?? about blogs

[PeacefulChaos]

Ok, so it seems like almost every homeschooling parent on the planet has a blog. (Not literallly...you know what I mean :D )

I've had a blog in the past, before homeschooling, and deleted it because I just found that I didn't really have much to write about. It seemed like a waste of time. But now I'm considering doing one again, since we're homeschooling.

I'm just kind of wondering, for those of you who have blogs, what made you decide to start one?? What do you tend to write about? TIA.

:lurk5:

[Bang!Zoom!]

Are you talking about a general blog with family life, personal hobbies & interests or one that concentrates specifically on homeschooling as your experience?

[ChrissySC]

I have two. One is mostly an extension of my postings here. A place where I say ... hey I wrote that here. Other things, I just sound off about, not to the good or the bad really, but sometimes just a dissenting opinion.

 

As for the other, it is techie stuff. I will discuss solid state media this week. :) LOL Last week it was the good and bad of Lion - good for non-techie user btw and bad for the geek. I share neat sites and tools from the "cloud" as well.

 

Does that help?

[PeacefulChaos]

I have two. One is mostly an extension of my postings here. A place where I say ... hey I wrote that here. Other things, I just sound off about, not to the good or the bad really, but sometimes just a dissenting opinion.

 

As for the other, it is techie stuff. I will discuss solid state media this week. :) LOL Last week it was the good and bad of Lion - good for non-techie user btw and bad for the geek. I share neat sites and tools from the "cloud" as well.

Does that help?

 

:lol: I don't have the slightest idea what that says... :lol: (my husband is the tech guy in our house.)

 

I'm thinking something that is basically about homeschooling, but a little of everything, at the same time...idk, something like that... :)

[Heidi]

I decided to start one because I have no one in IRL to tell all my homeschooling thoughts to. :sad: It puts my husband straight to sleep. I didn't want to combine our family blog with the homeschooling stuff because I know a lot of people really could care less about me changing my mind on history once again.

 

And I have friends and family that are either considering homeschooling in the future or just like to know what we are doing, so I let them know through my blog.

[ClassicMom]

I started one this year because:

 

1. as someone mentioned, I'm tired of talking to myself ;)

2. we are embarking on a new time of our lives since all of the older children have now graduated and/or are out of the house. It's a special time with me and the youngest one.

3. I felt that I had something to share after so many years of homeschooling and homeschooling with special needs children

4. I feel like I need to keep my brain active. Thinking about what I am going to write to someone that I don't know has been good for the old brain.

[Farrar]

I do it in part so I don't literally talk everyone's ears off.

 

Also, as I write about things, sometimes I figure them out for myself - where I stand, what I really think.

[KrissiK]

My blog is like a journal of my life. One of my girlfriends told me I quit scrapbooking and started blogging. I enjoy writing and it's just something to exercise my creativity, I guess.

[Wheres Toto]

I blog as a record of what we are doing, a journal about my kid's lives and a way to let my MIL know what we are doing without actually having to talk to her.

[Daisy]

My blog is mostly for out-of-state family who wants to know what we are up to, but I post all kinds of stuff on it.

[Mommy2BeautifulGirls]

My homeschooling blog just covers our homeschooling stuff. I'm currently working on writing reviews of the different curricula that we use. I also like to document milestones and share pictures of things like the girls' work and extracurricular activities. I also share our organizational ideas.

[Mommy2BeautifulGirls]

Last week it was the good and bad of Lion - good for non-techie user btw and bad for the geek. I share neat sites and tools from the "cloud" as well.

 

Does that help?

 

I'm having trouble getting Lion onto my computer. Hubby has to look into it some more.

[Hen]

I started my blog as a way to share with family what we are doing, what homeschooling is really like, neat things the kids do- turns out they don't read it. I found along the way that I love to write, love the whole process, that I don't have very many people in real life to talk to, and that people find information on homeschooling at my blog. It's a hobby I enjoy, at least for now. I kind of feel like an ambassador for homeschooling, and I make some friends.

[Pamela H in Texas]

I just wanted to. I don't really have a ton of traffic though I had more when it was in my signature here and on another board. I temporarily removed it for a specific personal reason. It's edu fun mom dot word press dot com You are welcome to check it out and see what all I write about (and don't for that matter).

 

I'm hoping to add a post tomorrow about our picture schedules if I ever manage to get them done!

[MamaJo]

I started a blog but for a slightly different reason as I don't blog about kid or school stuff. On another forum I belong to I used to do movie reviews. For years folks would tell me I was good at it and that I should start a blog. Eventually I listened and for the most part it has been fun.

