1 week until we officially start homeschooling! I have a pretty good start on lesson plans and Malachi just asked me today if we could do reading called “reading” the first day we start school. I wasn’t planning on jumping right into phonics on the first day, but he is SO ready and willing how can I say no?
Two year old twins means I need lots of “stuff” to keep them busy while I teach the older kids. This week will be all about busy bags for the littles and independent activities for the bigs. All the activities must fit into my “dollar store budget” which means a lot of DIY and using things I already own.
Last week, I did a giant purge of the bigs’ bedroom which is basically a playroom. I sorted every toy into one of three piles: keep (the smallest), donate/sell (the largest) and trash. As I was sorting I kept out some small odds and ends that I could use for sorting and matching puzzles. These were mostly items that were originally part of larger games which were unusable because the other pieces were missing or broken.
After I was finished I had this box of items to work with:
I sorted them into groups of like items to make the matching games. I tried to make sure I would have easier games for the littles and harder games for Judah, my lover of puzzles (and the littles as they grow). I also broke out the new pad of white craft paper and brand new markers. One great thing about homeschooling is I get to use the new school supplies too.
Several of the games I made two sided. On the games below, one side is self-correcting by color; the shapes were traced in the same color as the object. The other side is more difficult with all the shapes traced in black.
The littles “helping”:
After 20 minutes or so of tracing, I now have 8 games (3 pages are double sided) for my busy bag boxes.
What are your best homeschooling on a dollar store budget tips?
5 Solae Academy 