I'm pretty slow to warm up to new technology. Early in my accounting career, I can remember first hearing about email. I thought, what is that, and why do I need it, when I can just pick up a phone? Later on, just after I had my second child, everyone was all abuzz about shopping online. Well, we didn't even have an internet connection at home yet, and I was so busy with the children and working part-time that I thought the last thing I needed was another distraction. I didn't even get an iPod until years after it had been released.
Well, now all that has changed. I'm certainly not on the cutting edge of technology by any stretch of the imagination, and I still think that too much of the "plugged in" stuff is never a good thing. After all, too much of anything, even if it's something that's supposedly good for you, can be harmful in the long term. It's all about the balance.
So, with more and more online resources available every day, how do we choose the few that will be the most useful for our children? Well, for me, it's always about making informed choices.
As you all know by now, I am a big proponent of reading aloud many different types of picture books-in-print to children of all ages; but I'm slowly warming up to the fact that digital books have a place in our children's lives as well. I mean, it's not exactly the same experience. Let's face it: sitting in front of a keyboard with a child will never be quite as cozy as curling up with a picture book. BUT, there has to be something to be said for the convenience of picture eBooks, and just think about the potential environmental and global impact of their use.
I don't recommend web sites very often, but when I do, I make sure that their overall mission is closely aligned with my own. If an organization is not going above and beyond the call of duty to make the world a better place, I will not recommend it. In every aspect of my life, I choose to support only the people who have a larger vision of their role in making the world a better place.
When it comes to children's eBooks, not only can you find some fantastic science and math resources at Sylvan Dell Publishing, but it's recently been brought to my attention that there's also an interactive web site called Big Universe that will open children up to a whole new world of literacy.
Before I even tell you about this innovative site, let me just share an excerpt of the "About Our Name" section of the "Our Story" page on the site:
"Considering the massive sizes of and extreme distances between the objects in outer space, all the infighting in which we engage on this small planet we call Earth seems like such a colossal waste of time and resources. Thus, at Big Universe, our desire is to use children's books online as a way to connect the next generation - our children - and help them look past the differences between our various cultures and instead focus on our similarities, so we can come together to explore our big universe."
If I had looked at nothing else before I saw these few sentences, I would have immediately been drawn into the site. I share the same philosophy, and have written about it many times before. You can read the rest of their story here.
So, what's this site about? Well, here's just a sampling of what Big Universe brings you:
- Read a wide variety of picture books from many different publishers and search for them by category, grade, reading level, interest age, and/or language. One of their publishers offers books in twelve languages!
- You and/or your child can create, print, and publish your own picture books. They're a lot of fun to make, and you can make use of their extensive collection of artwork, or upload your own. What a way to motivate a child to write!
- Share your favorite books with others, and see what they're reading too (Please note that children can see their friends' bookshelves, but do not have the ability to contact each other. There is no free-form text and/or chat feature.).
You can find out more details, and view samples here.
You can also read about some of the many awards Big Universe has won. You'll be interested to know that the site was one of School Library Journal's 10 Best Digital Resources for 2009.
I think this site will appeal to children who love to read, as well as those who THINK they don't. You never know, it could even have children begging to write! If they're learning to read, how great it would be to read a picture book they wrote themselves.
It is my hope that in exposing our children to sites like this one, it'll spark their interest in all aspects of literacy. You never know; they might suddenly take an interest in picture books-in-print as well (if they were reluctant before). There's nothing like reading and creating books you can hold in your hand.
If you would like to try out Big Universe, the company has so generously offered my readers a free subscription for 30 days. You can take advantage of this offer if you sign up by October 31st.
Here's what you need to do to sign up for the 30 day trial:
1. Go to www.biguniverse.com/account to sign up for your free account.
2. After filling out a short form, you
will be sent a confirmation email to activate your account.
3. After
activation, sign in.
4. When in your account, use promotion code: BUMOM09
Please let us know what you and your children think of Big Universe! Enjoy.
