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Homeschooling and blogging have been parts of my daily life routines at the moment. All of them were started from my mind and will. As what I said in the previous posting, I started blogging without any clear purpose to be called a blogger. I just wanted to share my homeschooling thought, information, idea, and resources which are blended with our passions. For me, they cannot be separated right now. I started blogging because I am homeschooling and my mine topic of blogging is about homeschooling. Even blogging is my private “self homeschooling”. Blogging is one way to pour out my mind to share with others. At the same time, I love watching here and there in the virtual world a lot of homeschooling blog. I have been very touched in how they manage their time, sharing their ideas, spreading their ministry through their blogs.
In the middle of not well maintained blogging direction, I found three great bloggers:
- Amy Lynn Andrews @bloggingwithamy
- Darren Rowse @probloggernet
- Tanya Peterson @blogelina
They sharpened and refreshed my goals and skills in blogging. I start to understand the importance of networking in homeschooling and blogging in the virtual world. Being involved in virtual networking won't make us end our social life as we are social creature. I call our acquaintance, friends, partners, colleagues in the internet as our virtual buddies. They have played important roles in my journey of homeschooling and blogging.
- Having virtual buddies will let me learn by communicating with other people that have the same necessity with me, so that they understand what I want and I can learn from them as well. Nobody around me I could talk regularly with about both blogging and homeschooling when I started them. No books I could refer to about what I want in the really right time I need it. Living with both homeschooling and blogging virtual buddies has let me do both of them more enthusiastically, not lonely.
- My virtual buddies have kept me being enthusiastic in doing both homeschooling and blogging. I always pray for being consistent in homeschooling, but I am very sure that God has already given me one way of being still enthusiastic through blogging. The spirit of sharing and getting things for the sake of of the life has kept me on the show. Sharing just makes me happy as I always think how happy the person who gets the benefit from me.
- Not only the spirit of making someone happy that makes me keeping in touch with my virtual buddies, but my curiosity towards other culture, thought, experience has made me aware about how precious my virtual buddies are. By reading their postings, articles, links, and comments, I usually get encouragement to keep going and to improve what I have done.
How Do I Get Virtual Buddies?
Visiting is the best key of all. By wandering around the internet, I can see how people deal with homeschooling and blogging. We are separated by the oceans and continents. By visiting someone else's blog, it seems that I am visiting his or her house. I can peek into their daily life. in the virtual world it is free to visit any homeschooler's house. I just try to leave comment to get the link each other. Most bloggers and homeschoolers are nice and they will pay another visit to my side so that we can get acquainted each other.
Find and Join Groups in Facebook is a great way to get communities of anything. I am very lucky to have both homeschooling and blogging buddies in Facebook. Anytime I have trouble or problem that really annoying and I need suggestion from someone else, I will try to throw it to the relevant group.
Besides, we visit each other regularly in our blogging group. This kind of visit and commenting has been really encouraging for me.
Swapping Each Other Sites in Real Meeting is one point I will never miss when I meet homeschoolers in a meeting. I don't have any blogging convention or other blogger meeting here. I don't belong to any homeschool co-op around. Therefore, meeting them in real life is something very precious for me. Even I will have special time to visit houses of homeschoolers I have seen in virtual world whenever I go to another town. It's good to have convention if available.
Social Media is a powerful tools to get virtual buddies. Adding someone to be a friend won't be enough I think. Giving time to chat for a while get you know each other much better. A regular visit or chat will be better, I think.
Do you have any virtual community(ies) to encourage your activity or job?
How important is it or are they?
Do you have any idea or suggestion to get and to expand your virtual buddies relationship virtually?
Adelien Tan is a mother of three awesome boys and a wife of a great husband. They are a home education family who live in Surabaya, Indonesia, where home education is still very rare. English is her foreign language, but She tries to use it in blogging.
