Posts Tagged ‘recyclable school supplies’
One for all! Books that is.
Recently I just read about a charity that is helping to supply books to homeless shelters, battered women’s shelters etc in order to give the kids there something to read. Imagine the gift these books will be to allow kids to soar away with their imagination and leave behind the cruel world around them.
“I met a child who loved to read but didn’t own a book. I found a lot more like her when I took a closer look.
I rallied troops to help me and we sought books by the heap. And now we find the kids in need and give them books for keeps!”
This is the motto for Books for Keeps which I think it is worth all of us adopting.
Another great way to help give books to others is through BookMooch. This is a book swap site in which you post books you wish to give thereby earning points. You can then use your earned points to choose books you would like to mooch from others. Your only cost is the shipping cost of the books that are mooched from you! I often have people ask if I have a certain book, and if I can find it on there for free I will pass it along to them!
Many local libraries also collect books near the holidays in order to give the gift of reading to those less fortunate. Books are such an integral part of learning, and learning is an important part of life. So giving the gift of reading, or even a used book, is necessary so that there is at least one book for all!
Homeschooling can get costly when you are buying all the books and materials needed for the lessons. But when it comes to math manipulatives, all you have to do is look around your house!
Manipulatives are defined as “any of various objects designed to be moved or arranged by hand as a means of developing motor skills or understanding abstractions, especially in mathematics.” Using manipulatives in math can help explain tough concepts. Also, manipulatives are a great teaching tool to use for kinesthetic (hands-on) learners. Geometry manipulatives are easy to find around the house, just look for specific shapes – tin can (cylinder), sugar cube, book (rectangle) and the like. Counting manipulatives are also easy to find as you can use anything that you have a bunch of – marshmallows, paperclips, toilet rolls and more. Sorting and graphing manipulatives can be anything that differs in colour or shape – different coloured paper clips, beads or buttons or even cereal.
Before you spend the money on fancy math manipulatives, look around the house and see what there is you can use for free!
Ever have one of those days when you are not sure what to teach? You are tired or not feeling well, have nothing prepared? Well why not have a Garbage Craft Day.
For this activity you need glue, tape, crayons and a recycling bin full of plastics, boxboard and paper. (avoid any dangerous items like metal cans). Make a pile of these recyclables in the middle of the room and give the kids a theme like – space ships or insects – then let them at it. Kids will spend hours sifting, creating and having fun building a garbage day creation. They will be learning engineering concepts as well as stretching their creativity. You can also follow up with lesson on recycling.
Smaller kids would love to use a cardboard box and turn it into a car, or rocket by adding wheels (pie plates, margarine tub lids etc), antenna, steering wheels and more!!
It is great to allow students to have self-directed activities, and very helpful on days when you need something to fill-in to your lesson!
The environment and the issues surrounding it is a common topic today. It is important to teach children about the environment, about the threats to it and about how they can help.
Simply reducing, reusing and recycling can be the first steps to helping the environment. Lead by example: recycle used paper (make sure you use both sides), seperate your trash into recyclable, compostable and reusable (great sorting lesson for kids). Donate out-grown clothing to a thrift store or charity, pay attention to packaging when buying products. Getting your children involved in the choices and the actions will help them learn how important it is to do.
Use downloadable resources so you only need to print the pages you need. Use household items meant for the recycling bin for crafts and science experiments. Melt down old crayons to make new ones, use a blackboard to write notes rather than paper. Adopt some wildlife as a gift for someone or as part of your school lesson plan. We adopted a sea turtle, then learned all about it and tracked his movements in the ocean!
Just the effort of thinking about it, and making good choices can make a world of difference.
To help pass the lesson on read The Lorax by Dr. Seuss, underneath all the rhyme and silliness there is a strong message!
The trend these days is to go green – reduce, reuse and recycle. This is a great lesson to teach children so that it becomes a habit that they don’t have to think twice about doing. One of the best ways to teach this lesson is by example.
Using green school supplies such as paper made from recyclable materials is one step. Having downloadable workbooks is another. By downloading the ebook you only print the pages you need, the ones suited to the lesson and learning style of the student. This greatly reduces the problem of half finished workbooks and saves how much paper needs to be used!