Next Child News!

Ok, it's up and running. I know it took a while, but I've got a few posts and a few pictures and links up, so feedback is great if anyone has the time. It's at wildcalling.blogspot.com, so take a look!

Progress & etc.

Life is crazy, isn't it? Just when you think you have everything together, you don't manage to show up to class...

BUT even if I can't get that straight, I do seem to be making more progress. Everywhere I turn I am finding more exciting sources to link my site to, and that is definitely going to be a little time consuming! (At least for me, as these processes still aren't intuitive). I've also been doing a lot of reading, so what I'm hoping to turn to this week is a little more of the actual writing.

I'm scared to admit this, but I'm scared to start posting on Next Child. It's such a clean slate right now. That is admittedly boring, but it is also rather flawless. I want it to be a better blog than this one, and I'm nervous about how to make it that way. So I've started practicing at home, on my non-internet-connected-computer (that way nothing sneaks online before I want it to!).

I want to be honest that I'm not a pro on this stuff, but I don't want to give so many disclaimers that no one thinks it is worth their time. I want to be a lot of things... but I've been enough of them for Tuesday.

Camping with Kids

I was reading through my old issues of Backpacker magazine (admittedly to do research on my upcoming September-long trip through the West...) when I found a section devoted to family issues. I'll blog a lot more of it on "Next Child..." but I wanted to share some highlights from their Sept '07 issue:

Age: 3-6 years:

"Unexpected challenge: getting your child to poop in the woods. Many kids this age will hold it as long as they can, rather than do their business without the cool, clean comfort of the porcelain throne. Obviously, this is not a good or healthy option...

Pack This: Headlamps for every child. If you don't, they'll beg for yours..."

I love the insight shared by people who have obviously been there and done that! With their help, the rest of the world can be a little more prepared.

BDS for Thursday

My "BDS" (read: Brief Daily Session) for today was not as productive as I would like for it to be. The internet is just so darned distracting... even when I'm trying to focus!

Be that as it may, I did find some good websites with directions for some of the projects that I want to blog about. I'd like to give directions during my blogs, too, but another resource is always helpful, and these sites will allow me to skimp on detailed descriptions when necessary. One in particular, on how to build a scale solar system is excellent- it does all of the necessary calculations for you. Even though I'd encourage older children to do these calculations themselves, or with help, it's nice to have a back up reference!

More Progress...

Today I've been working on topics to discuss. I'm excited to blog about different things that you can do outdoors with kids- a lot of these things are projects that my mother did with my sister and me, and some are new ones I've been finding. Eventually I hope to try most of them to give detailed reports on the blog about my tips and how they work, but obviously that won't be possible for all of them... here's a sneak preview of activities:

1. Gardening (of course!)
2. Learning about xylem and phloem by dying celery, Queen Anne's Lace, etc...
3. Making a solar system to scale in the backyard/ball field/wherever.
4. Making your own compass with only what you could find in the woods. (Dirt & sticks)
5. Camping, including kid-friendly backpacking food & gear.
6. Field identification.
7. Studying pond scum.

I'm aiming to provide lots of details to make these & other ideas as user-friendly as possible. Tips, criticism, and suggestions appreciated!

Progress

Today I spent time looking for pictures to illustrate my blog title. Lauren's blogs always look so professional, so I'm hoping to make mine that way too!

Unfortunately, the picture that I found and fell in love with is copyrighted, so I've sent an e-mail to the photographer asking permission to use it. Otherwise I'm going to have to get busy with my own camera and see what I can come up with...

Also, I've been compiling "nature oriented" activities to do with kids so that I can start blogging about them soon, complete with detailed descriptions of the activities. Most of them are ones that I remember from my childhood, but some are new, and all of them are benefiting from some detailed revision.

Finally, I've decided on a blog name. Juanita suggested that I use some of Richard Louv's language to come up with a name, and so I did. For better or for worse, it's going to be "Next Child in the Woods."

Research

My weekend went something like this:

Saturday night: Went out to steak house for dinner, and of course had about 12 lbs of leftover beef.

Sunday morning: Decided to enjoy steak & eggs, but had no eggs.

Late Sunday morning: Went to Hy-Vee to get eggs... walked in the door & saw mounds of loose Brach's candy. Impulsively scooped up a bag of milk caramels & husband announced that if I got caramels, he could get ice cream. Headed toward ice cream and noticed display of seed packets. Decided it was absolutely necessary to grow tomatoes, carrots, and beans this year...

Sunday afternoon: Played in the dirt.

Moral of the story: Compulsive shopping yields delightful afternoons? I'm not so sure if that's always how it works, but this time it was great. PLUS, it's good research. One great way for kids and adults to get involved in nature is to have a garden, even if it's a teeny-tiny suburban one, like mine.

Nomenclature, continued...

I know that I'm harping on this, but I feel it is really important. I'd like a title for my blog that indicates an appeal to being in/with nature, and I'd like for it to be provocative without being misleading or overly descriptive, aka Natureisgoodforchildrenanddultstooandherearsomeideasofhowtointeractwithitalongwithresearchthatsupportsmypoint.blogspot.com
You get the idea.

So, here is my only current idea, and I'm asking for responses to let me know if I'm on the right track, even just a tiny bit.

"Call of the Wild"

Too Jack London-ish? Too misleading? Too dull? Archaic? Sneaky? Tell me what you think...

What's in a name?

I've always believed there's quite a lot in one, really. That's what I'm struggling with right now. It's a minor hurdle, as far as hurdles go, but I don't want to start my blog until I've got the right name for it, and so far I haven't got one.

I know that I want the blog to center around the positive effects of nature on people, particularly on children, and on how to gain nature exposure. But within that realm, I'll be talking about adults, children, education, local topics, general topics, etc... and I'd like a name to encompass all of that. Or, if encompassing is too tall an order, I would like for it to be a connective link. Plus, I want it to be clever. But not too clever. Or punny. Even though punny can be good.

I'll keep thinking...

Web 2.0 in the News!

On the way home from Iowa I was listening to NPR, and imagine my surprise when I heard this story!

If you have a few extra minutes, it's interesting to listen to, but if you don't, I'll put it in a nutshell. Apparently Comcast was actually trying to block BitTorrent sharing and uploading with techniques they called "traffic-shaping." All of this info "hit the fan" last October, and this past week it was announced that Comcast and BitTorrent will be working together to ensure peer-to-peer file sharing activities can be conducted. The NPR story does a great job explaining some of the details in layman's terms for Luddites like myself.

Here's where things get really interesting, though. Not only was an arguably more "Web 1.0" company interfering with the success of a "Web 2.0" one, but it could also be argued that Web 2.0 is the reason this behavior has been corrected. According to Adam Theirer in an article I read, "The Internet community has the ability to closely monitor service providers and call them out when they make boneheaded moves. The power of collective pressure can keep providers in check." He and others think that it is this pressure that motivated Comcast to become a team player. The moral of the story? Don't mess with Web 2.0, or you may get more than you bargained for!