It is that time of year where one can find the goodies at the Dollar Tree

So, I went on a wee trip to the Dollar Tree, and found a couple neat things-so here they are:
(which means if you have one near you, you may want to take a wee trip there yourself)

The States wheel is perfect for our study of them that we'll be starting.  Way cool, and I am going to put that into our Geography Center for activities.  The little compass do-dads, well, I thought I could write some stuff on the back, like "kitchen" then he has to take that and his real compass and go to the kitchen to see which direction it is.  I can come up with all sorts of places (inside and out) that he can do this activity...again, it will go in the Geo Center.  The little Jupiter expanding towel is something I have seen but never tried, not exactly sure what to expect, but hey-we are picking up our solar system study with Jupiter tomorrow, so it is going in the workbox for fun!  

I don't know why this turned, it is correctly set in the documents, but guess you'll just have to cock your head for a second.  The arrow lines up to the state you want to know the stuff for...then on the other side, you can read the answers.  Fun!  I am thinking I will have my son do this for each state we cover, and have him fill in that info on his lapbook components-kind of a win-win situation-he can do copywork, get the answers for his lapbook stuff and I can step back and let him do it.  Yeahs.

Neat huh? On the back there is a place for the child to write the info on their state and it also lists the abbreviations for the state names.

This too turned even tho it is correct on the documents.  Well, I dunno what we'll find, but it will be neat to watch this grow. LOL

So there are some of the goodies.  I am going back for a couple more of something I found and will post that later.  Til then-enjoy some more ideas from the box.  Hey, and ya know those wall decorations I have noted (in this post and many others-the compasses here-you don't need to use em for what they are suppose to be used for...you can tweak em for all sorts of "works" and/or use em for the file folder games and  more-use your imagination ladies-

Well she is almost completed...but well-here ya go....the Geo Center

I will have to post another post with the links and sites where I found the majority of this stuff...as I am just too pooped to do so today.  But here it is -almost.  Yah see, when I work on these sorta things-I have it all in my head, unfortunately-that means there may not be parts of it available in the real world. Sigh.  So I am still looking for a poster I can chop up or a big pic of a globe for the lonely spot next to the maps holder...so pretend to see one OK?  Then, the Flora and Fauna-that is something we will work on in spurts-I just have to decide if I will do a long strip of Velcro across that section (couple actually) to then have the child pop up some critters and plants that are found in that region of the world or a different approach...I dunno...I will get to it when I get to it, I suppose.  As we learn stuffalage about the said region, then I will add information cards into the pocket for that stuff, and I want to add a few more Lat. and Long. maps with more detailed number listings, for the teen to use.  But for now-this will do.  I also have two teeny tiny compasses I got in a science kit last year...aren't they just so cute?  Well, I suppose if you want one of those, you can look at the dollar store to see if they have a wee bigger one available. Or maybe you have that kit too-I have to check the name but it was one I ordered for free last year-but I Velcro'd them up there too.  The picture of the compass is so I can say to the boy, "Hey, where is the Pacific Ocean from our location?"  He will have to figure it out by using the fake compass....yes, I do enjoy torturing my kids.  LOL

And what else?  All the stuff is Velcro'd to make my life easier for switching out maps and labels, as mentioned in the previous post....I think that is it for now....again-look for the info links later.

OK, so here ya go...I was trying to do an Image Loop of it and it dropped all the pics when I clicked something and honestly-I just don't want get my BP up today...so-well, I will upload it all on it later...but here is the 3 panels and a few close ups-

few of the close ups for ya...

The over all look [minus the MIA pieces], with added books, a puzzle and clipboards with the maps they fill out...

Just a peek of what I have been up to...our Geography Center

OK my batteries died whilst trying to get my photo shoot in...OI.  But this is a sliver of what I have been spending my time on.  This is my Geography Center (the display board type-like my science center one).  I am using some Home School in the Woods Olde World maps (reviewing this-so look for that info in a couple weeks), and various other goodies. I also ran out of Velcro (I know-I know-that is completely unacceptable!) and altho I pretty much have the other flap thought out and done-I cannot show it b/cuz I need that Velcro to finish it up to make it all perty like.  The center is sorta thought out but not quite....I think as I go along with these projects....so it is empty at the moment.

Imagine all the stuff completed on this side (just pretend now...) the continents that are on the top map are actually Velcro'd to the map-they will get placed on that green card (once I have that wonderful Velcro in my possession) for storage.  The oceans one is almost done-I forgot I needed two Pacific Ocean cards-oops.  The idea with this main map is, that the student will see the world position of whatever it is we are focusing on. So when we come to studying oceans/continents-all they have to do is glance up to see its location in the world.

Then the 2 pockets below that, have a Velcro dot on them so that I can change out the labels of what it is I am wanting them to find.  Then the focus point is a map that shows what it is we are zeroing in on.  Right now it is the Pacific Ocean.  Then the child will take their sheet (that I put in their workbox on a clip board, or will have it by the display-depending on my mood) and fill in the info I want them to (in this case for my 2nd grader-it is just "North Pacific" and "South Pacific", but for my teen-she will have to note all the little seas and countries found within the map area).

