I homeschool 4 of my 5 boys. And that is an adventure! I grew up thinking homeschool was a bad idea, after three years of homeschooling my boys I don't want things to change. I do admit it is NOT for everyone. And it can be hard! Very hard! Very, very hard! People always talk about teenaged girls and their hormones and mood swings and not much is said about teenage boys. Well boys have their mood swings and hormones fluxs too, it is just different than girls.
So my only homeschool hold out is my "baby" Finn. (and Finn wants me to let everyone know he is NOT a baby.) Finn just turned 5 in July and is a bit of a free spirit. He thinks he is Batman (at least part of the time.) and loves to play with his Imaginext Batman/Super Hero toys and cars. He could care less about schooling UNLESS I'm trying to get school done with the other 4. Last year when Sully was "in" kindergarten, Finn would often sit with us and "do" the activities too. He wanted to write on the dry erase board, count out the tally sticks in Math, work on his own Explode the Fish (Get Ready for the Code book 1) workbook and play ABCMouse.com. This year I have the choice of starting him in kindergarten or letting him have 1 last year of play. When I compare Finn to his older brothers, he is somewhere between McCrea, Garrett, and Sully, who each have their own kindergarten story. This time last year Sully (1 years and 2 weeks older than Finn) could write his name, name all the letters and most of their sounds and was counting nonstop.(Finn has no interest in doing any of the above.) We felt that Sully was ready for kindergarten, however we were wrong. Sully went through this super clingy stage and plateaued out of learning. Only now a year later, is Sully making any progress reading and will go to the "Elementary Classroom" at church. If I could do things over, I would give Sully his extra year of play. So Finn won't start kindergarten this year. There will be no lunch box, no rain coat, or backpack and no climbing onto the big yellow bus and riding to school. (All things Finn says he wants to do. Finn tells me he doesn't want to be homeschooled, he is going to school on the bus.) However Finn does need some activities to keep him busy (and semi quiet) while his brothers work. If I left it up to Finn, he would watch Batman and play the Ipad all day long, which doesn't work for me.
So I searched Pinterest for "Quiet Bags", "Busy Bags" and "Preschool Boxes". And I got a LOT of results. My first stop was at allofourdays blog. And I was impressed! These bags seems simple enough and fun. I'll be honest, I paid the $3.00 for the download. (Which puts all the ideas at your fingertips for easy access.) After I get done making the bags, I'll figure out how much per bag, it cost. (but if you make all 16 bags it comes out to about 19 cents a bag.) After reading and trying to figure things out, I started printing. (Bad idea.). The first bag is a bean sorting bag, looks pretty easy.(I recruit all my boys to help.) I look at all the supplies and I have them. I send one boys to get the beans and an egg carton and get to work. I get the egg carton with no problems, but he can't find the beans. (I know I have Bean soup in the pantry.) I send another kid down and still no beans. I have finished all the instructions except for the beans and the kids are still looking. I go downstairs and NO beans. (The bag must have walked off.) Project 2 is cute but looking at the instructions, I know I don't have all the supplies. (Most importantly little foam blocks that the blogger says I can get at dollar tree.) So I keep on working. I cut the label and tape it to the bag and go on to the "Shape Cards". It turns out SOME of these cards and supplies need to be printed on card stock and others on regular paper. (I just printed the first three bag files.) Then it is suggested I laminate many of the cards, so they last longer. So I placed an order at Amazon for a laminator and laminate bags. (about $35.00 with Amazon Prime). I go back to the instructions and get to work. So we go on to project 3, a rainbow in a bag. I need rainbow colored felt, I don't have rainbow colored felt. I do have mostly rainbow colored foam, so I use that and start cutting out the pattern pieces and foam. I'm missing orange and purple, so we paint those two pieces and my 3rd busy bag is looking good. After all of this I do actually look at the rest of the directions for the other 13 bags. I'm going to need card stock and my laminator, plus a few other supplies. I also look for a few other ideas and I make a shopping list and load up all five boys (because they are sneaking video games while I'm gone) and head to Monroe. We hit Grocery Outlet, Dollar Tree, Lowes, Staples and Goodwill. (and my boys can't ALL behave at any one store.) I have to drag Finn out of Goodwill kicking and screaming because I won't buy him a toy. Sully nearly knocks me down at Staples, because he is ready to go. And my Dollar Tree does NOT have little foam blocks! After this trip I needed some chocolate and advil before I could finish.
The bags I made:
Bag # 1: Bean Sorting :
1.Gallon ZipLock Bag ($0.20)
2.1/2 bag 16 Bean Soup ($0.65),
3. Container for beans ($0.50)
4. Egg Carton (free)
5. Project Sheet (.20)
total cost: $1.55
Bag # 2: Block puzzles
Bag #3: Rainbow in a Bag:
1. Gallon ZipLock Bag ($0.20)
2.Foam (I had it left over so Free)
3. Paint (Again left over.)
4. Background
5.Project Sheet (.20)
total cost:
Bag #4: Paint Chip Color shades
Supplies:1. Paint Chips (Free!)
2. Background:
3.Project Sheet (.20)
total cost:
Bag #5: Color Sorting
Supplies:
1.Gallon ZipLock Bag ($0.20)
2. 50 Counting Bears with 5 Cups ($8.80)
3.Project Sheet (.20)
total: $9.20
2.Math Link Cubes (100) (We are only using half for this bag so $6.34)
3. Pattern Cards (?)
4.Project Sheet (.20)
Total:
Bag #7: Pom-pom Stuffing:
Supplies:
1. Gallon ZipLock Bag ($0.20)
2. Pompoms: ($.50)
3. Parmesan Cheese Container (free)
4.Project Sheet (.20)
Total: $0.90
Bag #8:Tower counting:
Supplies:
1. Gallon ZipLock Bag ($0.20)
2. Jenga blocks (I get mine at Goodwill on Mondays for 1.29. It took 1 whole box plus 1 extra block for 55 blocks. so $1.35)
3. Counting Cards
4.Project Sheet (.20)
Bag #9: Noodle Strings
Supplies:
1. Gallon ZipLock Bag ($0.20)
2. 1 package of Rotini Noodles ($0.69)
3. Bottle of Alcohol ($.97)
4. Box of Food Color ($1.29) (Though there is food color left over)
5. Yarn (free)
total: $3.15
However this made enough for 2 quart Ziplock Bags so I'm halving the total: $1.58
A Really Cool Idea for "Storing" your Busy Bags : Busy Bag Hangers
I also have idea for other busy bags: Geoboards, Pattern Bears, Balance Bucket, Lacing Shapes, Lacing Beads, Pattern Blocks and Boards, Alphabet Soup Scrabble, and Counting Cans. I can't afford to spend any more money on this project. So I hope to either come up with my own DIY projects or I will purchase the supplies every couple of weeks to keep things fresh. (Or if I can find them at Goodwill)
I'll update as I get in more supplies and finish my bags.
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