| Copyright 2006 Julie Shepherd Knapp |
| Copyright 2006 Julie Shepherd Knapp. All rights reserved. |
| about the book |
| The Homeschool Diner's Guide to Homeschooling by Subject So, Your Homeschooler Wants to Make a Website? by Julie Shepherd Knapp, copyright 2006 Resources and advice to help children make their own websites... Maybe your child has a hobby they would like to organize into a website; or a creative streak that needs an outlet; or maybe your child is a young entrepreneur, wanting to start an Intenet business? Whatever the reason, you find that your child wants to learn about making websites, and you are the one who needs to find the information for them. Yikes! The good news is that kids can create websites without using any fancy software. They can also make and view their own websites without publishing them to the Internet. Free online tutorials by Web Monkey (start with "Authoring" in the How-To section in the right-hand menu) will get them started, and they will quickly be on their way to creating a website. If you want to help your child publish their website online, you will need to help your kids purchase a Domain Name, the official name and address for their website, (such as www.homeschooldiner.com) and help them choose the right web hosting service for their needs. Domain names can be bought from many vendors. It can be less hassle, though, to buy them from the web hosting company you intend to use. Some web hosts offer free hosting but they will post advertisements (of their choosing) alongside the website. If you're willing to pay a small fee each month, you can get an ad-free website for you child. Help your child choose a web host based on cost vs service. Single page websites may be free (with ads), limited size ad-free websites can be found for under $10 per month. Full service web hosting (that will allow you all the room and applications you may ever need, including Paypal sales) can be found for around $15 per month, and up. Although your child can build a website without using any special software, you may eventually want to purchase a professional software, such as Dream Weaver or Microsoft Expression Web (previously called Front Page), which makes the process much easier, once you master the use of the software. Both of these offer free limited-use downloads to try out their software. Some web hosts (such as Yahoo!, Tripod, and Homestead) provide their own, free HTML editor software. Using their free software can save you time and money in getting your website up and running, but may not, in the long run, be "robust" enough for a seasoned website builder, and it ties you to using that web host for publishing. But it may be good enough for your beginning websites. The Homeschool Diner was created with Yahoo! Web Hosting's free SiteBuilder software. I do recommend it. You can download it for free, and create a complete website on your computer, without knowing HTML language, and without publishing it to the Internet. If you decide, later, that you do want to publish it, though, you must purchase Yahoo! Web hosting service to get in online -- It will not work with other hosting services. Only high quality software, such as Dream Weaver and Expression Web can be transferred from web host to web host. I was able to create the Homeschool Diner with no more knowledge of websites that you get from going thru the Web Monkey tutorials. In fact, when I found the free Yahoo! Sitebuilder software, I gave up on the tutorials and used SiteBuilder to instantly create my website. But, I'm a relic from the pre-computer days (always looking for the least "techie" options ;-) ... and I don't care about making state-of-the-art websites, and I won't be making websites for a living. If you think your child may have a long-term interest in making websites, you should definitely consider purchasing professional level software for them. One note of caution -- if you decide to let your child publish their website online, do have a talk with them about Internet safety and the dangers of posting identifying information on their websites. You may want to restrict their use of personal photos, in general, and review their work before they publish each new page. Even older kids have trouble realizing the magnitude and immediacy of the danger, and you may want to routinely monitor their work. Making a website and sharing it online can be a an exciting and very educational experience. I have seen wonderfully clever and creative websites produced by kids -- everything from poetry to Lego space ships to dragon resources to Roman history. If this is something your child is interested in, be sure support their endeavor and encourage their creativity -- website development is a marketable skill and can lead to exciting careers in multimedia communication. Visit the Homeschool Diner Computer Resources page for more ideas on building websites, making video games, programming, and other computer-related activities. |
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