Every end of school year I experience the same mixed bag of feelings I have been experiencing since I became a mother (and teacher of 17 years). Initially I feel super excited about starting my work free summer at home with my kids. I look forward to creating memories with my family, embracing laughter together. Those feelings eventually fade, and are overtaken by angst. I begin to stress about how I will ensure my kids will enjoy their summer. Shouldn’t be a problem, really. I reminisce about my childhood summers spending countless hours outdoors, riding bikes, picnicking at the park and running through the sprinkler. And this helps me identify the root of my anxiety. Sad to admit, both of my children spend A LOT of time on personal devices. In fact, I would argue, their free time is overtaken by technology.
So instead of banning the use of technology, I have decided to embrace it. I have made a promise to my children that I will not limit access to WiFi if they contribute to a family blog on a weekly basis. To put in kid language, “No blog entry, no WiFi”.
My 10 year old (almost 11 year old son) techie son is on board, mostly because he is attached to both his tablet and laptop for a big part of his days. I am not sure how he would handle Wifi withdrawal. Together we brainstormed possible topics he could write about, all personally relevant to him. My 12 year old daughter on the hand shared her sentiments in the second post.
My commitment to creating memorable summer experiences with my kids (well really having them fine tune their literacy skills) will be shared in our family blog about everything, hence the title ReidingAllAboutIt. I cannot take credit for the creative title…my whipper snapper tween daughter was all over it! And so it begins, critical thinking, problem solving and creating all summer long.
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