Whatsapp for education

As the owner of a small part time business, which allows me to work flexi hours, I have the privilege of being a full time ‘at home’ mum right now. I love to fill our days with fun, educational games and activities. We watch very little TV and as my background is in early childhood education, I’m always thinking of ways to teach my sons more about the world they live in.

So, you can imagine my delight when a good friend of mine invited me to a whatsapp group with other like-minded parents.

I joined the group last month and I’ve seen it grow to presently include 14 members. We are from all ends of the world and speak an array of languages. All the children speak English but not necessarily as their first or even second language!

We use the group as a way to swap ideas and information around the theme of education for young children. We send links to resources that may help each other and the children send each other pictures of their work, projects or games (with their parents help of course). The children also speak to each other using voice messages and this was very special for my youngest son this week as he turned two and received many birthday greetings from his international friends.

Recently we began sharing videos of the children carrying out activities and the response has been so inspirational. Both parents and children have found a new interest in parts of the world motivating the learning of new languages, geography and cultures. It is a very present exchange of ideas and information, which has become a big part of our learning environment. After a skype call with a family in Spain, my eldest son wanted to learn some Spanish words and we looked at a map of Spain to find where his new friends live. We then went on to have a flag activity where both boys enjoyed making sticker flags of their own countries and of their new friends.

For me, the group has given me confidence to do more and more with my boys and I feel so supported by all the other parents. There is a huge positive vibe from the other parents and it is really inspiring, not just for me, but for my family as a whole.

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Technology as a teaching tool?

So much technology is present in our children´s lives that it can be a full time job just verifying which is positive or negative for your child. I am always wary of letting my boys use technology as they are still so young and I want them to experience life naturally. This said, technology is part of life these days and I want them to be familiar with it. So how do we manage this balance?

We watch a bit of tv or cartoons online. This is great as I have full control of what they watch and no nasty advertising companies can brainwash my kids!

We read e-books (as well as traditional books). There are some really interesting books out there and my toddler has got into the osborne first readers (obviously he doesn´t read yet but the books are short enough for him to enjoy and are very well illustrated). 

Today we used youtube.com. The boys have a picture book about vehicles and in it there is a picture of a rocket. My toddler came to me saying ´plane, plane´, so I explained it was a rocket. We then made a rocket out of a cardboard and enjoyed playing in the garden zooming it to the moon. Later, I asked him if he would like to see a rocket and found this great video of a shuttle launch. He was captivated! 

It´s important to be careful about the content of what children see and how they use technology but if it is well supervised and not overused, the use of technology can be an amazing asset to teaching your children. The modern world is advancing faster than most of us could imagine and our children are right in the centre of it. I feel I have to help my children to responsibly use technology to their benefit and hope they enjoy all the other aspects of life too!