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Whiteboards...Are They Necessary?


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Maybe a silly question, but we're heading into our first year homeschooling and I keep seeing how everyone uses whiteboards!  I can't, for the life of me, figure out how I would use one.

 

I have one kid (heading into 5th grade), and I don't see how I would use it.

 

Can y'all tell me why you found them necessary?  :)

 

Thanks!

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We use ours pretty much everyday. I will have the kids do some work on there, I will show them how to do things on there, we use it for a lot of subjects. I was actually quite surprised with how much we have used it (this past year has been our first year homeschooling.) I also find it helpful for them to have their own mini white boards. We have one mini chalk board that is nice to use every once in a while, but the white boards are a total hit. I just wish I had a bigger one- it really would be helpful!

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One word, MATH. 

 

I don't think I could have survived math without a white board all these years. I work problems, the kids work problems, mistakes erase and it is so much easier to learn in big erasable print than it is on paper.

 

 

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Well, I am a white board fanantic, so YES, they were necessary for ME. My DSs would tell you it was clearly impossible for me to teach math -- or any subject! -- without a whiteboard -- see this Dilbert cartoon.  :lol:  But not everyone likes or needs them; so I have no idea if they are necessary for YOU. :)


 


Advantages:


- Whiteboards are miraculous with reluctant writers/pencil phobic DC.


- They are great for working out math problems or grammar, demo-ing spelling, brainstorming ideas and organizing for writing a paragraph, or for explaining just about anything.


- Invaluable for demonstrating word roots and adding endings, prefixes, suffixes, and for syllabication.


- Lap-sized white boards are easily stored, portable and everyone can have one simultaneously.


- They save on paper waste.


- They are useful when your students are practicing oral presentations or demonstrating something.


 


 


We had 3 of these double-sided lap-sized white boards: double-sided, with a blank side and a pre-printed side. The graphing one was GREAT for charting things and for Geometry 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 the high-skills board has a handy U.S. outline map and World outline map for geography.


 


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.


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We use ours daily when schooling.  We have three lap-sized ones.

 

We use them for learning/practicing math problems (before setting dd loose on her workbook). 

We use them for marking words while learning to read (dividing into syllables, marking vowels and special sounds).

 

If there is a mistake, we discuss it on the whiteboard first, then dd replicates it (with or without the whiteboard as a prompter) in her workbook.

We use the whiteboard to draw simple diagrams to explain science or history.

 

We use the whiteboard for alphabetization.

 

For memory work, we write the item out, and we erase one or two words at a time as dd memorizes things.

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Required no, but very handy. I use it for math, copy work, and writing out memory verses. Ours happens to be magnetic so my younger kids use it for playing with alphabet magnets and drawing too. I managed to get mine for $10 when a local office was remodeling and donated all their old stuff to the Habitat Restore. If I would have had to pay full price I would have tried to make do without it.

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My boys are also going in to 5th grade.  We use them constantly.

 

The lap boards get a ton of use...

* math scratch paper

* quick written directions

* spelling practice

* keeping score in math games

 

I also have a smallish hanging one where I write the day's agenda.  The boys wipe off each item when they finish it.

 

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If you have one child and are willing to go through reams of paper, no.

Otherwise, you need a chalkboard or a whiteboard.

If you want bright colours, then you will want a whiteboard.

 

My children were gymnasts.  Although they are both good with their hands, their gross motor skills have been highly trained and they found studying went better if they used that (in other words, wrote big while standing up).  I've read that using colour involves other parts of the brain, which can help learning.  I used a blackboard to write out anything I needed us all to see at the same time.  I had a smallish one that fit on my lap or could be set on the seat of a chair and leaned up against the back.  My children had "slates" (lap-sized whiteboards) on which they solved math problems or took notes.  Both children like to see everything written out at once (big picture) and found a large whiteboard good for this.  And all three of us found something about how easily whiteboards erase to be very free-ing when it came to trying things when solving problems or designing things or writing rough drafts or brainstorming.

 

Nan

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We have a wall one and a few lapboards.  I could probably do without the wall one, but the lapboards would be replaced instantaneously if something ever happened to them.  

 

On the wall one I have a general flow chart for our day, including which things must be accomplished before any screen time.  This is invaluable because it keeps them from asking. I could print it, I suppose, but it often changes day to day.  I write it in wet erase and they cross out in dry.

