Some handy things

Yesterday I invited you into our lovely little learning lab, and today I'll show you particular little things therein which help make our days a little more organized and enjoyable. 

First and foremost, I must introduce you to two products that we simply cannot live without. Everything is simply happier when these are a part of our daily lives. Addicted? Well now, that's a strong word.

It's no secret that before we get working each morning, I walk, bike, or drive the one, blissful, little city block right down to this bright establishment: 

 

I grab my favorite drink: a straight black Americano, which I order iced if I need a hard, fast jolt of energy, or I order hot if it's a cold fall or winter morning, and I need some comfort as well as a good boost. Nothing beats a rockin' cuppa Joe.

Since my adrenals would flip out if all I did was drink coffee all day, this matcha green tea is my favorite through-the-day drink. Plus, if you drink a few cups of this stuff, it reduces your breast cancer risk by 50%. That's some good medicine.

 

Next, we are a happy Apple family and are completely shameless about it. It's Capt. Canuck's fault. This little baby goes with us everywhere. Really. 

The next thing we use several times a day, every day without fail, is this fabulous tool which has, if I may say so, single handedly changed education--for the better :) 

One of the main programs the munchkin uses is Pages which can be found in iWork. It's a newsletter program, but has some useful word processing abilities as well. While the kiddo can get around in Word just fine, Pages can be downloaded onto the iPad for about $10. And, as we are all beginning to find out, the iPad is an amazing educational all-in-one tool. I will devote a separate post to the iPad because, let's face it, it's freaking awesome. 

 

We made templates for written narration, science labs, outlining and a couple other things, and we use them almost every day. 

Here is one template called 7 Things. As he reads through a text (typically history), he chooses 7 things that interested him about the reading and records them. 

 

Upon our workspace sits a nifty little spinner in which we keep pens, pencils, markers, scissors, a stapler and whatever other things we use all the time. It's part of a set of office organizers that I found at Pottery Barn, but Michael's carries a very similar line. 

 

Here is a nifty little drawer/shelf that holds paper, supplies, and provides a place for the kiddo to place his finished work if we're in a hurry and can't place it right into the appropriate portfolio. 

 

These shelves hold extra paper and match the ones with the nifty drawers. And don't miss the nifty little art guy, running, of course.

 

These little baskets are so cool! They hold a lot but fit neatly on bookshelves. I found them at Bed, Bath and Beyond. They have a place for labels, but I've not messed with that yet. 

I suppose I could devote a whole separate post about how much I utterly despise the red pen. It's depressing. It is a tool that points out all the bad and seemingly never the good. Thus, I have vowed never to use one again. I do like to add splashes of lots of different colors, though, and these are so much fun to use! I use them for journaling and drawing, too. There's nothing like a fun pen!

 

OK. That's enough for today because it seems that this post is getting a wee bit long. Tomorrow, I'll show you a few more tidbits that are more bookish in nature, and that will complete our tour. 

Ciao!

Comments

[Jim]

You know one of my favorite tools is Wikipedia. I use it almost everyday, and it teaches me a ton. I know some folks poo poo it, but I've heard (not read) that studies show that it is as reliable as the good old fashioned ones. And, I might add, it is up-to-date and WAY more comprehensive. I can read about my favorite album or who won the Stanley Cup the day after it was won.