Whether your homeschoolers have their own computers, or their own computer profiles, it is a good idea to create a customized start page for them. I have customized start pages for my kids using Google pages. The purpose of making a Google page for your child is to keep them from surfing around the internet and potentially running into unsavory information. Instead, I have everything they need at their fingertips. Here is how I did it.
Step 1: Sign up your child for a Gmail email address. They do not have to use it, but mine do. I have set up a copy of their emails to come to me, and they have never received questionable emails. They have had the addresses for 2 years.
Step 2: Sign into Google using their Gmail account info. When you sign in, you will see the welcome message. Next to the welcome message is a link that says “Make it your own.”
Step 3: That link will lead you to a menu of items to get you started. You can check options like weather, calendar bookmarks (for educational websites), Dictionary.com and more. You will definitely want to choose the “word of the day” option it is a great vocabulary builder. (See my vocabulary words of the day for exercises your child can do with their daily word.)
Step 4: Enter your bookmarks. You can use the bookmark function to add your favorite educational sites like these provided by Marilyn Smith.
Step 5: Organize your Google page. At the top of the page you will notice tabs. The first tab says “home”, and the second says “add a tab”. You can add as many tabs as you need to organize their site. You can have a page for news, a page for games, a page for math, a page for language arts, and whatever else you choose.
Step 6: Update and reorganize your Google page periodically. Every day new resources are made available to Google that you can add to your page and make readily available for your children. You will want to snoop around the Google page options periodically and swap out stale options for new and exciting ones.
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