Plugged In Homeschool

If you’ve been online anytime at all, you’ve run across the term, “blogging” or “blog.” So just what is a blog and why would any homeschool family be interested in creating one?

The word “blog” is short for “weblog.” It is a journal or log that is maintained on a simple website, giving a family or individual a place to post news, ideas, and opinions. You can add photos, links, and other interesting information as desired. Plugged in Homeschool is a rather simple blog, because I don’t mess with photos or other graphics. However, many homeschoolers do in their blogs.

There is a similar service you may run across called a “wiki.” If you establish your own wiki, you can do the same thing as with a blog, except your readers are free to edit what you write and add what they want. This can be a big gamble, but fortunately there are more honest people out there than trouble makers. Wikipedia is a great source of information, but has all been written by readers. When I was exploring Wikipedia the other day, I ran across a misspelled word. Sure enough, I was able to edit the word and fix the spelling. (”Wiki” comes from a Hawaiian word that means “quick.”)

There are several host sites that will let you create a blog for no cost. Blogger.com is one of the more familiar. When you sign up, you can choose from 10 or 12 predesigned blog styles. The blog, like this one, consists of an area in which you write your daily (or however often) message. On the side is a place for a personal biography and favorite links. If you get your blog through Blogger, you’ll find that adding links is a bit of a headache because you have to go into the template and use a tiny bit of html language.

This blog, Plugged In Homeschool, is a Wordpress blog. Wordpress is easier to add links to than Blogger. Many homeschoolers are choosing to get their blogs through Homeschool Blogger. There are other blog sites, too, such as Writing Up and Type Pad. A site where you can establish a wiki is Jot Spot.

So why would a homeschool family consider creating their own blog. For one thing, it is a great way to keep friends and family members informed about things you are doing. It is of course a great chance for the kids to get some writing practice. But even more importantly, it is a wonderful hands-on opportunity to learn computer skills.

And a big reason for many people is that you can make a little money with a blog. Here’s how. You sign up with an advertising company like Google Adsense, and they post ads on your site. You get a little money if anyone visits the advertised sites. Another way to possibly make a little income is to sign up as an associate for Amazon.com and promote your favorite books. If anyone sees your ad and buys the book, you get a few cents.

More important than the money, though, in my opinion, is the chance to voice your opinions. Does your family feel passionately about a social or political issue, such as the pro-life movement? Blog about it!

There are several ways to add pictures to your blog. A simple way is to sign up with a photo hosting site such as PhotoBucket.com. This site gives you the option of entering your blog URL, then clicking “blog this” under a picture and the picture shows up on your blog. At least if works with Blogger.

Blogging is a learning experience to say the least. It’s a simple, free way to have a family web page. You can promote your business, your faith, or just have fun expressing yourself. If you look at the links on this page, you’ll notice a category of links called “Homeschool Blogs.” Any one of those will give you an idea of what a homeschool family blog can look like. Have fun as you explore this wonderful new way to express yourself!