativity cells in their brains.

I was curious to see what my teens did with their blogs.  

I wanted to link up with the two blogs.  Through www.blogger.com our blogs can easily link up.  I was able to use gmail within Google. I liked that I was able to do that.  I visited their websites and "followed" them through "Google Friend Connect." 

Now, I know you must be wondering: Why did she ask her teens to create a blog?  Yes, I wanted my children to be creative.  I wanted them to write.  That's the most important aspect.  I also wanted to encourage them to work on their art.

With a blog, Gabriel and Iris can showcase their artwork.  Iris works on her comics.  Gabriel works on his GMod comic, too.  With the blog, they can track their progress. They can also share their interests.

PC Game Favorites--Gabriel's blog

I think Gabriel has really embraced his blog to share about his favorite games.  He has listed the games he likes under two categories of Wii and PC titles.  He has also explained about his GMod comics in one blog entry.  I love the playfulness he added to the entry.  I am very proud of him for his work at PC Game Favorites.

Pop Anime Manga Blog--Iris' blog

Iris is a little more shy.  I have read her blog, Pop Anime Manga Blog.  You can sense her sassiness through her words.  Yes, she is like that, in real life.  She is more self-conscious about her artwork, but to me, it is awesome!

I look forward to reading more blog entries from my wonderful teens.  I can say Gabriel is already seeing he can improve.  The blogging is causing him to realize what needs editing.  That is very encouraging.  I have had a tough time getting him to write but figured correctly that he would enjoy writing about his favorite games.

How about you, my readers?  Would you encourage your teens to blog?  It could be a terrific opportunity for your teens to flex their creativity muscles.  You can also see the progress of writing.  After all, to improve writing, one must practice it. 

Thanks for reading this entry.

May God bless you all with His wisdom and peace.

This has been an entry for Technology Tuesdays. 

Homeschooling & National Poetry Month

Rafael enjoyed creating poetry.

It is a wonderful coincidence.  My son is working on poetry for his 5th grade work.  April is poetry month.  I love poetry.  Oh, I just love it when things come together!

I am a mother who loves to direct-teach her children...

when the subject fascinates me.  

Poetry is one of my most favorite subjects.  Wednesday, my son, Rafael, entered my room. I was engrossed in my laptop.  When I heard that he needed help, I stopped what I was doing.  My excitement arose when I saw what he needed help with.

Here's my 5th grade poem.

My passion for poetry began in elementary.  I entered a poetry contest.  I didn't win, but that was the first time that I was exposed to that new type of writing.  I enjoyed rhyming words.  It was a wonderful challenge to create a message but with sentences ending with rhyming words.

I realized later in high school that I didn't always have to rhyme.  I could create poems (or messages) with a minimum of words.  I could remove the articles like the word "the."  I could also use strong adjectives and verbs to more deliciously describe a scene.  I relished that new information.

Here's a poem I wrote in high school to explain a turning point (when I was 7 years-old) in my life:

A Funeral

Shockwaves, unrevivable

Nosy spectators inevitably come forward

My daddy--fallen.

Black garments

Silent shrills

Formal music

Stenchless body in open gray casket.

Luxurious gray limousine

Green canopy

American flag

Bugles' last call

Folded flag.

Do you feel the sadness?  I still do.  I can't believe I wrote that, much less experienced it.  I still get misty-eyed reading it.  It's as though another person, besides me, wrote that poem.

Now, not all poetry will evoke such anguish.  Some are funny.  Some are perhaps never to be understood.  Some are long.  Some are short.

Here is a funny poem by M.T Buckley that I still remember from high school:

Birthday

Geronimo.
I jumped into the world
No parachute. Bootless,
falling into enemy territory
into the night (had my eyes closed).
Didn't take them long to find me
These suicide missions are all the same
Name? Not yet. Unit? 82nd Newborn, ha ha
Slapped me around a bit
but I didn't talk
Made sure I wouldn't escape
Sentenced me to life. I guess I deserved it. 

Well, I think I've given you some background of poetry's impact in my life.  Of course, this is just a teaser.  I have so much more poetry I'd love to share.  We still have more days to this month left...Perhaps I should share some more of my poetry?

Let's get back to my son.  I gave him a little lecture and some instructions.  I told him that the types of poems he would be creating did not have to be wordy.  In fact, the directions in the workbook only gave him a few syllables per line to work with.  That was an interesting challenge.

Here is what he came up with:

Haiku poetry created by Rafael.