 

The lapboards we use for math scratch paper, or example math problems to work through together.  We play bingo or tic tac toe using letter sounds or sight words.  They each get a lapboard and have to "flash" me the answer they've written.  I use it for grammar a lot.  I write a sentence on the board and then ask them to tell me which words are nouns by underlining.  Or we make a list of contractions.  Or I write out a sentence for copy work.   

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We have two of them. One is mounted on the wall (approx 3x4) and that has our lessons on it for the day. The other one is an easle, probably 4x5 and that is the one I use when I need to explain math. This is our 6th year homeschooling but the first that I have used a whiteboard. I really like it and don't know why I didn't think of it sooner. I'd love to have a large one mounted on the wall, but I don't have the wall space for it at the moment.

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I have a vinyl cling whiteboard on the kitchen wall, and we use it every day.  I use it to demonstrate letters in handwriting, math, how to spell words...  I don't know how we would get by without it.  We'd go through a ton of paper, that's for sure.

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Necessary, no.

 

Very useful, absolutely. I use our lap-sized white boards often, and have had the same ones for...5?...years. Using the white board helps save paper. I use it most often for working math problems and for writing directions to be followed by all of the boys.

 

Cat

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Letz see...

Math-comes in very handy when I want to go in depth on a concept, or when the DH and I have one of our math-problem solving weekends. Sometimes we will work a problem several different ways and discuss it for the benefit of the boys.

Grammar-excellent for diagramming in English

Latin-awesome for writing a full declension or a conjugation on the board and playing the disappearing word technique for memorization.

Bible-haven't done this in a while, but use the same technique to memorize a verse.

Writing-I keep hard to spell words on the board for a composition or narration, so I don't have to call them out to two boys who probably need to spell the same word at different times in their work.

Spelling-Sometimes I just put the list on the whiteboard for practice in copying from the board.

Vocabulary-difficult words in Latin and English get defined on the board.

Art-markers are just fun to draw with.

Misc-currently my board has items written down that I don't have to buy now, but want for school. Sometimes it holds items for grocery lists. I have been known to put schedules for work on it for the boys. It's so front and center that it is a good place for general messages as well.

 

So one might say we consider ours quite useful and almost essential.

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I never used one in my home school. I can't stand the smell of whiteboard markers and prefer to avoid toxic chemicals.

I use a chalkboard to teach a large class - but I don't see why a piece of paper would not suffice for an individual student.

 

(And as for wasting paper: I can bring home so much scratch paper with one side printed on from work which I rescue from the recycling bin that it would be enough for all the hive students combined)

 

 

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I have in the past used my smallish (1.5X2 ft) board for spelling lists and scheduling, not really big enough for anything else.  DH picked up a 3ft X 4ft board with tray from his work a couple weeks ago. It has a broken tab so he just screwed it straight into the wall of our school room.  I am so excited by the possibilities. 

So, schedule for the week on the smaller board, math, grammar, sentence composing,  KWO, spelling, Physics equations, etc... will all become easier for my dyslexic/dysgraphic kid.  Plus my niece (the artist) and nephew the "graffiti kid" will hopefully draw on it instead of my walls.  I even placed it low with them in mind.

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I'm a newie white board user! Bought my first last month. My dd is eleven! So survived without one all these years. But now that I have one, well, its awesome!

 

Last week it had copywork for lapbooks. This week it's spelling word list, and Bible verse. Can see that this is a match made for heaven, lol!

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Thank you so much for your perspectives and thoughts!  I am a "former" teacher, so I'm certainly used to having one in my classroom where I'd write answers to problems, do examples for math, write out spelling and/or vocab words, work for the day/class, etc, but I was having a harder time finding reasons for homeschooling with one kid!  I'm still not convinced I need a large one, but I may change my mind once we get started!

 

We do have at least 2 small lapboard sized ones that we can use for diagramming, math, etc. but I may look for a slightly larger one, too.

 

I have a vinyl cling whiteboard on the kitchen wall, and we use it every day.  I use it to demonstrate letters in handwriting, math, how to spell words...  I don't know how we would get by without it.  We'd go through a ton of paper, that's for sure.

 

Please tell me what a vinyl cling whiteboard is (assume just what it sounds like) and where would I find one?

 

Also thanks to the mom who posted the neat example about posting on the back on the door using the shower board!  That is awesome!

