Sandra Dodd

I've brought the solicitation below not for the content, but for the
concept. (And I don't know that the content might not be cool, too.)

A family I know is divorced and the dad is in England, the six year
old daughter in Farmington, New Mexico. I recommended to the mom
that they get Halo or some other voice-using game, and play together
so they could visit very inexpensively and DO something together at
the same time. "Just talking" can be awkward and not as productive
as talking around the edges of parallel or team play ( http://
sandradodd.com/truck ). The mom shot the idea down in a heartbeat,
saying the games were too violent. I started to discuss "violence"
with her, but stopped short of saying that it's MUCH more "violent"
to separate a child from her father than to pretend to shoot cartoons.

Anyway...
Here's an idea that might be of immediate use, or might lead you to
other ideas of your own. Some grandparents are afraid of computers
or see no use for them. Some unschooling families don't want more
oversight from grandparents. But for some of you this might be a
good idea directly or indirectly.

Sandra


Dear Home-Schooling Family,

We want to share with you an educational, family-oriented website
that can enhance your home schooling

The site, named www.MyGrandchild.com , has been designed by educators
and is geared to children aged 3-8. It's easy to use and lots of
fun. Best of all, it allows distant family members, like
grandparents and cousins, to interact with your children and
participate actively in their day-to-day learning experiences.

Here's the idea:

The site is a form of fun distance learning. It allows grandparents
or other relatives to read books and play educational games with
children online in real time. The games improve reading and math
skills, as well as encouraging children's natural curiosity.
Grandparents enjoy it, too! This is a great way to strengthen bonds
with family members, especially those you don't get to see too often.
Joint engagement in meaningful activities makes for strong
relationships.

More information can be seen here: http://www.mygrandchild.com/
Home_Schooling/

We've are offering free trial use, so you can invite grandparents,
friends and relatives to try it out at no cost.
Looking forward to seeing you at www.MyGrandchild.com !
Thank You & All The Best,

Dror Oberman
Founder & CEO
MyGrandchild.com

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Melissa Wiley

My kids love to play iSketch with grandparents, cousins, and friends who
live on
the other side of the country. We set up a private room and you can pick fun
themes
for the clues. iSketch is like online Pictionary. Lots of times we'll open
Skype at the same
time so we can hear each other laughing and talk to each other.

www.*isketch*.net

Scrabulous is great fun, too.

Melissa
www.melissawiley.com

On Thu, Mar 6, 2008 at 8:02 AM, Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...> wrote:

> I've brought the solicitation below not for the content, but for the
> concept. (And I don't know that the content might not be cool, too.)
>
> A family I know is divorced and the dad is in England, the six year
> old daughter in Farmington, New Mexico. I recommended to the mom
> that they get Halo or some other voice-using game, and play together
> so they could visit very inexpensively and DO something together at
> the same time. "Just talking" can be awkward and not as productive
> as talking around the edges of parallel or team play ( http://
> sandradodd.com/truck ). The mom shot the idea down in a heartbeat,
> saying the games were too violent. I started to discuss "violence"
> with her, but stopped short of saying that it's MUCH more "violent"
> to separate a child from her father than to pretend to shoot cartoons.
>
> Anyway...
> Here's an idea that might be of immediate use, or might lead you to
> other ideas of your own. Some grandparents are afraid of computers
> or see no use for them. Some unschooling families don't want more
> oversight from grandparents. But for some of you this might be a
> good idea directly or indirectly.
>
> Sandra
>
> Dear Home-Schooling Family,
>
> We want to share with you an educational, family-oriented website
> that can enhance your home schooling
>
> The site, named www.MyGrandchild.com , has been designed by educators
> and is geared to children aged 3-8. It's easy to use and lots of
> fun. Best of all, it allows distant family members, like
> grandparents and cousins, to interact with your children and
> participate actively in their day-to-day learning experiences.
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

jenstarc4

>
> Anyway...
> Here's an idea that might be of immediate use, or might lead you
to
> other ideas of your own. Some grandparents are afraid of
computers
> or see no use for them. Some unschooling families don't want more
> oversight from grandparents. But for some of you this might be a
> good idea directly or indirectly.
>
> Sandra
>

Almost a not related thought, but my mother has recently told my
oldest daughter that she should learn how to write in cursive so that
when she sends letters or cards, she could read them. My immediate
response, which I kept to myself, was that she should just email her
grandchild or write legibly for her.

