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I have finalized my 2013-14 Shopping List Pinterest board. Check it out if you are interested.
I am reusing some things (Reading Reflex, math manipulatives, Writing With Ease Instruction Text, Usborne World History, and an old Story of the World Activity Book I found in my Mom's stuff), but I am still having to buy a lot. Maybe next year I will be able to use more of what I already have for Thing2. Then again, maybe not!
My financial conscience balm is that the total of my shopping list is thousands less than sending the kids to a private school. And even though it is several hundred dollars more than sending them to a public school that I already support through taxes, I get to maintain control of their education, which is priceless in my book.
Needless to say, I am super excited to have my list. I plan to wait until after the OKC Curriculum Fair to order. If possible, I will go and buy there. I would love to support the vendors who travel to these fairs and let us homeschoolers flip through actual books and handle materials before we buy.
Showing posts with label Pinterest. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pinterest. Show all posts
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Friday, April 27, 2012
Countdown to 1st Grade
I once proclaimed that Pinterest might be worth more than wasted time. Since then, we have done several projects inspired by that inspiring, time-grabbing site.
My favorite use for Pinterest, though, is making lists. Specifically, curriculum lists as we count down to first grade and Pre-K. I have a board for each school subject so that I can pin curricula, books, and activities that interest me. I try to include age range and prices. When I decide against something, I delete the pin. Since I am a bear of very little brain, this helps keep confusion at bay. I predict that making final decisions and ordering will be tons easier this way!
After rereading a post from last summer when my kindergarten books came in, I am itching to order! But for now, I will keep studying my copy of The Well Trained Mind (it is never far from my hands) and pinning.
Here are my boards:
Math
Language/Literature
Logic/Extras
Social Studies
Science
The fun part is researching. The hard part is choosing.
I would LOVE for you to post comments on any pins or on this post about my possibilities. Have you used any of them? What about cost effectiveness? Is it convenient? Is it thought provoking? What's the fun factor?
My favorite use for Pinterest, though, is making lists. Specifically, curriculum lists as we count down to first grade and Pre-K. I have a board for each school subject so that I can pin curricula, books, and activities that interest me. I try to include age range and prices. When I decide against something, I delete the pin. Since I am a bear of very little brain, this helps keep confusion at bay. I predict that making final decisions and ordering will be tons easier this way!
After rereading a post from last summer when my kindergarten books came in, I am itching to order! But for now, I will keep studying my copy of The Well Trained Mind (it is never far from my hands) and pinning.
Here are my boards:
Math
Language/Literature
Logic/Extras
Social Studies
Science
The fun part is researching. The hard part is choosing.
I would LOVE for you to post comments on any pins or on this post about my possibilities. Have you used any of them? What about cost effectiveness? Is it convenient? Is it thought provoking? What's the fun factor?
Monday, February 27, 2012
Cloud Dough
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Here's some fun stuff introduced to us by Flights of Whimsy via Pinterest.
It is Cloud Dough. Simple enough for even me to make. Interesting enough to keep Thing2 busy while I worked with Thing1.
I mixed 4 cups of flour and 1/2 cup of baby oil. It made a silky substance that formed when packed but also crumbled easily.
Don't let the mess worry you. It's as easy as sweeping up dry flour. After we played, we bagged it up to use again later. To us it was definitely worth the time, effort, expense, and mess.
Here's some fun stuff introduced to us by Flights of Whimsy via Pinterest.
I mixed 4 cups of flour and 1/2 cup of baby oil. It made a silky substance that formed when packed but also crumbled easily.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Ivory Explosion
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Another Pinterest-inspired activity from Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas.
This is one-fourth of a bar of Ivory soap:
This is what it looks like after being microwaved for 15 seconds:
This is what it looks like after being microwaved for 30 seconds:
This is what it looks like after one minute in the microwave (not much different):
It feels like lightweight styrofoam and crumbles easily. It makes a slick, soapy mess when you add water.
Thing2 smelled nice and clean after this "science experiment."
Cutting the soap bar was a good opportunity for Thing1 to learn about simple fractions. It seems like he understood.
Another Pinterest-inspired activity from Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas.
This is one-fourth of a bar of Ivory soap:
This is what it looks like after being microwaved for 15 seconds:
This is what it looks like after being microwaved for 30 seconds:
This is what it looks like after one minute in the microwave (not much different):
It feels like lightweight styrofoam and crumbles easily. It makes a slick, soapy mess when you add water.
Thing2 smelled nice and clean after this "science experiment."
Cutting the soap bar was a good opportunity for Thing1 to learn about simple fractions. It seems like he understood.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Sensory Spaghetti
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Inspired by Pinterest: Sensory play with colored spaghetti.
How I did it:
1. Added a jumbo-sized box of spaghetti along with a good bit of oil to boiling water and cooked for seven or eight minutes.
