Safety: Internet Safety Lesson Plan: 1 hour core; .5 hour non-core

Internet Safety Lesson Plan: 1 hour core; .5 hour non-core

The official home-school year for my daughter has ended, but I still find things which might be useful as lessons once we get started again. Today, I encountered Surf Safely

Surf Safely seems like a simple enough site put together by the Missouri Attorney General, Chris Koster. I'm sure the Attorney General would very much like to not have to deal with cases where young people share their personal information with the wrong people on the Internet and become a crime statistic. As a site, Surf Safely consists simply of a letter from the Missouri Attorney General and a few links to get you started on your own researches.

The Parents section provides some links for further reading. These links are, of course, going to be my homework. Just peeking at a few links reveals much material to pour over. Even though I like to think I am savvy, aware, and wise; I must confront the fact that the world is a dangerous place and I should not go about blithely assuming the best in human nature. While the unsafe and unsavory may be few and far between, the Internet allows them access with which to throw a wide net. A very real danger exists for children to get caught if they are not told about online safety.

This is an important point for me to take home. Some of my friends seriously restrict their children's access to the internet and computers. As a part of my home schooling of my daughter, I have relied heavily upon internet resources. Reading some of these websites.. it helps get a more careful frame of reference into my head. While I do appreciate the ease of access to wide assortment of information; I have to also inculcate in my child a basic foundation of internet safety.

The links from the Children's section of Chris Koster's site point us in the direction of some resources more directly applicable for children. For example, one of the links takes to me to iKeepSafe Kids which contains some reasonably entertaining videos about "Faux Paws" which might both educate and entertain.

There seem to be 4 videos in this series. As educational material, the stories are available in several formats. The video format might be the most easily digested by children who are not particularly fond of reading. However, I would think that reinforcing the material might be improved by repetition.

First, ask the child watch them the videos.

1. Faux Paw's Adventures in the Internet

2. Faux Paw meets the First Lady

3. Faux Paw Goes to the Games

4. Faux Paw's Dangerous Download

Watching the Videos should take approximately half and hour.  (I believe the time spent watching the video would be considered "non-core" time in Missouri as while we might choose to call it "Computer Science" this seems a bit of a stretch.)

Next, after the child has watched the video, you can have them read the downloaded eBook. They are covering the same material and even children with learning disabilities or dyslexia should be better able to piece together the meaning of the eBook since they have just watched the video. Time spent reading the eBook is Language Arts: Reading. This is "Core" time in Missouri as I understand it. It seems reasonable to allow half an hour for the eBooks to be read.

1. Faux Paw's Adventures in the Internet - PDF
2. Faux Paw meets the First Lady - PDF
3. Faux Paw Goes to the Games - Flash
4. Faux Paw's Dangerous Download - PDF


Having gone over the material twice, now would be a good time to have the child type or hand-write a summary of the material and, optionally, point out any differences they noticed between the two.Where we run our homeschool, this seems to qualify as Language Arts: Writing. As such, you have the material watched, read, and reviewed. It seems to me the review will best let you know what the child learned from the material. Additionally, it could be used as an "Example of Work."

Although a very simple lesson plan, I would expect you can count on 1.5 hours of work. Half an hour of that time would probably be best called: "Non-Core: Internet Safety." The remaining hour of work is split between reading and writing, both falling under the heading of "Core: Language Arts."

After completing their work, if done successfully and any free time remains in the allotted 1.5 hours, perhaps some time playing a safety-related video game from AT&T is a suitable reward.

Safely using the internet,

Preakness Academy