[GailV]

I started my blog as a way to share with family what we are doing, what homeschooling is really like, neat things the kids do- turns out they don't read it. I found along the way that I love to write, love the whole process, that I don't have very many people in real life to talk to, and that people find information on homeschooling at my blog. It's a hobby I enjoy, at least for now. I kind of feel like an ambassador for homeschooling, and I make some friends.

 

Ditto, except I don't think people find information about homeschooling on my blog. Most people seem to wander onto my blog looking for info about Girl Scout badges or Irish Dance competitions.

[phathui5]

I write about homeschooling, birth, pregnancy, food, freebies, breastfeeding and baby stuff.

 

I use my blog to advertise my doula services online, offer information to people that I think is important, keep family and friends back in Baltimore up to date about our lives and our homeschooling.

 

It's also a hobby for me. I enjoy reading other moms' blogs, getting a picture of their lives.

[MamaJo]

Ditto, except I don't think people find information about homeschooling on my blog. Most people seem to wander onto my blog looking for info about Girl Scout badges or Irish Dance competitions.

 

 

Wow. I lead Girl Scouts and my co-leader's dd is also into Irish Dance. What a fun little coincidence.

[GailV]

Wow. I lead Girl Scouts and my co-leader's dd is also into Irish Dance. What a fun little coincidence.

 

For a minute there I thought you lived in the south city of St. Louis, because that exactly describes someone else I know -- I got to know her via our blogs.

 

Once upon a time dd and I were planning to figure out a Council's Own badge about Irish Dance because both activities are so popular around here. Then the entire Journeys thing came along, our council dropped the Council's Own, etc. and we gave up on it.

 

Okay, thread highjack over. Back to your regularly scheduled discussion.

[Hen]

Ditto, except I don't think people find information about homeschooling on my blog. Most people seem to wander onto my blog looking for info about Girl Scout badges or Irish Dance competitions.

 

cool! My oldest is in Irish Dance, but we are kind of new and don't know what we are doing. we are kind of hobby-Irish dance people- as in the thought of paying for a solo dress seems crazy to me...we told dd if she wants one, she will probably have to get a job and earn the money for it...

[GailV]

cool! My oldest is in Irish Dance, but we are kind of new and don't know what we are doing. we are kind of hobby-Irish dance people- as in the thought of paying for a solo dress seems crazy to me...we told dd if she wants one, she will probably have to get a job and earn the money for it...

 

Hey, our dds are the same age. And have I got a deal for you on a dress! :lol:

 

We're now former Irish Dance people. The kids didn't compete this summer, and decided to officially drop out this fall. The dress thing IS crazy. So are the wigs. And the tanner. But it seems like most of our friends are still in, so pretend I didn't say any of that.

[MamaJo]

For a minute there I thought you lived in the south city of St. Louis, because that exactly describes someone else I know -- I got to know her via our blogs.

 

Once upon a time dd and I were planning to figure out a Council's Own badge about Irish Dance because both activities are so popular around here. Then the entire Journeys thing came along, our council dropped the Council's Own, etc. and we gave up on it.

 

Okay, thread highjack over. Back to your regularly scheduled discussion.

 

 

I have mixed feelings about the Journeys.

[----]

.

Edited September 14, 2014 by amana

[Susan in the Boonies]

Ok, so it seems like almost every homeschooling parent on the planet has a blog. (Not literallly...you know what I mean :D )

I've had a blog in the past, before homeschooling, and deleted it because I just found that I didn't really have much to write about. It seemed like a waste of time. But now I'm considering doing one again, since we're homeschooling.

I'm just kind of wondering, for those of you who have blogs, what made you decide to start one?? What do you tend to write about? TIA.

:lurk5:

Food, faith, and fun.

 

I started writing it because I enjoy writing. I have a lot of fun with it, and am encouraged by the number of folks who follow it. It's growing, so I feel like I"m on the right track. My next goal is to work on an ebook project.

[Satori]

I have always needed a way to organize, express, and share things I'm passionate about, and blogs have been that outlet ever since I was on bedrest with my daughter.

 

I started this homeschooling blog before I even told my husband and family that I wanted to homeschool (back when she was just 4). Everyone loved seeing her learn so much that it was a success! I now use it to document our progress, share with others, organize my thoughts, and so much more.

[Diana B]

I have a blog for a couple reasons. One is just keep some of our memories and pictures in one place. I don't update it often enough, but I like the idea.

 

The other reason is as a way to interact with other bloggers. Sometimes I'll take part in carnivals or weekly memes to share our experiences. I don't do it often and don't have a huge regular readership, but I enjoy it.