2. Drained spaghetti and rinsed with cold water.
3. Divided spaghetti between two zip-loc bags and added lots of food coloring to each one.
4. Shook the bags.
5. Repeated steps 1 through 4 with another box of spaghetti.
6. Kept it in the fridge until it was time to play.
How it turned out:
A little sticky. All in all, very satisfying in a messy way. It made enough for six or eight kids to play with. Their favorite part was cutting the "hair" with scissors.
What I would do differently:
1. A little more oil after coloring maybe?
2. Next time I will put some newspaper under the work area so we can just throw the mess away instead of picking up tiny, sticky spaghetti pieces off the floor.
What surprised me:
Thing2 (6) liked it more than Thing1 (3 1/2).
What I liked:
As I was distributing the spaghetti, Thing2 commented on the look, the feel, the smell, and the taste. Sensory, indeed!
They cooked snake food, cut hair, wound it around fingers, used machinery (tongs) to move mounds, and searched for monkeys (from Barrel of Monkeys) in the noodles..
Inspired by Pinterest: Sensory play with colored spaghetti.
1. Added a jumbo-sized box of spaghetti along with a good bit of oil to boiling water and cooked for seven or eight minutes.
2. Drained spaghetti and rinsed with cold water.
3. Divided spaghetti between two zip-loc bags and added lots of food coloring to each one.
4. Shook the bags.
5. Repeated steps 1 through 4 with another box of spaghetti.
6. Kept it in the fridge until it was time to play.
How it turned out:
A little sticky. All in all, very satisfying in a messy way. It made enough for six or eight kids to play with. Their favorite part was cutting the "hair" with scissors.
What I would do differently:
1. A little more oil after coloring maybe?
2. Next time I will put some newspaper under the work area so we can just throw the mess away instead of picking up tiny, sticky spaghetti pieces off the floor.
What surprised me:
Thing2 (6) liked it more than Thing1 (3 1/2).
What I liked:
As I was distributing the spaghetti, Thing2 commented on the look, the feel, the smell, and the taste. Sensory, indeed!
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Pinterest might be worth more than wasted time.
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Hurrah for me completing my first Pinterest project!
Inspiration for this menu board came from Once Upon a Chocolate Chip Pancake.
On the back of each menu card is an ingredient list for easy shopping list compilation.
The plan is to use the cards out of one box then put them in the second box. After all the cards are used from the first box, we will rotate through the ones in the second box again.
Why I am excited about it:
1. It's like E-mealz but customized for me and my freezer full of beef and pork.
2. Variety might be limited with only five weeks worth of menu cards (hope to make more soon), but I am excited about the simplicity. (The Husband might be asking, "What variety?" in his mind, but, bless his heart, he would never say that outloud.) We have the same basic meals all the time anyway, and nobody complains.
3. It's not as ugly as my grease-spattered paper magneted to the vent-a-hood.
Ways I tweaked it:
1. I used leftover wrapping paper instead of scrapbook paper.
2. I used stamps for the days of the week.
3. Obviously, mine is simple in design. But you would expect that from me. I am not known for my artistic abilities.
Besides the frame ($8 at T.J. Maxx) and the crayon boxes (I needed the crayons for another project), I used supplies from around the house.
I fell in love with Mod Podge and felt accomplished in a crafty sort of way, but the accomplished feeling vanished when I attempted the next Pinterest project...I hope the recipients of our Valentines cast as mantle of charity on my poor, artistically challenged soul.
I plan to start a Pinterest board of completed projects and successful activities. Maybe the fulness or emptiness of that board will keep me accountable for the time I spend browsing.
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Hurrah for me completing my first Pinterest project!
Inspiration for this menu board came from Once Upon a Chocolate Chip Pancake.
There is a clothespin for each day of the week and five weeks worth of menu cards.
On the back of each menu card is an ingredient list for easy shopping list compilation.
The plan is to use the cards out of one box then put them in the second box. After all the cards are used from the first box, we will rotate through the ones in the second box again.
Why I am excited about it:
1. It's like E-mealz but customized for me and my freezer full of beef and pork.
2. Variety might be limited with only five weeks worth of menu cards (hope to make more soon), but I am excited about the simplicity. (The Husband might be asking, "What variety?" in his mind, but, bless his heart, he would never say that outloud.) We have the same basic meals all the time anyway, and nobody complains.
3. It's not as ugly as my grease-spattered paper magneted to the vent-a-hood.
Ways I tweaked it:
1. I used leftover wrapping paper instead of scrapbook paper.
2. I used stamps for the days of the week.
3. Obviously, mine is simple in design. But you would expect that from me. I am not known for my artistic abilities.
Besides the frame ($8 at T.J. Maxx) and the crayon boxes (I needed the crayons for another project), I used supplies from around the house.
I fell in love with Mod Podge and felt accomplished in a crafty sort of way, but the accomplished feeling vanished when I attempted the next Pinterest project...I hope the recipients of our Valentines cast as mantle of charity on my poor, artistically challenged soul.
I plan to start a Pinterest board of completed projects and successful activities. Maybe the fulness or emptiness of that board will keep me accountable for the time I spend browsing.
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