Adelien, I sure am glad we are in the same groups. As homeschoolers and bloggers we don’t have a lot of social interaction outside of the home with other adults. My blogging buddies are extremely important to me for feedback and friendship.
We have been to busy dealing with kids, homemaking, and blogging as our virtual buddies are very attentive and caring. Hahaha
Virtual buddies are fantastic! You can learn and receive so much support from other that share your same interests. You build relationships with people from all around the world and gain insight and perspective on other countries and cultures. Blogging without my buddies wouldn’t be the same. 🙂
~Lorelai
Life With Lorelai
Without buddies just get us surrender easily
I think our Blogelina group does a great job of encouraging one another!
Yes, we are great…
It’s amazing how much has changed in homeschooling (virtually) since my mom was homeschooling me! All for the best, I think!
I think it also depends on where you are and how you access resources. For homeschoolers without co op and without library like us, no virtual buddies just makes it more terrible. Great to hear you were homeschooled too. Wonderful. Do you plan to homeschool your children too later?
I totally agree! I love my virtual blogging buddies too! I have learned so much and gained support and encouragement. And though I don’t homeschool, I enjoy reading about what you are doing 🙂
Everyone is great and nice. So lucky having you all my buddies.
I agree with you about taking advantage of your virtual resources, it’s often harder for me to meet people in real life that are bloggers. We are lucky to have a local bloggers group but I have yet to introduce myself in person and get out and network. I am much better networking virtually in comfort of my own home 🙂 you’ve got a great blog and supportive followers, always enjoy my visits and seeing what others have to say.
We share same interest reading blogs and writing blogs.
Yes, great places for bloggers to connect and so important
I don’t have any nearby friends to consult or talk about those two topics. Thanks for stopping by.
I completely agree! I wouldn’t be where I am today without my online friends for blogging, homeschooling, and writing.
Same with me Rochelle. I am left out your second day. Thank you very much for stopping by
Adelein,
The process of starting and writing my first blog, Human In Recovery, opened me up to community through my virtual connections with other bloggers and my participation in the Ultimate Blog Challenges. I have learned so much about myself, the technicalities of blogging, the writing process, and even what it takes to develop and grow in community with others. As a result, I started engaging more with people I’ve known IRL and am connected with in social media, to the point that my actual network of mutually supportive friendships are growing in quality and number.
Thanks for sharing your experience
Be well,
Lillian
I don’t think that things you mentioned about blogging are taught at any school. We just catch them from the blogging buddies, don’t we? Thank you for stopping by.
Stopping by from UBC. I like your idea that blogging is like homeschooling ourselves. Nice. Love my virtual buddies too!
Oh, nice to see you Debbie. Thank you for stopping by
Adelien, You said that so well! I agree with you 100%! I know without the amazing blogging friends. I wouldn’t be where I am today! Funny, today my mom was watching me and she said I had an addiction. I told my husband what she said. She has no clue what it takes to keep a blog up! I know that I have to really manage my time to keep my blog. I have lots of goals for it. The main goal being to be a voice and help other mothers out there! I also love my kids, but I too am very social. Having virtual lives with many of the same people as you have -has kept me sane. Last year I was very active in MOPS. This year, I don’t have the time. I have my blogging friends. I have my blog. I really had to set priorities to get everything done! I love having a friend across the big lake!
LOL… The support from the real world won’t be as strong as the virtual world itself. Not only Indonesian homeschoolers that I get acquaintance with, but also do the overseas ones. My dream is going around the world to meet many people from different countries and culture. It hasn’t been achieved yet, but at least I have some in my virtual world. Thanks for stopping by.
I admire the way you go about your task of homeschooling your children. What a great idea to help and support each other on the internet. Very best of luck. Revisiting from UBC.
Thank you very much For stopping by, Francene
I totally agree! I’ve learned so much and “met” so many interesting people through Tanya’s blogging buddies. They’re the best!
Sure. My eyes are opened because of Blogelina too.