This post was sponsored by the Boys & Girls Club of America as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central.
I really despise screen time for kids, and I think you guys know this because I talk about it all the time. However, there are exceptions to this rule! I don’t like screen time… unless it serves a purpose. If I catch Sapphire on slitherwhateveritis (what??) one more time, I might go bonkers.
With that being said, it’s summer time and I have work to get done, so some screen time is bound to be necessary. Yes, I just said necessary. Have you tried to work from home with three kids all summer? It requires lots of coffee. And when the coffee stops working, you start throwing electronics their way. Trust me, that’s just. how. it. works. I’ve had to accept it and move on.
Gracelynn has always been interested in blogging and such. She’s super creative, a great writer, and doesn’t ever shut up. That pretty much translates to the perfect formula for an awesome blogger if I might say so myself. She’s also shown some interest in coding. I’ve tried to learn coding, but still only know the basics, so I bought her some cool books to get her started.
Truthfully, no matter how much I fight it, technology is a requirement for kids to understand these days. They use it in school literally every day, and after school, too. Technology is constantly changing. I agree with the Boys & Girls Club when they say it is critical to ensure access to technology for youth who may not have the opportunity to learn digital literacy and pursue their technology-related interests at home or school.
Because of Boys & Girls Club, I’ve also discovered an online resource for her to learn this (and other things) in a safe environment. My.Future delivers programming that sparks interest in STEM by encouraging your kiddos to explore topics that already interest them. Gracelynn is a lot like me and has dozens of interests all swirling in her head at once, so when I showed her all the options on this website, she was a bit overwhelmed. The first thing she wanted to learn about was photography and photo manipulation.
Once you click on a lesson, it tells you what you’ll need. It also says whether it’s beginner, intermediate, or advanced. This is nice information to have for younger kids especially. I wouldn’t want Saff going to an advanced module and getting super discouraged.
Boys & Girls Clubs have been leaders in out-of-school time programming for over 150 years. Research has shown that these programs advance science, engineering, and math knowledge – also known as STEM – and increase interested in these (high-paying!) careers. You want to be in a nice nursing home when you’re older, right? Then your kids need good jobs. ;)
There will be more than 8 million STEM jobs in the U.S. by 2018, but 3 million of them may go unfilled because of a lack of people with needed skills. By introducing youth to new technology skills in Clubs, they may be more likely to pursue a career in a STEM-related field.
Next, Grace is going to work on creating a visual storyboard (under the building category). It’s neat how they combine the computer aspect with off-screen interaction as well. For one of the projects, Grace used a big white board with markers. I think it kept her busy for a good hour or so.
Right now, I’m busy playing Oregon Trail – YES OREGON TRAIL ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! under the “retro gaming” section. If you know anything about Oregon Trail, you know it’s time for me to log off this blog post and go save my family from dysentery!
**Visit the Boys & Girls Club on Facebook & Twitter**
I’m justifying screen time by allowing the girls to visit educational websites like My.Future. What about you?
This post was sponsored by the Boys & Girls Club of America as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central.
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