Just thought it would be neat to do an online blog or journal of our homeschool. Not only that, we are not members of HSLDA, probably should be, but I thought the online blog might be a great way to keep track and show progress and such. What kind of stuff do you post on your blog, and do you open it up publicly, or only allow invited viewers? I guess I am a little worried about privacy and such. On the other hand, who has privacy any more anyway? I guess if someone wants to snatch my kids, they will... Probly return them when they find out they can't wash dishes though :lol: So do you put photos of your kids on the blog? What kind of privacy cautions do you take? Do you post on it everyday or update weekly? monthly? Lastly, since I am tech impaired to the extreme, how would I go about setting up a blog? I assume I need a host site, would have to pay a monthly fee? Then can I set it up myself, or do I need someone to get going first? Is it difficult to add photos, and update entries?
Go to blogger.com It is free and easy to set up on your own. If you want to personalize it beyond the template you may need help, but the templates are nice. I have been blogging for over a year and I have no problems posting pictures. I don't put my address or identifying information other than first names. The more you post the more traffic you will get. Ideally I would post daily, but on average it is 2-3 times per week. I actually used my blog address and my children's blog addresses in lieu of school records for their immigration paperwork.
I have a blog that was supposed to be about my art progress, but once I got pregnant it sorta became a catch-all blog. I plan on starting a separate blog that will be strictly family/homeschool/craft related, and then hopefully my art blog will return to what it was originally intended for. I like blogging because I enjoy creative writing, and the best way to keep your writing muscles in shape is to write-write-write. I really enjoy writing essays also, though I don't do it as much as I used to. But I see blogging as being pretty similar to essay writing. I keep my blog public, and I'm not reluctant to post pics of my kids online publicly. It's not as though I never let them out of doors and I expect no strangers to ever see them. There are a million blogs out there, I really doubt I will be singled out. I definitely don't post anything personal though, like addresses and phone numbers, and I keep my location fairly generic (Pacific Northwest is what I usually say).
It depends on your personal comfort level. I know some people who will even give a city. I will sometimes say Washington, and I've even mentioned counties before. I wouldn't do anything you're personally not comfortable with.
Well I tried to sign up w the blogger.com thing, and it says I have to verify w a mobile phone and text message, so I just resigned into the account w my password and username and it still won't let me. Tried to contact support and it says they don't contact you, they just file your complaint for troubleshooting if they need it. Wow, that was a waste of time.
well that didn't work either. Created an account on the hsblogger and it says I am a spammer! Even after I verified and signed back in and everything! good gracious. Three different places so far. I gave up finally on the google one. What a mess that was!
Peanut, I don't know if there's a way to get rid of the calendar on LJ... Have you tried wordpress? I'm not sure if they are free or not... Sorry you are running into so many problems! D=
Wordpress has free hosting and paid hosting Free hosting means your domain looks like this http://gapeachhomeschool.wordpress.com/ If I paid (I think it's like $20/year) my domain would be something like http://gapeachhomeschoolblog.com You get a few more bells and whistle with paid hosting-but honestly-nothing I ever really used....
To me it is less clunky than blogger...I'm hardcore wordpress LOL If you have any questions about wordpress PM me
Hi. I've been keeping a blog since the end of 2004. It's mainly about homeschooling and living in NYC. It's public, I do put pics of the kids on there, but I choose shots of them either from an angle or from far away. I try to post once a week or so. I use blogger.com. It was the easiest for me and it has lots of great options. Most of the free blog sites walk you step-by-step through setting up your own. I love blogging.
I have one, although I just updated it today for the first time in almost a year. Here it is: http://macsmommy03.blogspot.com/
Peanut-that's not a problem with the blog-she linked to photos she had stored online on another site-she must have deleted them from the other site.
I have a blog and try to do exactly what you said, keep a record of our homeschool. I'm also on the TOS Crew, so you'll find some reviews for them (and others) on my blog as well. My blog is open and public. We use our real names and yes, post pictures. I don't advertise exactly where we are or our last name, and try not to live with a spirit of fear. You can see my blog at: www.locustpointeacademy.blogspot.com I love blogger, it's the easiest template to use in my opinion.