my email address: yvonnelau78@gmail.com

Sunday, December 13, 2009

IF YOU CAN'T BEAT THEM, JOIN THEM!



My sons, including the youngest, are very into Facebook now. In fact, they are hooked to it; chatting with their friends online, downloading stuff from YouTube and playing the online games.



I am not particularly fond of the computer, except for work, and often lament that they spend too much time in front of the computer. Until, I discovered Blogger and then Facebook.



I find that blogging is therapeutic and gives me an avenue to express myself. This activity helps me to focus, reflect as well as contemplate future plans. I begin to be more aware of the happenings around me, and took much opportunity to document the daily events in school through anecdotal observations and photography. This is also part of my coursework requirement - to be observant of the developmental progress of the children at work and to chart future actions to enhance the children's learning.



Facebook is simply amazing as it has enabled me to reconnect with some long lost friends. I would also like to use it as a platform to inform and update parents of Lilbeans on the activities at school. Hopefully, more parents will join this network. I promise to keep all information within the circle of our own community.


My second son has been persistently asking me to chat with him online. My reaction??? Don't be silly, we should have real face-to-face conversation. Talk me to me directly if you have something to tell me. Ha .... but this son never gives up. He kept on asking me to chat whenever I'm logged into Facebook. In the end, I responded to his messages.


It was quite funny. We chatted casually, with his answers mostly monosyllabic with "yes" or "no" or "perhaps. I encouraged him to give me longer answers by prompting him with many open-ended questions. Gradually, the answers became longer and I discovered that his English was quite bad ... Perhaps he was using SMS language, all shortened words, with wrong spellings, grammatically incorrect such as "Wat u 2?" I could not accept the atrocity, at the same time did not want to discourage him too much. So, I gently corrected his English online and I believe this is one good way of getting him to improve. At the very least, the next time we chatted online, he tried very much to use proper English. Hopefully, he will want to continue chatting with me and will not find it a bore because Mummy keeps correcting his English!

Technology is certainly playing a major role in our lives today. We have to expose our children to it, yet must be able to guide and control its usage. Otherwise, computers, TVs or video games will be the children's babysitters! This is definitely not healthy. One way to control its usage and to be 'in-the-know" of course is to join him and play his games as well! I did it not because I enjoyed it but to understand what he and his brothers are doing.




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