The little blue card with the fish-well that is a fun one I made to fill in the blank spot below the focus map (I will explain that reason in another post) in which I took a part of a notebooking page of HSintheW's map collection, and put teeny tiny Velcro spots for the fish to go (there are 2 b/cuz the Pacific is in two spots on that map-but usually there is only a need for 1) which have the Velcro (big surprise heh?) on their back sides-so the child will put a fish on the ocean we are discussing...when we get to the continents-I have turtle erasers (found at the local Dollar Tree in the school section-in a container with a bunch of erasers) to place on the continent we're focusing on.

All of this is Velcro'd for a reason-so that I can switch up the type of study we are doing-
right now it is oceans and continents
next time around it will most likely be the states-so I need to be able to have different labels when necessary and move the position of the maps (some are vertical)
and so forth.

The idea here is to make this very versatile so I get the most use out of one of these display boards-no need to buy a new one for every type of Geography study.  I didn't that with the Space one-since we'll be studying it for a loooonnnngg time-and will cycle back to it when he is older...so I was not  as concerned with that issue for that application.  But the geography center is a different story-I am not lingering too long over any one subject-so I need it to be interchangeable with not much time betwixt subjects of focus.

Well, once the ole Velcro issue is resolved, the middle section has stuff on it, and I have the right side completed-I will post the whole enchilada for you-just wanted to tease ya and let you know that I have not fallen off the face of the earth-and that I am having a few moments of creativity.

Answers to some good ??s

Some of my pals have asked a few questions about the science center.

As for using the centers with my teens-no I do not use them (yet) as my sassy teen would probably snicker if I did-but she does move thru-out the house to work on some subjects.  Her stuff is mainly in her boxes or is listed in her Big Schedule book (like the guitar for instance-no stuffing that puppy in the wee WKBX pockets!) I honestly cannot think of a center that would work with her curriculum-but if I come across something-I will be sure to post it.

As for where I got the pics for the science center-I got them from a few spots:
I purchased a 2 pack of space posters from the local Dollar Tree b4 the year started. It was in the teacher section.  I cut up the one into 2 long parts to fit the side panels, then the Planets sign/planet pieces was another poster in that pack. I cut out the planets and sign-then laminated em, added velcro to the backs so that he could put them up on the bottom section of the board, in order.  I used black velcro to hide it better on the board.  I used a yellow sheet of cardstock and just used packing tape to put it on the board-so it is a pocket.  That is where I add worksheets and such (the pics on that are cut out from the cover of a space coloring book I got from the Target Dollar Section b4 school started too-I have been adding a few of those pages for him to do also).  I also bought the pack of cards about space at Target.  I laminated them, and add them to the respective pockets (same technique as the big pocket, just with smaller card stock pieces) and rotate them out on occassion.  I am still looking for some other space stuff to add in the blank spots-but for now it works.  When done-simply fold and store away.  Gotta love that!  (the board was from JoAnns-they had a boat load of selections b4 school started, with many different colors-which unfortunately I didn't get...but there is always this coming summer to stock up)....

And I think that answers the ??s so far.  Keep those coming ladies-sometimes I forget to post the details-LOL. 

**The notebook info will come along soon-hopefully!  You can make these for science (which we will do)-using the multitude of foldable mini-books and also for basically any subject that has lots of info one needs to remember.

Center Idea-Money

The center I threw together last nite. I have the posters/coins just taped on the wall right now-as I am not 100% sure that is where I want to keep the center. I have to be careful cuz the school area is now in my library and the walls are extremely difficult to fix (it is a two step, two paint project)-so I must be careful not to poke too many holes into it. Once I figure where it will stay-I will get a cork board to hang the stuff on.
Anyhoo-I have the Cube Friends game on the easel (he made at one of the Home Depot Kid's Workshops) and the Dollars and Cents game too. I put the money bank project there as well. I will give him a little dish of coins to put into it (once nephew is down for a nap) and he can flip thru the booklet he worked on as well. I will continue to add stuff thru the week and next. I just ran outta steam last night. But it gives you a glimpse of what I have for a center area. Oh, and the truck on the easel, that is the one he made using those melt beads from the art project I showed a few posts ago-those are such cute projects, and he loved doing it.


Dollar Tree finds (not all recently, some items I have been "collecting"). There are some gigantic coins (comes in a packet-kinda flimsy paper, so recommend laminating or gluing on to card stock, if you need to get a lot of use out of them-not sure exactly what I wanna do with em, outside of adding decoration to the center area), the Dollar and Cents game I had to rummage thru the boxes to find, of course fake money/coins, the poster that came with the Telling Time poster in the package, and 3 money sign design file folders I found too. I am laminating them (not real sturdy) then using them for the file folder games I just bought. Figured they are a cute folder for the math games.



The back side of the poster. I just have to take it to the library to make a copy. These will go in the center area for him to do.

Oh, I forgot...in the giant coin pack-they had one Sacajawea coin-so I wrote "Money Center Activity" on it, laminated it and put a Velcro dot on it so that when I pop that into his workbox, he'll know he can go there and "hang" for that amount of time. I also made a bunch of other center notices to go in the boxes, and will post them soon too.