who's in charge?

I was listening to a very proud grandmother last week who was sharing some gorgeous stories of the conversations her moko was having with her and her husband.  Nothing unusual perhaps, but this 3 year old 'doesn't talk'.  Her ECE teachers have shared concern, so these ramblings from her are significant.  But on this occasion, her imagination was running wild and she was talking happily.  The lights went on for me and I suggested that she create a blog for the granddaughter - let's call her Amy.  Amy cannot write obviously, but she can have her voice captured and shared.  What a powerful way to encourage her to keep on talking.  My friend can easily video or record her talking, produce a Voicethread and encourage all the relatives to comment.  Or she could just type what Amy is saying and post these snippets.  She can take photos of Amy playing and encourage her to talk about them digitally.  Amy was talking about the tigers that were in the trees near the house (dangerous place Napier), so she could be taken to a page of photos of tigers and select one to post with her stories.  Wow!!!

One of my reservations of blogs has been that they are 'owned' by the person who creates them.  While others can comment, in general, there is one driver.  For my friend, this is perfect.  It's their project creating a special bond between them, and what a powerful piece of evidence of prior learning to make available when she goes to school.  I'm excited, and can't wait to see how this one evolves.