One of the things I sent with Sophie on her trip to her Grammy's was a list of addresses and set of postcard stamps. The intent was for her to send postcards to friends and family, including me. Maybe she was too busy or maybe she forgot but the only people getting postcards are our babysitter and Sophie's teacher.
I did get daily phone calls and two emails. Sometimes the phone calls were heartbreaking, like the last night's call. "I'm (snort) going (sob) miss (sob sob) the kids (whine) I (sniff) made friends with (snuffle)." Other times they were happy and lively, like when I asked her how her bike rides in the morning were going. ("Excellent!" in case you were wondering.)
But I loved the emails. I'm sure she dictated the text to an able typist (my mother in law and husband) but how could I not love "dear mom, it is so hot here i miss you. Love SOPHIA"?
It got me wondering if at the age of seven (and a half!) is Sophie is too young for her own email account to keep in touch with relatives and friends that have moved away? She is getting better at the computer. Her class has a blog. She would live in Webkinz World or Bella Sara or at nickjr.com if we let her and she's all about getting her friends ID's to send them Webkinz messages.
(And, mom, you can put that phone down right now because it will of course be monitored by us and have all sorts of parental controls, spam guards, etc.)
Too young? Or OK? Better to encourage her to write in long hand and rely on snail mail or acquaint herself with the world of digital communication?
Discuss.
I did get daily phone calls and two emails. Sometimes the phone calls were heartbreaking, like the last night's call. "I'm (snort) going (sob) miss (sob sob) the kids (whine) I (sniff) made friends with (snuffle)." Other times they were happy and lively, like when I asked her how her bike rides in the morning were going. ("Excellent!" in case you were wondering.)
But I loved the emails. I'm sure she dictated the text to an able typist (my mother in law and husband) but how could I not love "dear mom, it is so hot here i miss you. Love SOPHIA"?
It got me wondering if at the age of seven (and a half!) is Sophie is too young for her own email account to keep in touch with relatives and friends that have moved away? She is getting better at the computer. Her class has a blog. She would live in Webkinz World or Bella Sara or at nickjr.com if we let her and she's all about getting her friends ID's to send them Webkinz messages.
(And, mom, you can put that phone down right now because it will of course be monitored by us and have all sorts of parental controls, spam guards, etc.)
Too young? Or OK? Better to encourage her to write in long hand and rely on snail mail or acquaint herself with the world of digital communication?
Discuss.
4 Comments:
I know you & John would keep a close eye on her, so I think it'd be ok.
Good Morning My Love,
First off, I know that you & John would moniter Soph really well and your computer is in view, and in a good spot. I think Sophia can be trusted with an e-mail account, but for friends only. For family, i wouldn't want to see the phone calls and written cards and letters go by the wayside. That is really the only thing i don't like about the computer, it has taken away the comfort of hearing ones voice, or seeing the hand written note, its just very impersonal to me. Thats just my opinion. I wanted to call Sophie so bad last night, but it was her first night home, and i didn't want to interrupt all you guys catching up. OK, got to go and do some cleaning, love all around.
Love,
Mom
My feelings are with your Mom. I hate when everyone text messages. I'd rather hear someone's voice than have to read what they say. Also, it's so much quicker to talk than to have to type everything. Same thing with IM's on the computer. When someone IM's me I pick up the phone and call them. I also think that the important thing is to not lose the art of writing. Typing is just a lazy way of communicating. Writing is so much more personal. Also communicating with your voice conveys so much more than the written word (in email). You get more out of listening to how a person feels than read about it. Okay I'll get off of my soap box now.
I also think that you and John would be good monitors, so allowing Sophie to use the computer a little while every day would be okay.
i'm starting to think there is no good old fashioned mail anymore. The computer and internet has taken over the world. Watch her close :)
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