GRAND Magazine - March 2009 - (Page 30) T care ake Preschoolers social-networking—should we be concerned? By Ruth NathaN W below, Webkinz online, a social networking site where children can create unique environments and feed, clothe and entertain their virtual pets. hen saying goodbye to a friend, we often say, “Take care.” It’s a pleasant way of saying “take care of yourself while we’re apart.” How do children learn what the expression means though? How do they learn how to really take care of themselves? One path, certainly, is learning to take care of others. One way children typically learn how to take care is through paying attention and looking out for their pets—from dogs and cats to careful handling of ladybugs on the run. Children’s literature has always been a lively force in this regard. Who can forget Charlotte’s Web —the story of Fern, who takes care of her pet pig, Wilber, who in turn takes care of the barnyard spider, Charlotte? And recently our grandchildren have read about Opal, the 10-year-old who mothers a dog in Because of Winn Dixie . On the ’net, children learn to take care, too, as they adopt pets on sites like Webkinz that offer children the chance to own a horse, though they live in a city; a cat, though they might be allergic to cats; a tiger, though they are scary and wild; a dog, though their apartment complex won’t allow one. What’s it all about? Webkinz is an educational and social media site, a Myspace-like environment for very young children. Their introduction to Webkinz begins with the purchase of a stuffed animal similar to the Beanie Babies of 20 years ago. The twist is that the Webkinz “pet” comes with a secret code to set up an account on Webkinz. com. Once there, a child “adopts” her pet online (using the code from the price tag), gives her virtual pet a name and a room, and gains access 30 GRAND MARCH 2009 Click and connect to more resources instantly where you see this symbol: http://www.webkinz.com/us_en/ http://kids.aol.com/homework-help/language-arts/book-notes/charlottes-web http://www.mce.k12tn.net/dogs/dixie/because_of_winn_dixie.htm
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of GRAND Magazine - March 2009 GRAND Magazine - March 2009 GRAND View Contents GRAND Central Isn't it GRAND? The Hippest Grand of All? Saying Goodbye Necessities, Not The Perils of the Purse Take Care Sexy at Sixty 50 ‘Hidden Treasure’ State Parks Resources GRAND Finale GRAND Magazine - March 2009 GRAND Magazine - March 2009 - (Page 1) GRAND Magazine - March 2009 - GRAND Magazine - March 2009 (Page Cover1) GRAND Magazine - March 2009 - GRAND Magazine - March 2009 (Page Cover2) GRAND Magazine - March 2009 - GRAND Magazine - March 2009 (Page 3) GRAND Magazine - March 2009 - GRAND View (Page 4) GRAND Magazine - March 2009 - GRAND View (Page 5) GRAND Magazine - March 2009 - Contents (Page 6) GRAND Magazine - March 2009 - Contents (Page 7) GRAND Magazine - March 2009 - Contents (Page 8) GRAND Magazine - March 2009 - Contents (Page 9) GRAND Magazine - March 2009 - Contents (Page 10) GRAND Magazine - March 2009 - GRAND Central (Page 11) GRAND Magazine - March 2009 - GRAND Central (Page 12) GRAND Magazine - March 2009 - GRAND Central (Page 13) GRAND Magazine - March 2009 - GRAND Central (Page 14) GRAND Magazine - March 2009 - GRAND Central (Page 15) GRAND Magazine - March 2009 - GRAND Central (Page 16) GRAND Magazine - March 2009 - Isn't it GRAND? (Page 17) GRAND Magazine - March 2009 - The Hippest Grand of All? (Page 18) GRAND Magazine - March 2009 - The Hippest Grand of All? (Page 19) GRAND Magazine - March 2009 - The Hippest Grand of All? (Page 20) GRAND Magazine - March 2009 - The Hippest Grand of All? (Page 21) GRAND Magazine - March 2009 - Saying Goodbye (Page 22) GRAND Magazine - March 2009 - Saying Goodbye (Page 23) GRAND Magazine - March 2009 - Saying Goodbye (Page 24) GRAND Magazine - March 2009 - Saying Goodbye (Page 25) GRAND Magazine - March 2009 - Necessities, Not (Page 26) GRAND Magazine - March 2009 - Necessities, Not (Page 27) GRAND Magazine - March 2009 - The Perils of the Purse (Page 28) GRAND Magazine - March 2009 - The Perils of the Purse (Page 29) GRAND Magazine - March 2009 - Take Care (Page 30) GRAND Magazine - March 2009 - Take Care (Page 31) GRAND Magazine - March 2009 - Take Care (Page 32) GRAND Magazine - March 2009 - Take Care (Page 33) GRAND Magazine - March 2009 - Sexy at Sixty (Page 34) GRAND Magazine - March 2009 - Sexy at Sixty (Page 35) GRAND Magazine - March 2009 - 50 ‘Hidden Treasure’ State Parks (Page 36) GRAND Magazine - March 2009 - 50 ‘Hidden Treasure’ State Parks (Page 37) GRAND Magazine - March 2009 - 50 ‘Hidden Treasure’ State Parks (Page 38) GRAND Magazine - March 2009 - 50 ‘Hidden Treasure’ State Parks (Page 39) GRAND Magazine - March 2009 - 50 ‘Hidden Treasure’ State Parks (Page 40) GRAND Magazine - March 2009 - Resources (Page 41) GRAND Magazine - March 2009 - Resources (Page 42) GRAND Magazine - March 2009 - Resources (Page 43) GRAND Magazine - March 2009 - GRAND Finale (Page 44) GRAND Magazine - March 2009 - GRAND Finale (Page Cover3) GRAND Magazine - March 2009 - GRAND Finale (Page Cover4)
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