[Hen]

Hey, our dds are the same age. And have I got a deal for you on a dress! :lol:

 

We're now former Irish Dance people. The kids didn't compete this summer, and decided to officially drop out this fall. The dress thing IS crazy. So are the wigs. And the tanner. But it seems like most of our friends are still in, so pretend I didn't say any of that.

 

so, details on the dress? ...I'm listening...:bigear:

[Lily_Grace]

I started my blog mostly to keep family informed. We live pretty far away from them so having a place they can go and see what we're up to keeps us in touch. It sort of evolved into my anything and everything blog - I write whatever I want to tell about, from the mundane, everyday bits to the family vacations we go on.

I figure when we leave here I'll get a printout of how we spent these years and keep it as a souvenir of our time here. :)

[Mommy2BeautifulGirls]

I started my blog as a way to share with family what we are doing, what homeschooling is really like, neat things the kids do- turns out they don't read it. I found along the way that I love to write, love the whole process, that I don't have very many people in real life to talk to, and that people find information on homeschooling at my blog. It's a hobby I enjoy, at least for now. I kind of feel like an ambassador for homeschooling, and I make some friends.

 

Does your blog host site allow you to email people automatically whenever you do an update? My family likes getting the posts in their email rather than having to remember to physically go to the site.

[Susan in the Boonies]

 

I have mixed feelings about the Journeys.

I do, too, by the way...

[cajunrose]

I have a blog that started out as homeschool and ended up being more about life itself. I print it into a book once a year and it's basically our family scrapbook. So now, I blog not for others to read, but for our family 'history'. I love doing it. I have very few readers and that suits me just fine.

[MamaJo]

I have a blog for a couple reasons. One is just keep some of our memories and pictures in one place. I don't update it often enough, but I like the idea.

 

The other reason is as a way to interact with other bloggers. Sometimes I'll take part in carnivals or weekly memes to share our experiences. I don't do it often and don't have a huge regular readership, but I enjoy it.

 

 

Can you explain carnivals and weekly memes to me. I am not familiar with them.

[NanceXToo]

I wanted mine to chronicle our experience from the beginning of going about the process of pulling my daughter out of public school, why I did it, what I hoped for from it, what it was like actually beginning to homeschool as a new homeschooler and so on.

 

I continued by recording our daily lives and activities as homeschoolers thinking it would be fun to look back on and have as a keep sake (I even had the first school year printed into a book already), a good way for interested family and friends to see what we were up to, and eventually maybe a source of help for other homeschoolers, especially new ones.

 

Each entry will be about what we did that day, with pics, sometimes with links or instructions on how to do a particular craft or some such. But I've also added a bunch of things to it, all linked on the sidebar to the left- articles I've written, curriculum reviews I've written, examples of necessary paperwork for my state, useful forms, favorite links, homeschooling quotes, a long list of books featuring homeschooled characters, and more.

 

(Also, I just really like to write, and this is a good outlet for me). :)

[momma aimee]

I started ours because so much of our family (and dearest freinds) are a long distance. better than e-mail and photos all the time.

 

I blog a lot, not just school, i blog our day at the creek and so on -- or my random thoughts.

 

DH takes each of my blog entries and converts them to PDF and saves them, i plan to print them as soon as i have a new printer and have them bound by year to put up for the boys.

 

I think DH thought i was just kinda silly at first, but he let me do it, now he loooove it. he sends different entries to professional contacts or buddies. he calls his aunt and others to make sure they see a certain one (like after taking the boys to the creek or something).

 

he said to me once "think of this for the boys in 20 or 30 years, they do not just have a baby book [note their baby books SUCK] they have a jounral of almost every day of their life, the milestones and the normal"

 

That is all the motivation i need.

 

so ours is a family blog, and school is part of our life.

[momma aimee]

I wanted mine to chronicle our experience from the beginning of going about the process of pulling my daughter out of public school, why I did it, what I hoped for from it, what it was like actually beginning to homeschool as a new homeschooler and so on.

 

I continued by recording our daily lives and activities as homeschoolers thinking it would be fun to look back on and have as a keep sake (I even had the first school year printed into a book already), a good way for interested family and friends to see what we were up to, and eventually maybe a source of help for other homeschoolers, especially new ones.

 

Each entry will be about what we did that day, with pics, sometimes with links or instructions on how to do a particular craft or some such. But I've also added a bunch of things to it, all linked on the sidebar to the left- articles I've written, curriculum reviews I've written, examples of necessary paperwork for my state, useful forms, favorite links, homeschooling quotes, a long list of books featuring homeschooled characters, and more.