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No. 

 

We have little ones with letters and lines on one side, blank on the other. No one likes them. They are too smudgy, the markers run out and get lost, and well, they just aren't that great. 
 

I have a smallish chalkboard on the wall that we use if I want to leave something up, or if I want to work something for more than one kid. We don't use it terribly often. 

 

For math and regular lessons, we use spiral notebooks. 25 cents each in August. Adequate. 

 

I have made dry-erase chore lists and I use a dry-erase meal planning chart. Those are handy. But for teaching, no. 

 

FTR we are very mom-lead, group centered, no workbooks. I actually teach most subjects, generally to three at a time. Still don't need a white board. 

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14 years homeschooling, 1 grad- never used a large whiteboard.  My girls hated them, and I didn;t have a place to hang a large one anyway.

 

I *do* have a small (11'x14") one that i will occasionally work out an algebra problem on, but they still don't like it.

 

They dislike them so much they don't use use it for "play" and I have had the same whiteboard markers for at least 9 years.

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Please tell me what a vinyl cling whiteboard is (assume just what it sounds like) and where would I find one?

 

 

I don't think that's what they're actually called, lol.  They just remind me of the cling thingies you can stick up on the wall. :P  I got mine from Kmart and it's quite a bit bigger, but it's similar to this: http://www.amazon.com/Stcik-Whiteboard-Paper-Sticker-Removable/dp/B00A0P33P4  It's pretty much just a giant whiteboard sticker that goes on the wall.  Mine works great.  I've had it up there for years now.  You can cut them to fit into awkwardly shaped areas, which is nice.

 

If you want to google them, try searching for whiteboard wall decal.

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I agree that it's not a necessity; but it revolutionized our homeschool :)  I love that I can leave things up on it to reference for as long as necessary. It helps to remind me to go over those things. Like right now I have the consonant blends that we've covered, so we review those at the beginning of school.

 

DS also enjoys drawing large murals on it while the littles are napping.

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Not necessary, but very very useful. We use ours for spelling (both when we did AAS and now with LOE), and for showing how to do cursive strokes. We use it for math problem solving. We use it flat down while doing activities from EducationUnboxed. We use it for making diagrams and charts. We use it as a magnetic surface for the preschooler to do her magnets on. We use it for drawing. Thing is, we don't have it hanging on the wall - it sits on the floor, as do we when doing a lesson, and is portable (and storable if you want it out of the way).

 

ETA: We have a 2'x3' one and two personal sized ones. I have been thinking about getting another large one :-D

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… mine… similar to this: http://www.amazon.com/Stcik-Whiteboard-Paper-Sticker-Removable/dp/B00A0P33P4  It's pretty much just a giant whiteboard sticker that goes on the wall.  Mine works great.  I've had it up there for years now.  You can cut them to fit into awkwardly shaped areas, which is nice.

 

If you want to google them, try searching for whiteboard wall decal.

 

These are amazing! I'm getting one for DS who is headed off for dorm life in the fall, and you can't use any sticky adhesive or tacks/nails on the walls for hanging anything. Thanks! :)

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We use it for a lot of stuff. We didn't have one until I got a very large, nice $$$ one, at a rummage sale for $2.50. It definitely gets used everyday by both kids. And any kids visiting.

 

I put math review problems on it.

 

My son uses it to write out words he's learning for the spelling bee.

 

We also use it to draw/diagram science concepts.

 

When all the math is done, they can erase it and use it to draw ideas or "inventions".

 

Best $2.50 I ever spent. It's in our hallway.

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I have whiteboards coming out of my ears.  I have a big one for, well, . . . big things.  I have a couple of boards with maps (USA and World).  I have a couple of lined boards for learning to write.  I have a table-sized board we use for math.  I am going to need one for graphing soon.   :tongue_smilie:

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We have 3 2x3 whiteboards. We use these everyday even outside schooltime. 2 are hanging in the schoolroom, 1 floats as kids want it to use for making maps, drawing gardens for dd's tea parties, houses, etc. I cannot do without one which is why I have 3. :p 

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I didn't have one until this past year (4th grade). I do find it useful. We use whiteboards most often for math problems and spelling. They save paper.

 

I find the lapboards more helpful in school than the large white one I have. The boys like to write on the large one though.

 

Neither are necessary.

