It's a rainy Sunday here in Georgia. When I looked at my "to-do" list today it included 1. Getting Skype on my computer in preparation for an on-line curriculum I'm speaking at this week (I will post details tomorrow on facebook when I get them). 2. Sending birthday greetings on line to a special friend. 3. Writing this blog post. 4. Printing off an order to get it ready to send someone tomorrow.
Notice a trend? Every one of those things have to do with a computer!!!
It's always a challenge, in everything we do, to seek the middle ground, to keep the balance. Doing this with technology will be one of the biggest challenge for those of you who are still in the middle of raising children in this new tech-crazy world. Back when my children were young, all I had to manage was the amount and quality of the television they watched. Not to sound like a dinosaur, but it seemed like even the choices of television we had back then were higher quality. Of course, there were also things we needed to avoid. That was even true when my mother was raising me!
Towards the end of my child-raising experience, I had to face the "new" problems connected with computer games, especially Nintendo. We simply didn't allow them in our home...until our oldest kids started to leave and go to college, and bring back such things with them. Then it became a real challenge to balance the need to treat the young adults with respect while keeping the lines drawn clearly for the younger ones.
Nowadays, there is so much technology barraging us every day. My grown kids text, Skype, watch television and movies, and always have a cell phone at the ready with somebody bothering them at all hours. Somehow they manage to do it in and around being productive and moving ahead with their plans and dreams. Still, it all seems so intrusive to me. Meanwhile, I'm trying to find the balance to learn how to use all this technology without letting my own life get out of control.
I know the world is changing, and I don't want to stick my head in the sand. Without embracing some of this new technology, I won't be able to reach the younger homeschooling crowd with our message of relaxed, family-centered education. Still, I don't want to stop reading books in favor of reading a Kindle, to fail to go outside and take walks and work on my garden in favor of sitting at this computer, or only go to online curriculum fairs where I can't see your smiling faces or be able to give you all a real hug. Hope you all are able to maintain your balance, too!
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