I was not surprised to see Kat’s post on how the internet has changed their lives.  It sounds so familiar.  I remember our first computer, 15 years ago.  Our first born, Josh sat in front of it, we popped in a Reader Rabbit CD and without much instruction he went to work and learn.  He loved it.  But he was limited to what the CD had to offer and nothing else. He became bored fairly quickly and those CDs were pretty pricey back then.  In fact, they still are.

Fast forward to today.  We have 4 kids–refresher course here– 16, 13, 5, and almost 1 years old.  We, as a family unit, benefit from the advancements in technology.  Josh and Emily (16, 13 respectively) can’t seem to do homework without using the computer.  They are able to log on to sites that connects them with the text book they use in class.  Here they can get more information on what they are learning as well as links to other sites with homework help, the school’s sites and their own teacher’s websites.  They also log onto sites with PSAT and SAT practice tests, SOL practice tests, purplemath.com is an awesome sight as is cliffnotes.com.  My kids happen to have really awesome teachers who communicate frequently with all their students via e-mail.

As most here know, Natalie’s benefits come mostly from her lessons on Time4Learning, the playground and some of her other fun sites, such as noggin.com, pbskids.org, sesamestreet.com and occasionally pollypocket.com.  It amazes me how a 5 year old kid can get on a computer and before they learn to read or ride a bike they can navigate the information superhighway without blinking an eye.

For my husband and I, the internet has been an excellent asset to communicate our family calendar, the kids progress reports at school or simply just to communicate when we’re not at home.   When my husband was in Iraq last year, it was the internet that helped me make it through his absence as he was able to send us a daily email and occasional pictures.  We sent many pictures and emails to help boost his morale.  Personally speaking, I maintain my sanity by communicating frequently with all my friends around the world, and I really mean around the world.  It’s like having a support system that never goes away.    I am enrolled at the University of Maryland University College to get a degree in Social Studies concentrating on Gerontology, and minor in Humanities.  The benefits for the baby — I never have to leave him anywhere due to school or work.   I thank God everyday for giving me the opportunity to stay home with my kids.  However, I am also extremely energetic and must be active in learning, exercise, love to cook and read, etc.

The internet is a great asset to have but like Kat, we do hands on, old fashion learning as well.  Board games, reading a real book, the newspaper, using a real dictionary/thesaurus and even going to the library…live! 

One other thing–outdoor recreational activities are a must in my family.