The ABC's (and D's and E's) of Our Homeschool Success ~ "C"lipboards {Homeschool Essentials Blog Hop}

In my ongoing contribution to the Schoolhouse Review Crew's Homeschooling Essentials Blog Hop, I am sharing with you today the third item that our homeschool could not do without. Well, maybe we would survive, but things would be more difficult!

We conduct the majority of our school day at our dining room table. It has a rough tile surface so it is impossible to do worksheets and written assignments on it without tearing the paper and writing all scribbly.

The kids also like to do some of their worksheets while sitting comfortably on the couch and in the comfy chair.

A couple of years ago we started using clipboards to do all of our writing work. Each kid has their own and they grab it first thing in the morning for their first assignment. As we do worksheets throughout the day, I just add them to their clipboard.

If they have to do schoolwork at grandma's or on the road, for some reason, I can just load up their clipboards with all of their assignments and they are ready to go no matter where they are.

For a special gift this year, Kyndal decorated them each a new clipboard to start school. They love them! These were just cheap clipboards I picked up for a couple of dollars somewhere, but to us they are worth a million bucks!

What are the A's and B's of our homeschooling success?

"A" Plan
"Board" .. white board

You should also take some time to see what the other 88 Crew Members posting in the Homeschooling Essentials Blog Hop find as being necessary in their schooling. I especially encourage you to visit some of my friends: Laura @ Day by Day in Our World, Julie @ Nurturing Learning, Lisa @ Farm Fresh Adventures, DaLynn @ For the Display of His Splendor, Lori @ At Home: where life happens, Adriana @ Homeschool Ways, Brandy @ Kingdom Academy Homeschool, Meg @ Adventures with Jude, Sarah @ Delivering Grace.

ABCya

Eli's reading resource teacher shared a website with me yesterday that I would like to pass along. It's called ABCya . There are separate educational sections with fantastic games for ages kindergarten through 5th grade. I browsed the 2nd grade level, and it includes age-appropriate games about Letters, Numbers, Shapes, Geometry, Patterns, Mouse Manipulation, Art and Holiday games. There are lots and lots of fun and creative games for children to play. They are fun, but oh, so educational. Eli's favorite, in his short time playing it, was Create a Car . A lot of the games also have Apps available for purchase (99 cents for most of them) for the iPad and iPhone. I have been looking for another free website for games similar to Starfall , for some time. I think I have found it. I can feel confident having Eli and Brynne play these games.

Cells ~ It's What's for Dinner

Dawson made edible cells on Friday. He made an animal cell pizza ... and a plant cell chocolate chip cookie ... He reviewed what he's learned about cells the past two weeks, and I had dinner made by someone else. Win, win!! I am linking up at Science Sunday at Adventures in Mommydom.

Last Child in the Woods ~ Chapters 1-4

Welcome to our book study of Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv. To be honest, I have no idea what this "study" is going to look like. I imagine that when we get together I will post about all of the things that caught my eye. And I would ask that you leave a comment, or a link to your own blog post in the comment, about what caught yours. This isn't anything formal, ladies, just a place to talk about what we have read. I have now read the first four chapters of Last Child in the Woods two times. It is just so good. Several things have specifically hit me deep, but in general I just realized that "times, they are a changin'." Things aren't the way they were when we were kids. Chapter 1. Gifts of Nature ~ "When I see birches bend to left and right ... I like to think some boy's been swinging them." ~ Robert Frost What is your definition of nature? What feelings, visions, senses does it conjure up? For me, it's not a

AnonymousJanuary 22, 2014 at 9:24 AM
We use clipboards a lot, also. We got ours at Target last August for a dollar each. They have been a great investment! I love that they were decorated as a special gift. That is a great idea!
UnknownJanuary 22, 2014 at 9:43 AM
Yep! I grab clipboards at the dollar store. They come in handy for so many things!
Lisa M. (aka. Lisa @ Farm Fresh)January 22, 2014 at 10:24 AM
So far I think I could have written your posts this week! I agree 100% with clipboards! We have three (one for each of us) and we use them all the time--especially when the weather gets nicer and we move outside for school more often.

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