In today’s technologically saturated environment, more and more businesses and people are going online. Teens have grown up with social media as a daily part of their lives. As their interests and passions begin to take form, these internet rising stars are using social media and Web2.0 platforms to their benefit. In doing so, they develop strategy and community management skills that rival many adults.
Today, I would like to celebrate several creative homeschool kids who are striving to make a name for themselves online. Bloggers, magazine publishers, and YouTubers – these kids know where they want to go and together with their parents, are molding their schoolwork around their passions.
Homeschool Bloggers & Rising Stars
Blogging benefits students in ways that you may not even realize. Blogging has students writing regularly, so it’s a no-brainer that they’ll become proficient at it over time. Blogging also helps students learn to manage their time – finding a balance between schoolwork, family, writing, scheduling posts, and formatting their blog template and images. Perhaps the most important, students gain experience with social media strategy and community management.
Missions and Music and More, Oh My! – Rachel’s tagline says it all, “It’s all about missions, music, baking, graphic design and other geekery.”
Geneva Varga – An online portfolio created as documentation of her life work as an artist and naturalist. I love how she showcases her many passions.
Troop 156 – As his Boy Scout troop’s Webmaster, Jeffrey has begun to put together a website for his troop. Best of all, his efforts also meet one of the project requirements for the Programming merit badge.
Minetech – Jeffrey has also created a website to support his Minecraft server. Complete with forums and tutorials – he is able to connect with his players and collaborate on the development of mini-games and animation videos.
Piqued for PC Gaming – Rydro (as he is known online) has a lot of experience playing video games and it shows. Check out his new website to learn more about PC games.
The Perler Post – Eleven year old Grayson is passionate about Perler bead art. I can’t wait to see the elaborate projects he will share in the future.
Do you blog? Do your teens? What stories and passions would you all share with the world?
Homeschool Magazines & Rising Stars
Similar to blogging, the process of creating the content for their own magazine, students learn about the writing process as well as refine their skills in formatting and communicating their ideas with an audience.
THEM Magazines – Published by Nate Spell, THEM Magazines is a culmination of all his interests: gaming, coding, and movies. I love that he has multiple issues! Clearly he is passionate about his craft.
This past school year, my kids worked through the lessons in Cover Story Writing. They really enjoyed the creative process. My daughter’s magazine, The Otaku Habit, celebrates her love of Japanese anime. Hers impressed me the most because she spent many hours on artistic layout, design, and formatting.
Do your tweens and teens have a blog or YouTube channel of their own? Share a link in the comments.
Homeschool YouTubers & Rising Stars
The most coveted of internet stars are the YouTubers. If you haven’t heard of Joey Graceffa, Boy in a Band, ExplodingTNT, or Jelly, just ask your kids who their favorite YouTubers are. Creating videos for YouTube teaches kids a variety of production skills including story development, visual design, framing, lighting and sound techniques that will help them make magic.
Luci Hodges – Luci shares insight into your teen life. My kids are envious that she has met their favorite YouTubers, Dan and Phil.
Joel Ross – If you like Chopin, you’ll love Joel’s channel. This 17 year old pianist is fabulous!
Jeffrey Varga – At 11 years, Jeffrey is just beginning to come into his own. I encouraged him to create a channel to showcase his love of piano. Like many, however, he struggles with balance. He spends more time on his gaming channel, BudderSticks. I made a bet with him that his piano channel would gain subscribers at a faster rate than his gaming channel. Sadly, I am losing.
Geneva Varga – Geneva’s vision for Werifesteria (from Old English meaning ‘to wander longingly in the forest in search of mystery’) is to share compilations of our family hikes.