A Few of My Favorite Things, verse 2
A few more of my favorite tried and true things for homeschool
Pet Bowls & Car Wash Sponges from the Dollar Store
If you’re going to do art in your homeschool, I highly suggest grabbing Dollar Store pet bowls and car wash sponges. Cut and trim the giant sponge in half until it fits into one side of the pet bowl. Now you’ve got a perfect set up for painting. You can dip and clean your brush in the water side and gently brush off excess water on the sponge. Rinse both out (sometimes the sponge takes a while to clean) and they last for yeeeears. I completely stole this idea from Cassie Stephens, a former art teacher and author, who has the best tips for art in the classroom aka homeschool.
We’ve been reading these for years. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve asked my kids, “where did you learn about that?” and their response: Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales. I love a book you can strew and and they pick up and read over and over and over again, learning new things with every read. These graphic novels are fun and enjoyable nonfiction with engaging illustrations and so. much. information. Sometimes the books are about major historical events (WWI) and sometimes they’re about a person or lesser known moments in history. I’m just thankful because they filled some gaps while taking the pressure off of me to hit everything that’s ever happened.
Rhodia journals & Papermate mechanical pencils
Has anyone ever bought a planner thinking it will solve all their problems? Has anyone ever used said planner? (now, people like that do exist and I have a friend who would emphatically answer yes to those questions.) However, I have found that planners are money pits for me. Oh they’re nice and pretty. But I’ve never actually figured out a way to fit what we do into those boxes and dates and lists. So, I stopped. But what I did discover was the Rhodia Bullet Journal with a dot grid. I do not necessarily use it as a bullet journal so don’t let that put you off (or beware if you love bullet journals, this might hurt a bit.) What I love about these is the feel of the pages (nerd alert!) The paper is a good weight and my favorite pencils feel like butter gliding over them plus when I do use pen, it doesn’t bleed through . My favorite is the “goal book” for the open-ended calendars at the beginning.
How do I use it? Hmmmm, how to explain?
Sometimes the journal is a place to brain dump my ideas, usually haphazardously and always messily. Sometimes, if I take a masterclass or any homeschool-y class I take notes in it. I often use washi tape on the edges so I can refer back to those pages easily. Big picture ideas or unit ideas for the coming semester/year get jotted down (and usually forgotten but it was fun at the time.)
I also use my journal to write down ideas for the coming week (or often current week…or even the past week - don’t judge.) These are reminders of things that I want to be more consistent with, ideas I don’t want to forget, possible activities or things to watch or listen to, and oftentimes, additions to what was already there added in after the fact.
If we complete something, I check it off so I don’t forget that we actually did it. If we don’t, it gets added to next week. Or I decide it’s not important enough to write down and attempt to try again. I call these lists “suggestion lists” for our school week so that I don’t feel horrible when I don’t check a single thing off. I try to keep them to the bare essentials, too; I don’t want to overwhelm myself.
Oh! I almost forgot. There’s a pocket in the back of the journal which has come in so handy for odds and ends, most of which don’t actually have to do with homeschooling but that’s where things go (like the postcards we received back from 102-year-old D-Day veteran, Papa Jake’s thank you postcard or discount codes for small businesses I love to support - you know, the ones that handwrite “Thank you’s” on their calling cards.)
While I love picking out a new color and getting a new journal (and being all weird about the sensory experience by petting the cover and pages) I do not get a new one every year, only when needed. They usually last me a couple years if not longer because I’m still not great at consistently planning but thanks to these beauties, I feel better about myself. And who doesn’t need that?
So there you have it. A few more of my favorite things. What would you add?