Sometimes, I find cursive hard to read and I know how to write it.
I've tried to read the cursive handwriting of very very old people,
sometimes long dead people, and I find myself figuring words by
context because I can't read all of them.

My mother isn't afraid of computers, uses them all the time, yet her
thought process is still in the realm of handwriting and mail post
rather than electronic email and typing to her granddaughter.

Thought processes change with the newness of things available. I was
thinking email was a middle ground, since, my daughter really only
sends and receives messages through things such as myspace and IMing
others. She rarely even checks her email inbox, has an email addy
only for opening other accounts for access to other things cool on
the internet, yet I know she would keep her eye out for ecards and
mail from her grandma.

I've never played Halo, but I have played toontown with lots of other
folks. To reject an idea so outright seems really old fashioned and
stuck in yesterday thought. What an awesome way for a distant father
to keep in contact with a child, too bad it was rejected.

Pamela Sorooshian

And yet, when I come across something from my mom - who passed away a
few years ago - written in her own handwriting, it is REALLY special -
it can bring me to instant tears, it is so personal.

My mom wrote in cursive, even to her young grandkids, on postcards
from faraway lands, when she traveled. We'd have them up on the fridge
and the kids would try to read them, asking me to help, over the
years. Somehow they all just picked it up and I never really noticed
it happening, but now I'm thinking maybe grandma's postcards were a
big part of it.

-pam

On Mar 6, 2008, at 12:15 PM, jenstarc4 wrote:

> I've tried to read the cursive handwriting of very very old people,
> sometimes long dead people, and I find myself figuring words by
> context because I can't read all of them.
>
> My mother isn't afraid of computers, uses them all the time, yet her
> thought process is still in the realm of handwriting and mail post
> rather than electronic email and typing to her granddaughter.



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Sandra Dodd

I have a friend who's 30 now. When he was 21 or 22 I gave him a gift
with a card with a longish personal message. He couldn't read it.
He was a college student who had gone through public school thirteen
years. My handwriting isn't very mysterious.

Maybe you can get straight to it with this, but if not it's in the
photo albums of this group (and there's a link at the bottom or the
left, depending whether you're reading e-mail or online).
http://ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/AlwaysLearning/photos/view/3f0e?b=2

It's not just an unschooling change. Lots of younger people can't
begin to read the best of cursive.

Sandra

mindyeva7

<<Some unschooling families don't want more
oversight from grandparents>>

Eeek! I looked at that site for grandparents and the thought of how my
parents would use this site to critique our choice of schooling gives
me the heebeegeebees. LOL. I know not everyone has my parents though!

I was going to mention Toontown as well, if the grandparent likes to do
that kind of thing. I like the sketching idea...anyone have anything
else their kids use in an interactive way between loved ones that are
away?

Mindy

harmony

my kids use msn messenger and have a video conversation.
Harmony


> -------Original Message-------
> From: mindyeva7 <mindyevans@...>
> Subject: [AlwaysLearning] Re: Something interesting
> Sent: Mar 06 '08 9:44pm
>
> <<Some unschooling families don't want more
> oversight from grandparents>>
>
> Eeek! I looked at that site for grandparents and the thought of how my
> parents would use this site to critique our choice of schooling gives
> me the heebeegeebees. LOL. I know not everyone has my parents though!
>
> I was going to mention Toontown as well, if the grandparent likes to do
> that kind of thing. I like the sketching idea...anyone have anything
> else their kids use in an interactive way between loved ones that are
> away?
>
> Mindy
>
>

diana jenner

On Thu, Mar 6, 2008 at 8:02 AM, Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...> wrote:

> I've brought the solicitation below not for the content, but for the
> concept. (And I don't know that the content might not be cool, too.)
>
> A family I know is divorced and the dad is in England, the six year
> old daughter in Farmington, New Mexico. I recommended to the mom
> that they get Halo or some other voice-using game, and play together
> so they could visit very inexpensively and DO something together at
> the same time. "Just talking" can be awkward and not as productive
> as talking around the edges of parallel or team play ( http://
> sandradodd.com/truck ). The mom shot the idea down in a heartbeat,
> saying the games were too violent. I started to discuss "violence"
> with her, but stopped short of saying that it's MUCH more "violent"
> to separate a child from her father than to pretend to shoot cartoons.
>
















