truemind Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 Ok, I have tried to teach math without white board all this time but more and more I feel like we could improve learning math if we had a white board on the wall. What is your experience with white boards? Do you think it helps with teaching math? Do you have a good white board suggestion. I was looking at amazon and there are so many options...what brand is good one? I would like to keep it below $100 but if I have to spend more, I can probably go $200 max Any suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 I usually use the 16" x 20" on the table or counter or on our laps on the couch. Last week they were on sale at Target for $5-ish. I buy the cheap ones. Sometimes they get messed up or get broken so I don't worry about that happening with cheap ones. Likewise, I buy the 3 pack for a dollar of mini dry erase markers when they're in the dollar bins at Target so that I don't get annoyed when these cheap ones get left with the cap off. There are a few algebra situations in which we might have used something larger, say, on the wall, so that we might have the solution to the previous problem available to look at. Yes they can help with math, sometimes just for a little change in atmosphere. For some kids, they can seem magical, particularly for those who are reluctant due to handwriting issues. There is less friction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 The kids and I have small whiteboards (bought 10 of them at a homeschool convention for $1 a piece) and one medium board, but we have to hold it up and it is somewhat awkward to use. What really helped was when my mom and I went in together on a roll around white board. It is pretty large. We can wheel it anywhere and there is a cork board on the other side that we can pin up maps, math concept posters, science diagrams, literary references, whatever. The dry erase side is large enough that each child can stand at the board and work on whatever we are working on. We had so much fun doing addition with huge Roman numerals. We do a lot of science diagramming there, too. I can stick magnetic markers on it so we always have markers and there is a tray below the board for storing other things we might need. When we aren't using it we wheel it out of the way. I just don't have enough easily accessible wall space to mount a large dry erase board on the wall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 Well, I am a white board fanantic! My DSs would tell you it was clearly impossible for me to teach math -- or any subject! -- without a whiteboard. :laugh: DSs printed this Dilbert cartoon off and said this was me. :lol: And, like a previous poster said, whiteboards are miraculous with reluctant writers/pencil phobic DC (e.g., both of my DSs ;) ). We had 3 of these double-sided lap-sized white boards; they stored easily, they are portable, they could be cleaned up with Windex when ink started to accumulate, and with the finer-point markers, we had plenty of space for whatever we needed to write out. And, the ones I linked are double-sided, with a blank side and a pre-printed side. The graphing one was GREAT for charting things and for later on when we had to do graphing. The primary board has a blank clock and a place-value chart. The mid-skills board has a nifty fractions section and empty 100-number chart for showing math concepts, plus you can turn it lengthwise and use the lines as columns for lining up numbers for division, and it still fit in your lap. :) And the high-skills board has a handy U.S. outline map and World outline map for geography. At $6/lapboard, for under $25 you can get all 4 and everyone can have a lapboard. :) If you need/want a big wall-sized whiteboard, you can use dry erase markers on your sliding glass door or windows. Or, there have been past threads on using a sheet of showerboard or melamine from Home Depot to make a cheap, large-size whiteboard. Apply a coat of Turtle Wax before first use to help prevent "ghosting" and make cleaning easier and more thorough. This person attached a big sheet to the back of a white door, which puts it out of the way, and when erased clean, doesn't stand out and scream "white board on the wall". Or, get a good easel, and when done, fold up the easel and slide the whiteboard behind a bookcase. Happy whiteboarding! Warmest regards, Lori D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie12345 Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 I got a 4'x8' shower board for... either $11 or $14, I can't remember which. It lives behind the bookshelves when not in use. Math, grammar, spelling... it's awesomeness all the way around. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heidi Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 I purchased a white panel board from Lowes for about $10. I believe they were 3'x12' and I asked to have them cut to make three boards. They work great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGHEALTHYMOM Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 I was blessed with a HUGE white board with lines from a home school family who did not have room for it. It is super heavy and barely got in our house. It came from a school. I love that it is lined and holds any magnets too. I get cheap markers at the Dollar Store so I don't get too upset anymore when lids are left off. I am still considering smaller ones again for writing with our littles. We use the big one for Math, magnet play as well as some art! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nomen Nescio Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 Showerboard has served us well as a whiteboard on multiple occasions. We're thinking of actually replacing these odd gingham panels in the school room with showerboard, but if you need smaller pieces for a table-top writing surface they can cut it for you at the hardware store. I'll look into using Turtle Wax, though I haven't really had that much trouble getting them clean enough for further use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 Seconding the Mid-Skills boards Lori linked. You don't need a board on the wall. We like these much better. If they had two little holes so I could put a nice cord on them, they'd be perfect. Then I could leave them hanging on the wall and use them there or in our laps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK_Mom4 Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 Not nearly as exciting as these other ideas.... We have a nice 2x3 dry erase board on the wall here in the dining room where we work. Bought for about $30 at Office Max and it has a wood frame on it. DD used it for math daily for years beginning in 1st grade. Because it's on the wall where everyone eats, it doubles as the phone and other message board. Right now it has a list of saxophone supplies and one of DS18's Calculus problems involving parabolas. Any white board that takes you from 1st grade math through Calc BC is a good investment! