Index Cards | A Homeschool Necessity!

 

When I was in school, the only thing we ever used index cards for were speeches and research papers, but these things are actually worth their weight in gold! For homeschooling, there are only a few things that I consider essential. You can get along without fancy curriculum, lesson plans, and even the internet if need be, but index cards are a mainstay at my house! They are cheap and versatile. Over the years I've used them for sooo many activities. 

Bible: Write one word (or phrase) on each from your current memory work, mix them up and race to see who can put them in the right order or set them out on the floor for a "memory walk". 

Spelling: Use them for the simplest spelling curriculum ever!

For several years I tried to teach my children how to spell. Every year I would get a new “curriculum” and follow it precisely, but nothing worked.

Finally came up with my own...

1st day: Find 2 words they don't know how to spell. Have them write
those words 7 times. A good source of spelling words is the lists of most commonly used English words you can get on the internet. You can also use words they misspelled in their own writing.
2nd day: Test to see if they know yesterday's words, if they do, add 2
more. If they know one, find another word and have them write that and the
one they missed 7 times.

Keep adding to the list until there are 20 words, then let your child scratch out the oldest words while always keeping 20 words on the list. Do not start a new list. Just keep this one going. This way the child has to keep a word in his memory for two to three weeks instead of memorizing for the test on Friday (which tends to be forgotten by Friday evening).

 If they are having a bad day, I limit the number of words they have to write to the first two they missed. Seems too simple to be true, but it works!

Throw in a spelling rule now and then as needed.

Use the same method to build vocabulary words by adding the requirement that the word be used in a sentence.

Phonics and letter recognition: 

We find examples of different ways upper case and lower case letters look and paste them to index cards. Then we play a memory game with them. To claim a match, you must say the letter and the sound it makes. Example: H says "h" like in hat. 

And even though we now have a pretty template that we can print for our That Says game, we started out making them on index cards. No need for using a bunch of expensive ink! Check it out here: That Says Game

Math: Make Go Fish and/or memory games for anything you are learning. In this game, we are learning to recognize numbers. We the other player(s) for a number we have in our hand. If we get a match, we have to declare that we have that number. Example: I have 15!

You can cut the cards into halves, thirds, or fourths to learn fractions.

Social Studies: Write an event and the date on a card and keep them in order in a timeline index box.

Science: Put one element on each card, mix them up for a periodic table puzzle.

Create motion flip books about anything! 

The list goes on and on. What things have you used index cards for?