We use Skype.com (free download, requiring a mic and speakers) and we have a
web-cam. When we get home from baking together at the coffee shop at 4 am,
it's noon for Schuyler and her kids in England :D One day I went to bed and
Schuyler watched Hayden play his new Eragon game on PS2 and they chatted off
and on for hours :D It's cool just to see them signed on, knowing I could
invite their voices over for a visit just about any old time ;)
Hayden was chatting with another friend this morning... there were a few
long minutes where Hayden was suddenly quiet and his friend got frustrated.
Hayden turned the camera onto his screen so the friend could see what was
holding his concentration (and his tongue!) and H received the supportive &
excited Oooooohs and AAAAAHs while he did an instance on WoW.

Hooking up with her dad through technology could be the best gift this mama
ever gave her kid...

> --
~diana :)
xoxoxoxo
hannahbearski.blogspot.com


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

ENSEMBLE S-WAYNFORTH

I love getting a call from Hayden. Skype is such a wonderful addition. My mom uses it now and calls us when she sees we are on. We've got it on 3 different computers, but only one has a camera. At some point I'll go buy a couple of cameras for the other computers so that we can be visible in every possible state of life. I've been talking to a Alex in Minnesota lately and I get to see her and her children living their lives and I feel so much more connected to them. I highly recommend Skype, oh and I should send Hayden our new computer's Skype account so that he can call on that one too.

Schuyler
www.waynforth.blogspot.com

----- Original Message ----
From: diana jenner <hahamommy@...>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Friday, 7 March, 2008 8:25:03 PM
Subject: Re: [AlwaysLearning] Something interesting

On
Thu,
Mar
6,
2008
at
8:02
AM,
Sandra
Dodd
<Sandra@...>
wrote:

>

I've
brought
the
solicitation
below
not
for
the
content,
but
for
the
>
concept.
(And
I
don't
know
that
the
content
might
not
be
cool,
too.)
>
>
A
family
I
know
is
divorced
and
the
dad
is
in
England,
the
six
year
>
old
daughter
in
Farmington,
New
Mexico.
I
recommended
to
the
mom
>
that
they
get
Halo
or
some
other
voice-using
game,
and
play
together
>
so
they
could
visit
very
inexpensively
and
DO
something
together
at
>
the
same
time.
"Just
talking"
can
be
awkward
and
not
as
productive
>
as
talking
around
the
edges
of
parallel
or
team
play
(
http://
>
sandradodd.com/truck
).
The
mom
shot
the
idea
down
in
a
heartbeat,
>
saying
the
games
were
too
violent.
I
started
to
discuss
"violence"
>
with
her,
but
stopped
short
of
saying
that
it's
MUCH
more
"violent"
>
to
separate
a
child
from
her
father
than
to
pretend
to
shoot
cartoons.
>
















We
use
Skype.com
(free
download,
requiring
a
mic
and
speakers)
and
we
have
a
web-cam.
When
we
get
home
from
baking
together
at
the
coffee
shop
at
4
am,
it's
noon
for
Schuyler
and
her
kids
in
England
:D
One
day
I
went
to
bed
and
Schuyler
watched
Hayden
play
his
new
Eragon
game
on
PS2
and
they
chatted
off
and
on
for
hours
:D
It's
cool
just
to
see
them
signed
on,
knowing
I
could
invite
their
voices
over
for
a
visit
just
about
any
old
time
;)
Hayden
was
chatting
with
another
friend
this
morning...
there
were
a
few
long
minutes
where
Hayden
was
suddenly
quiet
and
his
friend
got
frustrated.
Hayden
turned
the
camera
onto
his
screen
so
the
friend
could
see
what
was
holding
his
concentration
(and
his
tongue!)
and
H
received
the
supportive
&
excited
Oooooohs
and
AAAAAHs
while
he
did
an
instance
on
WoW.

Hooking
up
with
her
dad
through
technology
could
be
the
best
gift
this
mama
ever
gave
her
kid...

>
--
~diana
:)
xoxoxoxo
hannahbearski.blogspot.com


[Non-text
portions
of
this
message
have
been
removed]




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