Homeschooling does not have to be expensive.

Who says homeschooling has to be expensive? Of course I day-dream about all the curriculua, manipulatives, and craft supplies I wish I could have but when it really comes down to it, kids have an amazing imagination and there are plenty of inexpensive learning experiences just waiting to be discovered.

I got a package in the mail today that was full of packing peanuts. My first instinct was to put it out of the boys' reach as soon as possible to avoid the eminent explosion of little bits of styrofoam all over the house, but alas, I got distracted. The next thing I knew Jacob finds the box and shouts excitedely "I found a S!" I hadn't even noticed they were shaped like S's until Jacob pointed it out. Since it was too late to put the styrofoam Gennie back in the bottle, I decided to go with it. I pulled out our sensory tub and dumped in the peanuts.

We thought of every word we could think of that started with S and even made up a few new ones.


Thomas found out he could hook the pieces together like a train. Jacob made a ssssssnake. We each took turns counting each other's trains/snakes to see who had the most pieces. We even did a few addition and subtraction problems.

Then they wanted to make necklaces.

There you have it, an afternoon of fun and learning... with free stuff I would have otherwise thrown away!