Manipulatives Madness

I love homeschooling. I really do. But, it seems like to me that with the boom in homeschoolers, it has also gotten a lot more complicated.
When I was being homeschooled, back in the dark ages, it was fairly simple.
Books.
Pencils.
Paper.
Yep, that pretty much sums it up. That is what my mom used to teach me reading, writing and arithmetic.
Today, though, places like Amazon, Walmart and Christianbook.com abound with a mind boggling amount of extra stuff.

Why aren't books, pencils and paper enough anymore?

Devices with screens are also now a big part of the homeschooling journey. Now, I am not knocking technology. And some of the things I am writing (like this blog, for example) require tech. But, it seems like we have gone off the deep end...just a bit.

Manipulatives are my nemesis...at least when trying to keep a neat home.

So, we live in a very, very small place. And if I told you just how small...you would be like, "lady, say what?"
Yeah, it's that small. But, I still believe that it should be able to be kept clean. Although, my daily struggle with that very ideal continues.
Manipulatives, I admit, add a huge amount of unnecessary stress and mess to my homeschool life.
I think a lot of them look super cool and all...but within a couple months time, they all seem to be a mess or missing all together.
No matter how hard I try. No matter what kind of organizational logic I apply to their storage...they all seem to explode in one way or another. And, I can never find all the pieces or cards again.

Money pit.

Again, I think a lot of the concepts behind these things are cool. Flashcards. Place value blocks. Letter tiles. Yada, yada. It all sounds and looks so wonderful. It also makes you feel super prepared for the school year, let me tell you. But, generally, it just leads to more headaches.
I have to get them out and set out exactly what I need before starting a single lesson.
I have to keep my toddler or infant from eating them.
I have to keep my 5 year old from throwing them at her sisters.
I have to keep my 9 year old from leaving them outside...

I think you get the picture.

I am a good reader. I can do math when I absolutely have to. And my mom managed to teach me with a very simple amount of tools in her arsenal.
So, to those of you out there who feel stressed by manipulatives...you are not alone. Stop the stress. Streamline and simplify is my new homeschool mom battle cry!

Stop stressing over perfect lessons, and enjoy the learning journey. They will get there eventually. And, when we are done teaching them...we can have that long awaited coffee break. (Or, if you HATE coffee, like I do, maybe your break consists of something super unhealthy...and I am okay with that too.)

Keep Swimming Y'all,
Kari Erdly