I started making my bits last night but my printer was out of ink which we just refilled only weeks ago. That’s ok because I still have a lot of pictures to look up and facts to right down. My Mom is loaning me their late 90’s encyclopedia collection and in a cd rom which I thought would make this easier and it will but I had no idea what a time and money eater this would be!
I could just put it in the Little Reader but my kids get bored of the tv and computer and love they when I show them physically.
Oh boy, do I want to know? Well, it was 10 cents for the laminating sheet alone. I’m going to estimate 15 cents total- for the cardstock and ink/pictures. Where I’ve made over 300, that’s at least $45, plus an estimated $50 for my math dots. About $100, plus a lot of time. I guess that’s not too bad. Still, technology is cheaper and easier!
If you can find magazines or old books to cut out, it is cheaper than printing them. Then again, it’s more work.
That’s not bad! I was thinking it would cost thousands.
Those cards are a good deal! They look like half a page in size. That’s smaller than what the book said but they’re clear to me. Have you used that size before?
I bought some other cards (from the same company though) from my local Costco for $8 (for 324 cards). The cards fit in a medium sized hand. I am not sure if all the other categories from this company have the same finish but the set I have has a washed finish (which I assume was intentional). The cards do not make it to the "high quality†image category but given the price and how compact they are, it works out when we are out and about.
We did physical EK flashcards. After being there and done that, we are re-doing them now on the Little Reader.
I spent hundreds of hours collecting and putting together facts (literally!). Printing and card stock expense was too high, well in hundreds… And while the kids loved the cards tremendously, I was not able to be consistent and keep them all organized, plus they did get damaged (I was not able to afford to laminate all my A5 size cards, and definitely not the A4 size… ) as kids played with them
Now I am preparing all my bits of knowledge in Little Reader. With Version 3, it is possible to put it in course format, which means the facts will be organized by days, with adding/retiring new facts, review built in and I am able to use additional media to make it fun (5 pictures instead of the same one for all the ten bits of knowledge for example). I am able to keep track on the progress for each one of my 3 children. And if I really want to I can always print some of them still. All in all, we see lots of benefits in doing it that way.
You asked about EK cards, with bits of knowledge (or bits of intelligence), correct? Because that is very different from regular flashcards. They would have 10 bits with each card. I would not imagine that Cosco version that was mentioned is EK cards. I think they are simple picture cards, am I correct?
http://www.acceleratedlearningmethods.com/memory-magic.html is a great source for bits too. The pictures are high quality with white backgrounds with 7-10 knowledge bits. I’ve made a few and my kids like them. If you’re going to go the printing route, this can save you a lot of time. We’re doing most of our bits via technology now.
We laminated ours with sheets from Sam’s Club and a laminator we bought for about $40.
We have been using LittleReader, LittleMath and LittleMusician. In addition to those I have downloaded about 200-300 PowerPoint sets (bois) from the internet and translating them to Finnish. I expect to use total about 100 hours for translations and then maybe 100-200 hours in making bits which I feel we will still need based on our babies interests. I have decided not to print and laminate them because it would be quite a large job and I would expect it to be quite expensive (over 200 euros?) in a print shop too. We are basically going to show them directly from my computer to save the money and effort. Maybe I will print favorite ones later.
I just got the Brighter Child flash card set. I got it on Amazon cheaper and free shipping. The cards are smaller than what is needed but they are beautiful and very interesting. It’s a great deal! It’s one of those products you buy for your kids but the adults end up learning a lot. Nice sturdy box and nicely organized. I will be laminating these to keep them nice but I’m not gluing poster board to it because the backs have all the information and an extra picture. For older kids it has game ideas for each category.
For bits I have a few sets of flash cards from target. They were a dollar a piece.
But mostly we took advantage of our library and borrow books on a wide variety of subjects.
I have used iPad apps. But not often.
Just to add to it, if you buy true Bits of Intelligence cards (10 or more well researched facts, not just a few odd facts on the card), they are well worth the price, because of the amount of research and work that goes in putting those facts together. They might seem simple and easy, but try putting them together from scratch, – it takes a lot of work!
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