Never let your schooling interrupt your education.

Using Pinterest for homeschool inspiration

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Written by contributor Lora Lynn Fanning of Vitafamiliae

A note from Jamie: This post originally published on August 8, 2011. Pinterest has grown substantially since then, and has become a popular spot for keeping track of homeschool inspiration! You can find Lora Lynn’s boards here and follow mine here if you’re so inclined. Enjoy!

Pinterest is the latest darling of social websites. It allows you to “pin” or bookmark pictures and posts that inspire you. You can then organize them into categories, creating your own lovely online bulletin board.

For homeschool moms that crawl the internet looking for craft ideas or inspiration, it’s the perfect way to keep up with each new page without creating a million bookmarks in an already crowded folder.

You can create a board for art ideas, one for curriculum favorites, and another for schoolroom inspiration.

Pinterest boards

Once you’ve pinned an item, just click on it again to be taken to the website where it originated. (Important note: if you pin items from a website or blog, make sure you are pinning from the specific post and note the entire site. Otherwise, you may not be able to find the information you wanted to save.)

Pinterest is also searchable, which means if you are on the hunt for a specific thing, like valentine crafts, you can easily find a myriad of ideas to spark your own creativity.

Are you using Pinterest? Have you found it helpful to keep track of homeschool ideas there?

About Lora

Lora Lynn Fanning blogged for 11 years about her family life with seven kids at Vitafamiliae. These days, she homeschools her growing brood, teaches writing both in person for co-ops and online for Brave Writer, and writes at her new site, LoraLynnFanning.com.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. Kacey

    I love Pinterest for this. I have a board for each subject and the pictures make it so easy to scan for the project I’m looking for while I’m writing lesson plans.

    Reply

  3. Angel

    I love Pintrest for visual bookmarking and for finding inspiration for things like decorating. However, when I find something where I want to remember content like a recipe or homeschool curriculum, I go to the original source and then clip it on Evernote. I’m always afraid links will break or websites will disappear. I like Evernote to save all the information for the future. Plus, it’s also searchable. 🙂 But I’m definitely a visual person and love Pintrest for that reason.

    Reply

  10. Heather

    I just joined pinterest…haven’t actually done anything yet, but the possibilities really seem to be endless. I am looking forward to organizing some of my homeschool links on this…as well as Christmas ideas and food, glorious food. It absolutely will be easier to glance at a pretty picture and remember what that link was for rather than combing through my exhaustive favorites list!
    Heather’s latest post: Amazing Vacation!

    Reply

  11. Andrea Gardner

    I love Pintrest! I am now following you 😉 I have homeschool boards, green living boards and a board for Sensory Processing Disorder (my son has this).

    Reply

  18. StefQ

    I love your idea!!!

    How can i get into Pinterest? I’ve requested an invite twice and still I’ve gotten nothing…..any help? Thanks

    Reply

  19. Shannon C

    Wow! Those homeschool areas are great–I’d love to have some money to create spaces like those! Homeschooling sure isn’t for the backwoods folks anymore! Yowza! I love pinterest, but like anything on the web, it can cause you to feel bad about yourself and what you are doing at your own home or it can inspire. Of course, inspiration can also add up financially! It is also very addictive. Use with caution or you will rub your bleary eyes and realize that 3 hours have suddenly flown by–not that it’s happened to me…ahem…

    Reply

  24. Tori

    I LOVE Pinterest! My “Homeschool Paradise” board was the very first one I set up. I needed a place to keep my visual ideas (since organizing our school space is so visual to me). Pinterest has really helped me identify my own style and things that are beautiful to me. When I get discouraged, I go to Pinterest to get a visual boost. It brings all things beautiful back to me! Check out My Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/barefoottori/
    Tori’s latest post: Homeschooling in Central Oregon

    Reply

  28. Beth C

    Since I first heard about pinterest, I always said I wouldn’t join because I didn’t need a new computer distraction (since I actually have to homeschool my kids at some point!) 🙂 But I did join a few days ago for this very reason. I think it will be a great way to keep track of homeschooling ideas.

    Reply

  34. Trina @ Joy And Contentment

    Oh yeah, I’m diggin’ Pinterest. I’ve been on for a month or two now and simply LOVE the brilliance of it. My only problem is that it has the potential to eat up so much time. I have to be very disciplined about it… but I do love it so…
    Trina @ Joy And Contentment’s latest post: Ingenuity

    Reply

  36. Roz Karp

    I have figured out how to REPIN but not how to pin. I haven’t found the source that shows how you pin/bookmark to my boards. Can anyone help me?

    Reply

  38. Kelsi

    I remember reading this post the first time it was published and I blame Lora completely for getting me addicted to pinterest! after reading this I signed up and have lost many an hour of sleep because of it! 🙂

    Reply

  41. Angela

    It’s been wonderful! I’ve found all sorts of projects and recipes that I never would have run across otherwise. I also love how easy it is to organize everything, so I can save pins when I don’t need them right away.

    It was definitely addictive in the beginning, but after a few months, it slowed down (thankfully) 🙂
    Angela’s latest post: Homeschool Room Complete.

    Reply

  45. Maritza

    I love pinterest!!! The only downside is that it’s time consuming once you
    get addicted but I think I’ve got it under control now !!

    Thank you for this great post!!!

    Reply

  46. Maritza

    I love pinterest!!! The only downside is that it’s time consuming once you
    get addicted but I think I’ve got it under control now!! I”ve started to find tons of teacher blogs which have been great inspiration for homeschooling ideas as well!!

    http://pinterest.com/ilive4design/i-homeschool-ideas/
    http://pinterest.com/ilive4design/i-homeschool-curriculum/
    http://pinterest.com/ilive4design/i-crafts-n-fun/
    http://pinterest.com/ilive4design/i-great-teacher-blogs/

    Thank you for this great post!!!

    Reply

  47. Aaron (Stay at home Mama of 2)

    I love Pinterest soo much that I started a blog based off my attempts at creating, cooking and sewing through some of my favorite pins. I didn’t want to be someone that just pinned and never tried…so this gives me the perfect reason to do so. You can follow me on Pinterest at: http://pinterest.com/smyleybears/ … I have an extensive Homeschool board that I am currently working my way through:D
    Aaron (Stay at home Mama of 2)’s latest post: MMMMMM MONDAYS!!

    Reply

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