Homeschool.com Magazine September 2013 | Page 30

by Lesli Peterson Author Bio: Lesli Peterson is Travel Editor for Homeschool.com, and a freelance travel writer. She is an unschooling mom to 2 young boys and bonus mom to two teenagers. From her home base of Atlanta, Lesli spends her time life-learning with the kids one road-trip at a time, and sharing her experiences along the way. Google+ 1. Get Organized My love affair with Pinterest began in 2012. I used it to keep track of knitting patterns and recipes. As the Pinterest community grew, so also did the creative ways to use the tool. Now, this website is an integral part of our homeschooling journey. It is means of learning from and of sharing with other like-minded families around the world. Here are five ways we use Pinterest for homeschooling. Can you add to the list? Find thousands of ways to get your homeschool organized. Search for homeschool planners in order to assist your day-to-day management. Maybe you are looking to better organize your records for the state, or you need help organizing all those supplies. Search Pinterest for tips from other moms who have tackled this challenge. One of my favorite things to search? Homeschool room ideas. You’ll find tips and tricks for storage, workspaces, libraries, and more. Here are a few phrases to get your search started: homeschool organization, homeschool room, homeschool planner, and homeschool storage. theme. Ideas may include art projects, science projects, math worksheets, recipes, printables, lapbook templates, and other creative ideas. Periodically I will find a resource that costs money, but most of the ideas we find are free of charge. I recommend searching the topic or subject you are interested in + the grade level. There is no need to add “homeschool,” as teachers use Pinterest and often leave ideas of great projects that easily transfer to a homeschool setting. For example, I might search “apple kindergarten” or “Shakespeare 2nd grade.” 2. Create A Lesson Plan As you begin to pin your homeschool activities and repin the ideas from those people you follow, you may begin to see a few names regularly recur. Be sure to take note of this; chances are that the families behind those names are much like your own family. Check out the blogs behind those pins; reach out with comments or an email. Words of This is how I personally get the most traction from Pinterest. Each week in our year is devoted to a particular theme or subject that my son and I have previously chosen together. I create a board for each theme, and search Pinterest for teaching ideas related to the 3. Meet Other Homeschool Families