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Well, I am a white board fanantic, so YES, they were necessary for ME. My DSs would tell you it was clearly impossible for me to teach math -- or any subject! -- without a whiteboard -- see this Dilbert cartoon.  :lol:  But not everyone likes or needs them; so I have no idea if they are necessary for YOU. :)

 

Advantages:

- Whiteboards are miraculous with reluctant writers/pencil phobic DC.

- They are great for working out math problems or grammar, demo-ing spelling, brainstorming ideas and organizing for writing a paragraph, or for explaining just about anything.

- Invaluable for demonstrating word roots and adding endings, prefixes, suffixes, and for syllabication.

- Lap-sized white boards are easily stored, portable and everyone can have one simultaneously.

- They save on paper waste.

- They are useful when your students are practicing oral presentations or demonstrating something.

 

 

We had 3 of these double-sided lap-sized white boards: double-sided, with a blank side and a pre-printed side. The graphing one was GREAT for charting things and for Geometry 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 the high-skills board has a handy U.S. outline map and World outline map for geography.

 

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.

 

 

Now THAT is a thing of beauty.  Hmm...wonder what else I can add to my cart to justify the shipping... :leaving:

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A small or medium sized whiteboard (depending on the level of math--algebra needs more space than 1st grade math) has been a life saver in our house.  Children who don't think they want to do math problems don't seem to mind doing them on a whiteboard.  Also, when I tutored a 23yo in math, he also loved the whiteboard. 

 

For young children, a whiteboard helps because it's easier on fine motor skills.  For older children and adults, I think there is this feeling that mistakes don't count on a whiteboard, which make them feel more comfortable.

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We have a huge whiteboard on the wall in the living room.  It is used daily and we all love it. 

 

Also, when guests come, no one can resist playing with it, even the adults.

 

I really hated the idea of having a whiteboard in such a common area (ours is in the kitchen) but I've noticed the same thing, guests love it.

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We use small whiteboards (12" square) most often -- we each have our own for phonics or spelling lessons.

We also have a couple of large ones that are mounted to the wall -- 2 of those have become paper displays (they're magnetic).  Another one has become simply a free-draw "station."  

 

So, yeah.... we like them well enough here. :D

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We are the furthest thing from "school-ish" homeschoolers, but we use whiteboards a lot.

 

We have a giant sheet of the shower board on the wall in the rec room (homeschool and project space) and several small ones. The use of the large on has evolved. It used to be used when I taught oldest two together, now it is mostly used for individual projects.

 

I have always used the small ones as I teach dc their individual lessons; it just makes more sense than wasting paper for writing out practice problems. I used it a lot for teaching reading because I used How to Tutor with the oldest two, and there is no worksheet or textbook, just words written down by the instructor. They are very handy for diagramming sentences, working out the couple math problems I have dc do after instruction before I let them tackle their assignment, writing out declensions or conjugations in Latin, etc.

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We have a huge one in the play room that we hardly ever really use (they do to just to draw) but the smaller individual one got used so much the plastic film came off :scared:!  I ran out the same day and got another lol math would be a huge pain without it even spelling on occasion

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Could I live without ours, sure.  Everything I do on it I could do on something else, but it sure cuts down on paper waste and ours is hung on the wall so it's easily visible to each of the kids.  My oldest is 7 so as the kids get older and work more independently maybe we won't use it as much.  Here's how I use our whiteboards:

 

2*3 Magnetic Whiteboard - Dedicated to AAS.  The magnetic letters/phonograms stay up all the time since we do spelling 4 or 5 days a week.

 

2*3 Whiteboard

-I will write a list of the subjects we need to get down for the day and cross off/erase as we accomplish each one. DD7 really likes to know what we need to do and what we have left to do.

-Math problems

-If DD is having trouble figuring out a spelling, she will write the different ways the sounds could be spelled.

-I will demonstrate how to write a letter(s) for handwriting.

-As we discuss a story or writing, I or DD will write the ideas/list on the whiteboard.

-Kids like to draw on it and write notes

 

Personal whiteboard

-Mostly these are for handwriting practice but my kids will also use them when they are playing to make signs, notes, or draw pictures.

-Keeps the 2yo busy while I'm doing a lesson with the older ones.

 

I would be in heaven if I had large wall-sized whiteboard but I'm content with what we have and they work for our needs.

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