Are you looking for a way to help your kids review the basic facts of a subject? This is what we’ve done for over 10 years now. All you need is a homemade chalkboard (instructions are here) or a dry erase board.
Obviously, I feel hands-on learning is always best, but there are some things where review and even memorization are necessary. Multiplication facts for one, and foreign language vocabulary for another.
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The White Board / Chalk Board
The White Board / Chalk BoardThe best thing we did to facilitate this(starting about 10 years ago) was put a giant white board in the dining room, and on it we write down little bites from each of our subjects…sort of like a study guide when you are studying for a test. If there is something I want them to remember for this chapter in History, it went on our white board, which later morphed into a chalkboard a few years ago…the board has expanded since I now that my kids are all in high school or junior high grade, as well as with the three different foreign languages my kids are learning right now.
We use the information on our chalk board for review, discussion, quizzing, and learning whenever we are in our dining area. We talk about what we are learning, and we review often. We also use empty spots on the chalk board to help teach math principles and in some cases, it’s also a doodle pad. The board’s contents change from week to week. Sometimes it is loaded with information, and sometimes it isn’t so full. Sometimes there are phone messages on it, and other times it’s covered in smiley faces and doodles.
Currently on our board we are focusing in on foreign language. This is more because of the ages of my children. They are beyond rote learning in most other subjects, and are all in separate science and history books now that my youngest is nearly 13. With four children learning three different languages (German, French, and Mandarin Chinese—yes, Mandarin Chinese…I still marvel at that one), our board is consumed with foreign language tid bits. The oldest has graduated, but still learns with us sometimes.
The Calendar
Another section of the board has a calendar. I originally created the calendar using electrical tape and dry erase markers. Later, I used magnetic paint and chalkboard paint to create a new one, with enamel paint for the grid. I started off by taping off a five week grid with blue painters tape, painting on the grid, and then carefully removing the tape.
On it, we write out our engagements for the month, and we also use it for learning.
Using the Calendar for Learning
Just below it, we have a line that says “Today is Friday, October 7th, 2011″, which one child writes out each day. It used to be that I’d have the child who is working on spelling the days of the week and the months do this task (though now, they are all beyond this); now they do it for fun! We also have put this exact line in German, French, and Chinese on the board, to help those learning the language to get this down as well. Learning numbers, days of the week, and months is important. (in the photo above, there’s no Chinese this week)
For a while, we even had a Chinese-language calendar on the white board a few years ago to help my daughter learn the days of the week, months, and numbers as she learns her Chinese. A calendar is a must for learning English days, months, and numbers first of all (in early elementary), and then later learning these same things in a foreign language. You can buy a ready-made hanging whiteboard calendar, or you can buy a sheet of melamine board at Home Depot (about $18 for a 4’x8′ sheet of it) to make your own. Or you could even make a chalkboard.
Ideas for Using the Chalkboard for Learning
In the past, it’s included items such as sight words (irregular words),the alphabet, math facts, current phonics digraphs and diphthongs, history, parts of a flower, poetry, music notes, music chords, diagrams of the constellations in the night sky, and so on.
