Tuesday Homeschool Tips: Use what you have

Keep things simple in homeschooling. Instead of buying fancy-smancy colorful plastic beads, bears or bug counters, just dig into your pantry and give your child a pile of beans to count.

I found this Japanese teapot with six matching cups at a garage sale last weekend for five bucks! I've started making a pot of tea and giving the kids tea at the table while they work. It's fun.

My 3 year old has become enamored with coloring. This one thing has helped our homeschool so much. He will sit at the table and color quietly (shhh...it's school time), and drink her tea like a big girl.

Here's a perfect example my son demonstrated the other day of using what you have. He came walking up to me dressed in his chainmail. Doesn't he look authentic? This was after his nightly shower. He's got a brown t-shirt over his head and his brown bath towel is around his waist.

So why use what you have? Two reasons off the top of my head...

1. It's free
2. You didn't bring in more clutter to manage.

And speaking of free, I ordered Up From Slavery and Foxe's Book of Martyrs from Paperback Swap.


Have a favorite tip to share with us? Please do.