...that are useful in home education.Last week I taught in a Kindergarten and 1st grade classes. Each teacher had some things that are smart that I realized I could use at home. Many things in public school are not useful at home (most really), but there are things that are useful in both circumstances.
Personal Dry Erase Boards
I have a large dry erase board, which is nice in a lot of ways when teaching a concept that I want to have both of us (or all of us) write on the board together or I want to write a lot of details. The drawback is that it takes up space and in our smaller rental we don't want to a) put big holes in the walls to put it up and b) use valuable wall space that is needed for all our furniture.
These personal sized dry erase boards are much better for spelling quizzes, math computations, and grammar practice. I have tried to reduce the amount of paper we use and these dry erase boards are PERFECT! The 1st grade teacher has them for each student and has them practice math problems and spelling on them while she teaches the lesson. It made it pretty easy to have the children show me their boards so I could quickly see who needed help. The second thing she had was to use socks as erasers instead of the flimsy erasers that come with the sets. Personally, it gets a lot more of the flakes erased than the eraser anyway, and you can always throw them in the wash. (It is also very easy to find "divorced or separated" socks). She has the students store their dry erase markers in the sock.
Rolling Carts
The kindergarten teacher I subbed for (and will sub every Wednesday through the end of the year) has rolling carts for each child under their tables. I also saw this used for a special education room. If I had a home school room I would definitely use the rolling carts. Right now, I like our "cubby" solution, but if I had younger children the rolling cart would be my choice.
We have some rolling carts in our home school room and one that is also being used as our "Joy Cabinet" for Lynzie and Jace. I LOVE that they are cheap, they are easy to keep clean, and they roll anywhere they need to go. I LOVE the idea of those smaller white boards! Any idea where I could find some? I too have been trying to find a way to stop wasting so much paper, and these would be great when Gannon, Zoie and Joshua want to practice their writing skills! :0)
ReplyDeleteThese are some great ideas! I never could get the dry erase boards to work for me in the past, but you've inspired my to try them again. Maybe if I become the guardian and protector of the dry-erase markers, I won't have a problem with random decor on my walls... :-p
ReplyDeleteWe already had a dry erase markre marker incident...on a new white shirt! Ugh! However, I found out that Murphy's Oil Soap takes it right out. Amazing! I'll post the results soon. It really did work.
ReplyDeleteI love the rolling cart. I have one with my scrapbook supplies in it.
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