Starflower

[primsong]

V-Day: Not a bad holiday, as such things go - my son saved up some of his allowance and bought me sugar-free chocolates that he hid in my sock drawer for me to discover, the sweetie. He did the same for his sisters, as they came to me wondering why there was a candybar in their socks. Let's hope he can just hold that thought for when he is older! My dad sent me a big box from Hawaii with "do not open until Valentine's Day - Mahalo" on it full of goodies like pikake soap, guava jelly, exotic spices for cooking and tropical teas. Mmmm!

TrebleMaker is a barbershopper, so he was gone all day serenading other women in his quartet, the singing valentines being their main fundraiser, but I didn't feel neglected at all. :-)

I spent most of the evening working on a couple web pages for my youngest, Starflower. She began writing poetry (of sorts) last year, and wanted a site like her older sister has for her poetry. We had to spend quite a bit of time slowly taking down all her 'air castles' first, like wanting interactive games, dancing animation and music until she understood all she was getting was pictures and text. Sorry - that's as far as this ol' mom goes! They aren't finished yet, but when they are I'll upload them and have them on Bookloaf along with her sister's "Bluebell's Corner"

Who would've thought it would be a childhood milestone to have your "First Website" ? So the world is going. I don't keep a personal info page online (to be honest, it disturbs me when folks put their children's pictures, real names and all sorts of info just...'out there' like that), so as long as they stick with handles and no identifying info, I'm okay with it.

Thoughts on young children having their own webpages?

Comments

[meneleth.livejournal.com]

I think it would partially depend on what you mean by "young children". I do completely agree that, no matter what the age, the real name, address and other identifying info should be kept off line. I'd think the minimum age would be around 3rd grade or so - when they can read and write a bit by themselves. On the one hand I can see it might be a way to encourage creativity and computer-literacy. On the other hand, wouldn't it be better to encourage personal contact - i.e., playing with friends, writing real letters...? In the end, of course, it's the parents' decision (at least, one hopes they're paying enough attention to care) and hopefully they'll keep an eye on it for safety's sake. DH and I are very protective of Pip as far as on-line. She doesn't have a separate mailbox, can only go on-line with permission, and our computer is in the living room, so when she's on we can easily see where she is. Since I started my journal she's indicated wanting to do one and I told her she can when she's a little older.