We’ve reviewed several ‘For Dummies’ books on Simple Sojourns as of late. I like to think of these awesome little books as a way to learn about what could be complicated subject matter from others that have much more experience. And have it explained in understandable terms. I would have given anything if there was such a book as ‘How to Talk Neurological Diseases with Parents for Dummies.’ Why this example? At very young ages two of my children were diagnosed with neurological diseases and were under the care and treatment of a neurologist. If the doctor hadn’t tried to explain the conditions in layman terms, I would have been totally clueless. If I could have been able to read about the subject in a ‘for dummies’ format, I may have understood even more.
With that said … we have an excellent new book that we think should be in every home. I seriously don’t know anyone with children who isn’t digitally connected to the world in one way or another. It’s simply become a way of life. Even kindergartens now have computer time at school. Our grandchildren may be more adept in the digital world than even their parents. (I hope our kids don’t read this! We know the grands are more adept than we are!) We live in a digital world, and what we don’t teach our children (and grandchildren) at home, more than likely they’ll learn it elsewhere.
Amy Lupold Bair is an expert in and about the digital world. And that’s not just my opinion either. After all, Amy created the Twitter Party. That, my friends, is a very big deal! I’ve had the opportunity to meet Amy socially and listen to her speak professionally. I’m here to tell you this lady knows her stuff!
Her new book, Raising Digital Families for Dummies, is a handbook for anyone with children in their home. Raising Digital Families starts with babies and covers the ever challenging teen years. Amy gives counsel on how to establish digital family policies and how to put safety first. Families need to know online etiquette. And there’s a need to know when, where, and if family members are connecting digitally when parents/adults/guardians are not at home.
Our grands love to play video games. We’re careful about what they’re allowed to play. But many kids now days (especially our grands) know more about gaming systems than most of the adults in their lives. Amy has a whole chapter devoted to decoding gaming systems. Woo Hoo! She also covers online chats, search engines and image results (SO scary), and being aware of online ads, cyberbullying, social networking, and YouTube safety. YouTubing is one area that scares me the most. You just never know what will pop up in the sidebar.
Amy continues to share her expertise about mobile devices and great online resources including 10 social networks for kids. And she guides through the ten most popular places our family (and us) will be online.
Again, we live in a digital world. We need to arm ourselves with everything possible to protect our families. Think of it as putting on an armor that will protect them as they go about living everyday life … digitally. If we teach them and implement Amy’s counsel, we’ll be preparing them for when we aren’t standing by them. They’ll know the guidelines and safety rules and we can rest easier knowing they can be prepared to be left to their own devices. After all, as much as we wish we could keep our children in a protected bubble, we really can’t. We can only hope we’ve taught them well. Raising Digital Families for Dummies is a perfect tool for arming family members with a digital armor of protection.
If you’d like more answers or advice contact Amy at Resourceful Mommy on Facebook or Raising Digital Families for Dummies on Facebook. She’s happy to answer any questions you might have. She’s fabulous and you’ll love talking with her. I promise!
We received a complimentary copy of Amy’s ‘Raising Digital Families for Dummies’ to facilitate our review. All thoughts, opinions, experiences and photos are our own and cannot be used or reproduced without written permission. Affiliate link included.
Laura says
This looks like a good read! It scares me raising boys!
Raquel @ Organized Island says
Sounds like a great book. I love the For Dummies series. I see you went to So Fab Con. Can’t wait to read that post! 🙂