Yes, he's talking about our dog.

Here is the other poem:

Lantern poetry created by Rafael.

Yes, he talked about dogs, again.

Did I forget to mention that this is my hyper child?  If he were in public school, he's the one that would be put on drugs.  You can see that his hand-writing skills are not perfect.  Yet, he was able to construct this poem with his own words at his own pace.  Since I am homeschooling him, Rafael is thriving in his education.

Well, how about you, my readers?  Do you love poetry?  Do you write poetry?  Are you instilling that love of poetry onto the kids in your life?  I hope you will take advantage of National Poetry Month (April).  It's the perfect time to discuss poems with poetry lovers

God bless you all with His peace and wisdom, in Jesus' name.  Amen!

This has been an entry for Family Fun Fridays. 

Breaking the Rules for the Sake of Art

My five-year old was coloring instead of sleeping.

A few evenings ago, I walked into the girl's room.  I was expecting to see my youngest in bed.  You know--head in the pillow and blanket up to the chin.  No.  That's not what I found.

Instead, I found her coloring.  I had seen her earlier in the evening grabbing some scratch paper.  I thought she was getting it for her big sister.  My kids are nice like that with each other.  The paper had really been for herself, though.

Kaelyn proudly shows me the drawing.

I saw the box of colors right next to her.  She was coloring away.  She looked so lovely.  How could I get after her?  She was being creative.

See, that's my problem: 

If I see Albert Einstein in my home, I let him be.

What do I mean by that, you ask?  I mean that I like it when my kids get lost in time like mad scientists.  I know.  I must be a bad mother to so many of you.  I just see the value in a little bit of breaking the rules.

Sometimes, my kids get so engrossed in what they are doing, that nothing else matters.  Even if they stay up a little late, they still get to sleep in.  Hey!  They are HOMESCHOOLED!  Art is a subject, after all.

Kaelyn drew her favorite panda bear.

How about you, my readers?  Do you ever catch your kids breaking the rules?  Do you sometimes let them get away with it?  I don't recommend allowing kids to lose sleep.  I just hope you give the kids in your life a chance to do something off schedule at times.

May God bless you all with His wisdom and peace.

This has been an entry for Thorough Thursdays.  Hope you liked it.

Iris' Wacom Tablet

Iris uses her tablet to create Manga.

Iris is loving her tablet.  She now has the Manga Studio software to accompany the tablet.  She has already been working on some of her pictures.  This tablet came with a pen to draw.  It can replace the mouse.

Wacom Bamboo Pen & Touch

Here is a picture of the box that the tablet came inside.  It shows that the thinness of the tablet.  There is one downfall.  My daughter says the pen's point might wear out.  Other than that, she has been enjoying her tablet.  The pen, which is used on the tablet, allows her to either draw and/or paint her pictures.

This is the back of the box for the tablet.

The tablet allows for manipulation of images.

The personal touch allows the user to personalize documents.  The empowerment touch allows the user to draw quick sketches when necessary.  The enhancements allow a user to create invitations and scrapbooks.  It is flexible with different operating systems.  Finally, even the fingers can be used to manipulate pictures.

Iris drew this picture by hand.

Iris draws a picture like the one above.  She can draw it by hand.  She can draw it with the tablet.  In this case she can scan the hand drawn picture into the computer.  Then, she can save the picture into a USB drive stick.

One of Iris' pictures is finished.

From the USB drive, she usually downloads the plain picture onto her Netbook.  Iris painted the above picture using the tablet and the Manga software.  The picture began as a black and white image.  She posted it in her Netbook onto a paint application (which acts as the easel) as a GIMP image.  With the pen, she added the colors (much more quickly and with more precision) as she desired.

Iris drew this picture in 2008.

Iris has come a long way since 2008.  

About three years ago, I asked her to draw this picture for a unit study ( I created) on how to spend money wisely.  Her pictures back then were simplistic.  This picture shows that she had a flair for showing emotion in her characters.  I think she has improved oodles and can't wait to see what is up ahead in her artistic career.  I'm so happy we have supplied her with the tools she wanted.

How about you, my readers?  Would you supply your little artist with material goods necessary for his/her possible future career?  Would you supply him/her the verbal praise needed to boost the self-esteem?  I hope you will consider providing all that you can to foster the possibilities in your child's life.

This has been an entry for Technology Tuesdays series.  I hope you have enjoyed it.

For some background, you can look at this past entry: Homeschooling Using a Netbook to Write