Track Your Child's Internet Usage with Ms. Wise & Ms. Otherwise

Ever wish you had a system that allowed you to easily keep track of what your kids are doing on the internet? Perhaps you would like a system that makes it difficult for a child that is grounded to be able to access certain sites on the internet? Here's something we have been using for a little while that is very helpful. I thought I would pass the info along to you. This is FREE!

1. Go to www.fss.live.com.

2. Once there, set up an account. (If you already have a .msn or .live email address, you probably already have an account.)

3. Add each child. On each of the computers in your home, you need to set up each of the kids as a user (unless of course you have a computer they are denied use of, then simply do not set them up as a user on that computer). When they want to use the computer, they must log in using their own password. This allows fss to track their usage.

No one will want to log in as someone else, because you have set things up specifically for each child. For instance, in my household, web filtering is higher for Princess than the older kids. So, if Sticky or Bub decided to outsmart the system by logging on as Princess because they won't be able to get to where they want to go! Even still, we have cautioned the kids about sharing their passwords with their siblings because they wouldn't want to risk someone else racking up computer time using their name.

4. When a user is done on the computer, they can do one of two things. They can "log out" or "switch user". If they choose the "switch user" option, they do not need to shut down all their browsers, documents, etc. If they choose "log out" everything must be closed. When someone is planning to get back on the computer, switching user is a good way to go. The only downside of using the "switch user" option is that it leaves a bunch of programs running in the background and this can slow down your computer. (Side note: If your computer is not showing both options, go to "help" on your computer and type in those terms and it will show you step-by-step how to make them show up.)

5. Choose the level of filtering you would like. This can vary from blocking only "adult" content sites to customized filtering to allowing only child friendly sites.

6. Turn the activity reporting on. This allows you to see where your child has been and how long they have spent at the computer. It can also tell you if anything has been downloaded to that computer.

7. ou can use the contact management aspect of the program to control who your child is chatting and emailing with through a few places.

8. If a child wants to view a website that you have prohibited, they can send you a request, or if you are nearby, you can simply type in your password right then to allow access if desired.

9. When you find that your child has been spending too much time on a certain site, or is otherwise in trouble, you can go in and block specific sites that they are grounded from. Or, you can block everything and have them ask for your permission every time they want to access something on the internet until you feel they are ready for computer privileges again. (This definitely gets to be a drag after a while.)

10. The key to this program is to regularly check up on internet usage. If you simply sign up for the program and never or rarely check up on the kids, you aren't taking full advantage of the system. You can use it as just a tool to block specific sites, or you can use it more effectively by seeing where your kids are spending their time. If you do this, you can take the time to talk to them about questionable sites, give them input on how to stay safe on a certain site, possibly find a fun site that you would like to join with them, and you can also share information from you to your child and from your child to you. It is really incredible the things children are able to figure out about the computer that most of us parent's would never have thought of.

While it may seem like quite a bit of work to get this system up and operational, it is worth the effort. As with the examples mentioned above, it opens communication lines to help us protect our children until they are mature enough to understand things and to know how to discipline themselves. It is a good tool to help teach these things.

Has anyone else used this system? What tips & tricks do you have to share?

Free Educational & Self-Improvement Classes Online: Discovered by Ms. Wise & Ms. Otherwise

Whether you are looking for something for yourself, or to supplement the education of your children, these free classes are a great tool!


Free Ed -- This gives a pretty comprehensive guide of free internet courses in varying subjects. You simply click on the desired course and start learning. They have attempted to locate courses for which you don't need to purchase extra materials

BYU Independent Study -- It appears that everything you need for each course is right there online for you. They have a lot of free family history courses, religion, relationships, physical fitness and other courses. (If you are participating in the NVBL, the bowling course would be great!)

About.com -- This site is a place to find more places that offer free online courses. It is not too comprehensive a list.

Online Education Database --Here they list 200 college courses you can take for free in varying categories. It includes a short description of each.

Word2Word --This site has compiled a listing of language courses from all over the internet. There are too many to evaluate well. Interested in a language? take a look around.

Good Typing -- Simply learn to type here in several lessons.

Yale Open Ware Courses -- These courses use prerecorded lectures, etc. Some of the classes give you a final exam, some give you the final exam review, some have none, you can check back through your lessons to see how you did. It appears that you need to purchase some texts at least on the courses I looked at.

Berklee Music -- These courses appear to be partial courses of the complete course.

Notre Dame Open Ware Courses -- Here you probably need additional texts. The lectures appear to be class notes with some extra links to full-read materials and videos

Utah State University Open Ware Courses -- The courses I tried to preview didn't give a lot of information, but it looks like you simply have to click the button to download the course in its entirety. Some of the courses are right there for you without having to download, (ie the math). It is complete with lessons to read, homework, answer sheets, and quizzes.

Have you done any of these? Do you know of any more? Let us all know about them! Hope these are helpful.

Sport Maki Says Join the National Virtual Bowling League with Us!

Registration is now open for the National Virtual Bowling League which will begin the week of January 12, 2009.

What in the world is the National Virtual Bowling League??? No, it isn't bowling on the Wii. You can watch the video below to get a good explanation of how the NVBL works, but here's what happens in a nutshell:

1. Gather friends and head to the bowling alley
2. Each week, bowl the number of games for your division
3. Report scores each week on the website
4. Check the bowling website for weekly results.
5. Repeat weekly
6. See if you win



Who can join? Anyone! This fun competition is great for all ages and skill levels. NVBL can be a great family time as well.

Where is it? It is everywhere! It doesn't matter where in this beautiful world you live. As long as you can get to a bowling alley, you can join.

Where can I find out more? Find out more and register at www.completeleesports.com.

Ask Coach Kevin questions at bowling@completelee.com.

Internet Safety

Yup, serious topic today.

I was at the library the other day when a book on keeping kids safe online caught my eye. Having read through it, I realized it was probably time to have a little chat with my children about online safety again. I was also glad to note that I have been doing a lot of the things the book suggested already and I also had an idea or two that weren’t even touched on in the book that I view as being very important.

It’s entirely possible that you don’t know everything your child is looking at, listening to and participating in on the net. In fact, it would probably be true say that it is impossible to know all those things. It is also impossible to know all the sites out there that could cause trouble for a child.

Even though there are a lot of variables and you may not be completely web savvy, there’s ammunition that you can use to help protect your child from harm. Or better yet, you can help your child to learn to fortify himself or herself from harm.

Today, being a Monday, we have Family Home Evening. Hmm. Better stop there and explain. If you already know what FHE is, skip the next paragraph. ;)

What is Family Home Evening (FHE)? In our church, Monday nights are set aside for “building and maintaining family relationships. Activities can include games, songs, discussions, treats, short lessons, family stories, and so forth.”

For FHE, I am going to do a short lesson to the family about the topic of internet safety. You can find my outline here if you care to use it to talk to your own kids.

I’m not going to chronicle my entire outline here, you can go look at it if interested. (If you have actually already looked at my internet safety freebie, it has been upgraded quite a bit.) Anyway, let me just share a few things, like my top three most important topics. They are (in no particular order):

#1- Never give out any personal info.

#2 - Always follow promptings.

#3 – Only chat, email, IM, etc. with people you have already met in person or have parental approval for.

If you can get your kids abiding by those three rules, they’ll do pretty well. I know that my lesson outline isn’t all encompassing. Please leave a comment if there’s something you think should also be included. It will benefit all of us that read it. Thanks!