Kids Can Learn About Blogging with WordPress at WordCamp Miami

Have you or your child wanted to learn about blogging? WordCamp Miami is an annual event for new and current WordPress users, and once again this year they are inviting children ages 6 – 14 to attend a special kids edition of WordCamp where they can learn about WordPress AND create their own blog!

If the words “create your own blog” sound super-techy, never fear! If you can write an email, then you can create a blog. WordPress is an ultra-simple and free blogging and website creation platform that makes blogging not only a breeze, but it can also enrich your homeschool at the same time.

What is WordPress?

WordPress is an online, open source website creation tool written in PHP. It is the easiest and most powerful blogging and website content management system (or CMS) in existence today, and it is FREE.

How Can WordPress Enrich My Homeschool?

To begin with, learning to blog with WordPress is a great way to teach children how to use an industry standard in website creation. It’s a great springboard for learning other types of code, web design, and web development.

Some parents use WordPress blogs to upload all of their children’s work as an online portfolio. This can make annual evaluations a breeze. Other parents use WordPress to help organize their homeschool and rant blog about it.

If your child is a beginning writer, or even a reluctant writer, creating a blog is a great way to kickstart their writing. You can create a photo blog, where you showcase your child’s pictures and they write the captions. Don’t be surprised when those captions get longer and longer 😉 You can share your blog address with family and friends which can encourage your child to write even more.

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A blog can be a great tool for students who want to showcase their talents. A WordPress blog is an easy way to have an online art portfolio, or a place to show videos of sports highlights for college recruiting purposes, drama, or musical performances. Blogs are a favorite for creative writers who want to share their short stories or poetry with the world.

Your child can use their blog to complete assignments in their courses. For example, our high school aged daughter took a journalism class and posted all the articles that she was assigned on her blog. She also uses it as an online journal to share her musings and ideas about life as a teenager.

The best thing about WordPress is that there is a huge community of people who use it, and every year we get together in Miami to learn and to share from each other at WordCamp Miami.

WordCamp for Kids

This year’s WordCamp is the weekend of February 19 – 21, 2016.

WordCamp started their beginner’s workshop JUST for kids and young teens to learn about blogging in 2014. Parents and guardians can grab a ticket for their children ages 6 to 14 on the ticket page. Children’s tickets are free. Parents must have a ticket as well, but they can use this code for 100% off: PARENTSWORDCAMP

They are finalizing plans and some surprises now. Here’s what you can expect:

• On Saturday and Sunday registered kids ages 6 to 14 can get their own “Child Theme” version of an attendee bag. It will hold some nice surprises – including a WordCamp Miami coloring book (the coloring book is so great we’re sure some adults will want one for themselves!)
• On Sunday, we will have a “Kid’s Workshop” in the morning devoted to teaching children w/ their parents how to safely and securely publish content on the web with WordPress (we will update this page with a link to more information on this workshop shortly).
• Sunday afternoon children are welcome to join us for ice cream (and not just ANY ice cream – nitrogen frozen ice cream, just like last year).
• Sunday after lunch we will be hosting a crafts/STEAM workshop. It’s going to be educational, fun, and creative!
• At the end of Sunday, children and parents (along with the rest of our attendees) will be invited to hear our first kid’s panel (the mention of the kids’ panel is currently on our official schedule). If your child blogs with WordPress and would like to talk about it, then please nominate them to be a part of the panel.

They aim to provide more information prior to the event about the above (and possibly other plans). Please stay tuned and looking forward to seeing you next month!

Disclaimer: They are not providing daycare services at this time. Parents or legal guardians must accompany their children at all times and are responsible for providing alternate snacks/meals if they so choose. Bringing children under the age of 6 is permitted although we ask you to be conscious and courteous of your fellow attendees, especially during sessions.

To learn more about WordCamp Miami 2016, please visit their website:
https://2016.miami.wordcamp.org/

Does Your Child Already Have a Blog?

In addition to once again having a Kid’s Workshop, WordCamp Miami is aiming to have their first kid’s panel: “The Next Generation of WordPress Users”. They want to showcase how young people are using WordPress, how they view blogging, and what other technologies they are using to publish content on the Internet. The panel is meant to not only feature youths, but also educate those in attendance what the next generation’s motivations are.

Are you a parent or guardian of a child (age 18 or under) that uses WordPress (hosted version or WordPress.com)? Does the child have a blog, even if it’s NOT on WordPress? Then we would like to see them apply (w/ parent’s permission) to be a part of a 30 minute panel on Sunday (February 21st) afternoon.

Parents and guardians can simply email us directly at [email protected] to nominate a child.

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