Jump to content

Menu

Kid interested in RADIO? Help!


Recommended Posts

Does anyone know of any books or websites that I can use to help guide my son in his interest in radio? I do not care what it is. He is not an easy nut to crack, and has few interests....so now since he wants to go into radio (interesting choice, sweetie) I want to give him some materials to look at.

 

TIA! :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not sure, but maybe you can call your local radio station and ask if they would let him come in for a tour and to chat with them etc at some point, and maybe while you're there, you can ask them for ideas as to resources you might use to further encourage his interest.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Would he be interested in starting his own podcast?

 

This might be the direction I am going in. I have no idea how to do this, though.

 

He is taking a FREE radio production class at the end of the month, and I know people at a few stations around here... so I suppose if I think about it, I am on the right track already. He might be interested in ham radio, I will ask. He has already built an awesome crystal radio. He's not too into the mechanics, it's the production.

 

He loves Prairie Home Companion, Wait, Wait don't tell me...and old radio shows. His weekends revolve around the local public radio schedule. :confused:

 

As far as the retro part goes, it would figure as we are an old technology house. ;)

 

I wish there was a book like this "Hey Kid! Everything you ever wanted to know about radio!"

Edited by radiobrain
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This might be the direction I am going in. I have no idea how to do this, though.

 

He is taking a FREE radio production class at the end of the month, and I know people at a few stations around here... so I suppose if I think about it, I am on the right track already. He might be interested in ham radio, I will ask. He has already built an awesome crystal radio. He's not too into the mechanics, it's the production.

 

He loves Prairie Home Companion, Wait, Wait don't tell me...and old radio shows. His weekends revolve around the local public radio schedule. :confused:

 

As far as the retro part goes, it would figure as we are an old technology house. ;)

 

I wish there was a book like this "Hey Kid! Everything you ever wanted to know about radio!"

 

What if your family volunteered to staff a phone bank during the next local public radio pledge drive? That might give him a chance to meet local staff who do local shows.

 

Try to think about what those shows have as component parts. Speech, storytelling (Jim Weiss did a great workshop on storytelling at the Cincinnati Convention; he may have podcasts on his website), interviewing, extemporaneous speaking (think of how the hosts of those shows play off of guests or callers). Poetry Out Loud might be a good experience in reciting pieces in front of an audience in a compelling way.

 

Could he do a radio adaptation of a favorite story? Either a children's story (like Rabbit Ears Radio) or a longer book (think of the BBC readings of a book in a week or two).

 

Or what about something like the shows that focus on a particular place's sounds?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am :bigear: because my 9 year old has the same interest! I was a bit floored when he began to talk and ask about radio, especially about broadcasting. I haven't had any good ideas YET but I have asked around a bit and my community has a ham radio club so I plan to see if he can go to one of their meetings. I heard that only adults can participate in ham radio but I'm hoping someone will talk to him and tell him about what they do, maybe show him their equipment and how it works.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You may also want to look into college radio if you have something local. When I was involved we sometimes let kids from the high school help with shows in the summer and the station was also part of the summer youth program.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This might be the direction I am going in. I have no idea how to do this, though.

 

He is taking a FREE radio production class at the end of the month, and I know people at a few stations around here... so I suppose if I think about it, I am on the right track already. He might be interested in ham radio, I will ask. He has already built an awesome crystal radio. He's not too into the mechanics, it's the production.

 

He loves Prairie Home Companion, Wait, Wait don't tell me...and old radio shows. His weekends revolve around the local public radio schedule. :confused:

 

As far as the retro part goes, it would figure as we are an old technology house. ;)

 

I wish there was a book like this "Hey Kid! Everything you ever wanted to know about radio!"

 

My husband used to work in radio and he says:

 

Download Audacity for free, but Adobe Audition is better. Get a cheap microphone to plug into your computer. Record your podcast, and edit it in the software that you have. You can edit it, add music, whatever you want. Then choose a podcast service. Some are free; some are not. There is some design work ther. Usually you can just pick a template and fill out the information like a blog, basically. And you'll be able to start uploading. Try to link it so as many things as you can, and you'll start getting listeners.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My dad is a HAM radio operator and worked in radio before moving TV many eons ago. His entire career was spent in broadcast engineering, the guy behind the scenes on your local TV channel. I used to go to work with him at least once a year. It was way cool, way back before the digital age.

 

I would also add a TV station tour to your list. He could still get an idea of what happens behind the scenes. You could ask to sit in on a news broadcast, ask if you could sit in the control room. As I kid I thought it was just as cool as watching NASA's control room on TV.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...