Sunday, November 17, 2013

Why you need a laminator and the free Parent Teacher resource center in Wichita and laminated Saints worksheet ideas

  That was a long title!  Well if you're thinking about homeschooling but are afraid maybe your thinking- "Wow, I don't have some resources because A) they are too expensive or B) They take up too much room or C) they are big", well here's your solution to a few of those problems. You need a place to purchase certain classroom materials, or need to borrow some huge laminators or cutting boards....etc. Here we have the Parent Teacher Resouce Center, here's their link and just scroll down a bit to see their hours and days open. They have manipulatives for sale (very cheap), blank puzzles, binding machines, prizes, construction materials, basically everything you would need. If your homeschooling, well they are open during the day ;) but they don't like under 8 in the resource room itself, there is a waiting area in the lobby.  I think I have laminated over 80 feet of materials to date, it's around $.30 a foot or less, I can't remember the exact price, but it's super cheap. Have no fear you have resources available, and it's open to everyone. They will ask you what school, just tell them you're getting into homeschooling, they will provide you with Parents as Teachers info. 
  But this brings me to my next point. You can buy yourself a nice little gadget for home, I love my Scott's Thermal Laminator. I love it! Did I say I love it yet? Anyway, you can laminate a regular size piece of paper with it- 8"x11". There are some that do bigger pieces, but I didn't see as consistent reviews on them to buy them. The thermal pouches make the difference too. I was confused at first by thickness, but I have concluded that means you just need to change the setting on your laminator from 3mm to 5mm so you get a good seal on a thicker piece of paper. The laminating pouches Scott's makes all come in the same size. You slide your paper or card stock in and the machine gently and slowly feeds it through. You can stop the machine if needed and restart the rolling process. Just be careful when doing that not to burn yourself. They are cheap and work great! So you can save a trip to the resource center unless it's something big.
  Here's some fun laminated boards I made for my kids, (here's a post on the games I made). I cut pictures out of Saints I wanted them to learn to recognize and regular objects out of old Highlights magazines, they have to put the beginning letter sounds or end letter sounds in the blank space provided. Also I use blank boards and I fill in letters or numbers and they have to fill in the missing letter or number. It's fun and cleans up nice. Don't just throw a boring worksheet in front of your kids, give them a dry erase marker and let them have fun wiping their boards. If you go for it get good pictures too, I chose famous paintings of Saints, I want my kids to get a classical education, and this is a form of art appreciation. You can print off the internet or use Holy Cards.




 I have laminated some other things too- like the pieces to our calendar, O Antiphon cards for the pocket chart,  and counting chart, flash cards, cards for making patterns with Lego Duplos..etc.. All stuff that has a learning objective and is fun.

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