 

(Also, I just really like to write, and this is a good outlet for me). :)

:iagree:

[MamaJo]

My homeschooling blog just covers our homeschooling stuff. I'm currently working on writing reviews of the different curricula that we use. I also like to document milestones and share pictures of things like the girls' work and extracurricular activities. I also share our organizational ideas.

 

 

I keep trying to look at your blog and the link is taking me to some sort of page that is not yours.

[missmoe]

I orginally started mine to link up to the weekly wrapups. It helped me to be accountable to someone else. I was more likely to get to those extras (hands-on things) because they were neat to photograph and share. It has evolved into a blog that I share my experience with others.

[laughing lioness]

I started a blog for political/religious reasons ;). We have some relatives that feel very comfortable stating their religious/political views as facts and being very condescending/intolerant of our families choices/views, thought they spout religious/political tolerance from the roof-tops.

 

I started a blog to be clear about what I/we believed. I started out hoping that the fore-mentioned relatives would not read it but, turns out, they both did (one died) evey day. I post tons of pics for relatives and lots of commentary ;). I think the blog has actually gone a long way to helping certain relatives really see that we take education seriously and we are not "dropping out" of society/ "giving up" on America, etc (all statement made to us because we homeschool).

 

I also wanted practice writing, a place to keep track of all that we were doing - both homeschooling, reading and writing.

Not far into it I wanted to do reviews and have done quite a bit of that (getting books/ curriculum along the way).

[Diana B]

Can you explain carnivals and weekly memes to me. I am not familiar with them.

 

There are a variety of different ways to do it, but the basic idea is that everyone posts their own posts on a certain subject and then they all get linked back together. Usually you would write your post and then fill out a form that includes your link so others can come read what you've written. It's a great way to find blogs to read and get people to read your blogs. And if you participate in the same ones all the time - it creates a community of bloggers.

 

For example, I've got one friend who does LEGO Creation Thursday. So every Thursday, my son gets to show off one of his creations (it hasn't been happening over the summer). She's trying to get it more popular, but right now it's only about 1/2 dzn ladies sharing their kid's creations. (This one is fun because as I go through the other people's posts, I have my son there to look at them too and then we comment on them together.)

 

Another one that has been happening right now is the 'Not Back to School Blog Hop' over at Heat of the Matter. This week, it's Picture week. Everyone is sharing their children's 'back to school' pictures.

 

Some others that I've participated in our Read-Aloud Wednesdays, Instagram Fridays. Even the weekly reporters or Wordless Wednesdays that get threads here are similar. There are also some that have you answer specific questions each week - like 'Homeschool Mother's Journal'.

 

Let me know if you have any more questions. I've only told you about a few homeschooling ones. There are many, depending on what kind of content you are going to have. Another popular one is Menu Monday at orgjunkie.com. And a lot of the healthy living/food blogs I follow have weekly linkups and occasionally specific recipe carnivals.

[MamaJo]

I guess you never know what will be the popular posts. I had a post series about educational movies you can find on Netflix by subject that still drives traffic to my site. Too bad Netflix turned me down through Google Affiliates. :glare:

 

 

That stinks!

[MamaJo]

There are a variety of different ways to do it, but the basic idea is that everyone posts their own posts on a certain subject and then they all get linked back together. Usually you would write your post and then fill out a form that includes your link so others can come read what you've written. It's a great way to find blogs to read and get people to read your blogs. And if you participate in the same ones all the time - it creates a community of bloggers.

 

For example, I've got one friend who does LEGO Creation Thursday. So every Thursday, my son gets to show off one of his creations (it hasn't been happening over the summer). She's trying to get it more popular, but right now it's only about 1/2 dzn ladies sharing their kid's creations. (This one is fun because as I go through the other people's posts, I have my son there to look at them too and then we comment on them together.)

 

Another one that has been happening right now is the 'Not Back to School Blog Hop' over at Heat of the Matter. This week, it's Picture week. Everyone is sharing their children's 'back to school' pictures.

 

Some others that I've participated in our Read-Aloud Wednesdays, Instagram Fridays. Even the weekly reporters or Wordless Wednesdays that get threads here are similar. There are also some that have you answer specific questions each week - like 'Homeschool Mother's Journal'.

 

Let me know if you have any more questions. I've only told you about a few homeschooling ones. There are many, depending on what kind of content you are going to have. Another popular one is Menu Monday at orgjunkie.com. And a lot of the healthy living/food blogs I follow have weekly linkups and occasionally specific recipe carnivals.

 

I had no idea! Thanks.

[momma aimee]

I started our family's blog for several reasons

 

1.) It serves as kind of a record of the fun things we've done through the years.