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZooRho Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 I got a 4'x8' shower board for... either $11 or $14, I can't remember which. It lives behind the bookshelves when not in use. Math, grammar, spelling... it's awesomeness all the way around. :-) Totally this no reason to spend $100 at all. I love the white board. I do have some smaller ones that I have picked up here and there. I even have some graphing ones too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThatHomeschoolDad Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 On my last home depot jaunt I saw shower boards already cut down to about 2x3, or maybe 3x4' and marked as "white boards" where the other cut plywood was, rather than over by shower stuff. Very cheap. We have about a 12x16, but I'm thinking I'll need bigger next year (geometry). Mwybe wall mounted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emcap Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 I wanted an inexpensive wall mounted whiteboard but wasn't crazy about showerboard because I didn't want to bother framing it (we school in our eat in kitchen and I want it to look finished, also the board is quite thin and a frame would help prevent little artists from continuing their art onto the wall). Framing still wouldn't be a look I was totally happy with. I wound up buying this http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20251356/ . It works so well and erases beautifully, no ghosting or staining even if something is left up for a long time. It is raised maybe about 1 1/2 to 2 inches from the wall so we never have "overdraw" onto the wall from my 2 year old. It also has a clean, modern, simple, finished look, which is what I wanted. The downside is that it's not magnetic, but I knew I wouldn't get that in my price range. I have since seen several 4x6 nice whiteboards on Craigslist for $30-80, so that might be a good option too. Good luck, I seriously love my whiteboard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reign Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 If you want big. Lowe's has wainscot marker board 4ft long for $10. I love ours. We hung it in the kitchen and use it constantly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThatHomeschoolDad Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 There's also dry erase paint, if you want to go full-wall. Might be good for complex calc, or ad agency brainstorming sessions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrapbabe Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 Following so I can find this later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuvToRead Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 If you want big. Lowe's has wainscot marker board 4ft long for $10. I love ours. We hung it in the kitchen and use it constantly. This is what we have. It's great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmyontheFarm Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 This is my 3 X 6 glass white board that I was able to install for under $20. I found this patio table glass top which is made from safety glass, that is why it is a slight green color. My neighbor put it out to the road and it did have a few scratches on it. Once I washed both sides and decided which side had the fewest scratches, I then applied the white contact paper making sure to get rid of as many air bubbles as possible. Hubby hung it up on the wall using mirror hangers. I wrote with my different colored dry erase markers so you could see the contrast of the light green glass board verses the markers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom22ns Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 When we started homeschooling we used a 2'x3' white board. Then I bought a couple of small pieces of whiteboard so each child could have their own in addition. Then we hung a big piece of shower board from Lowe's, trimmed around it and added a tray for markers. I am one of those who think math just can't be taught without a white board. We rarely use it for other subjects anymore, although we used to. My kids used to use whiteboards instead of scratch paper for math. They have drawn and written every type of assignment on white boards, always more willingly than they would have done them on paper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robsiew Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 $13 at Home Depot bought us a 3x8 shower board. I like it, but have had trouble getting it clean. I've finally settled on Chlorox Wipes. I've tried wax, all sorts of markers and other things... this is what works the best. There is ghosting so I clean it 1-2 times a day depending on how much we're using it. We use it for math, but also for writing and spelling. It's great to have a big board! I figure even if we have to replace it a couple times it will still be cheaper than a huge whiteboard. We also have small lap sized boards the kids use for math and spelling as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlsdMama Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 Ok, I have tried to teach math without white board all this time but more and more I feel like we could improve learning math if we had a white board on the wall. What is your experience with white boards? Do you think it helps with teaching math? Do you have a good white board suggestion. I was looking at amazon and there are so many options...what brand is good one? I would like to keep it below $100 but if I have to spend more, I can probably go $200 max Any suggestions? I love ours from Costco. They are 2' x 3' and so cheap you can have several. They are $20 each and that's handy because you can leave info on them for the next day. Or you can have one just for scheduling, or one for AAS and the tiles, etc. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
73349 Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 Look at peel & stick as well. They are supposed to be repositionable and come in many sizes--check Amazon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rutamattatt Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 Also a Lowes shower board family here. Got ours for around $10 and use it all. day.long. We bought mirror holders for about $3 to hang it on the wall. My son does all his math work at it. We've had it for three years and we aren't even close to needing to replace it! We also have individual white boards for each student as well - just the plain cheapies from Target. Works great for school at what I lovingly call our "satellite campus" - Chick-fil-a. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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