 

2.) We have a very large extended family and I hate telling the same story over and over again. If I put it in one spot, family members can read it at their leisure and stay as informed as they wish.

 

3.) Dh's eyes will glaze over if I start talking about school, but he sure appreciates reading/seeing the highlights.

 

eta: My blog is split between family stuff and homeschooling.

 

Dh doesn;'t tell me -- but he sends the blog entrys to people to brag about the kids (and the stuff i for them)

[momma aimee]

There are a variety of different ways to do it, but the basic idea is that everyone posts their own posts on a certain subject and then they all get linked back together. Usually you would write your post and then fill out a form that includes your link so others can come read what you've written. It's a great way to find blogs to read and get people to read your blogs. And if you participate in the same ones all the time - it creates a community of bloggers.

 

For example, I've got one friend who does LEGO Creation Thursday. So every Thursday, my son gets to show off one of his creations (it hasn't been happening over the summer). She's trying to get it more popular, but right now it's only about 1/2 dzn ladies sharing their kid's creations. (This one is fun because as I go through the other people's posts, I have my son there to look at them too and then we comment on them together.)

 

Another one that has been happening right now is the 'Not Back to School Blog Hop' over at Heat of the Matter. This week, it's Picture week. Everyone is sharing their children's 'back to school' pictures.

 

Some others that I've participated in our Read-Aloud Wednesdays, Instagram Fridays. Even the weekly reporters or Wordless Wednesdays that get threads here are similar. There are also some that have you answer specific questions each week - like 'Homeschool Mother's Journal'.

 

Let me know if you have any more questions. I've only told you about a few homeschooling ones. There are many, depending on what kind of content you are going to have. Another popular one is Menu Monday at orgjunkie.com. And a lot of the healthy living/food blogs I follow have weekly linkups and occasionally specific recipe carnivals.

 

anyone jnow how to join the wed read - a - loud, sounds like something I'l like.

[Diana B]

The Read Aloud Wednesday/Thursday is over at Hope is the Word. She does her read aloud review on Wednesday and then you can leave a comment with your review. Then on Thursday, she posts everyone's into one post.

[ChrissySC]

Dh is dying for a solid state drive. BiL just got 2.

 

I have 3 actually, but the 3rd has been quite neglected lately. One is family only, one is homeschooling and the other is about fun family places to go in our city. I started with the family site and just recently started the other 2.

 

The homeschooling blog started because I was really having trouble keeping track of all the information I was coming across while I began to figure out what kind of curriculum to use. I just wanted one place to go to when I needed a list of free worksheets or something. The ads were kind of a realization that there may be a possibility of making a tiny bit of money at this. $.10 so far! :D Ha!

 

Really, I just enjoy writing and this was another outlet for me. I'm still learning a lot about it and have a long way to go. It's good to feel productive at the end of the day.

 

 

It is quiet, so I am catching up on some posts. I want an 80 gb solid for my OS. Oh the dream of speed with my system. I won't be able to click fast enough!

 

They are a must in my book - especially the WD brand.:lol:

 

I'm having trouble getting Lion onto my computer. Hubby has to look into it some more.

 

Take a look at some of the links on the other blog, Get That Working. There were considerable troubles when upgrading with AV installed, such as Avast. There are a few glitches where things don't work quite right. As well, most end up backing up data and doing a clean install because of odds and ends errors, like the network connection failure. LOL They put it out a little too soon for even me, and I usually grab everything quick to play. I have only upgraded one, but I analyzed the system and researched each tiny little program installed and hardware component before setting things up to upgrade. Rather tedious and over cautious, but hey ...

Edited August 17, 2011 by ChrissySC

[Annie Laurie]

I am the sentimental type and have kept journals my whole life, especially since having kids, I like to keep track of those little things we forget since they grow up so fast. But I'm very bad about deciding what to write about, it's supposed to be for me, but then I feel hesitant about some things since the blog is public and I'm normally a very private person.

 

I admire those who have very organized, consistent blogs. You know, where they have certain features regularly. I always come up with ideas for things like that when I'm doing something else and then forget by the time I get on the computer. But, hey, it's good to have something to strive for. :001_smile:

[KristenR]

While deciding if homeschooling would be right for my family I searched and tore through hundreds of homeschooling websites. So many were so inspirational and helpful. It was eye opening to see what homeschooling families of all backgrounds and philosophies were doing. It helped cement our decision to home school.

Having those blogs available made a world of difference to me. Early on I knew that I wanted to blog about my family's adventures in the hopes of being that guiding light for others. I love when I get comments or emails from people who find something useful on my blog. Paying it forward and all.

 

Teaching Stars