Whiteboard paint does work, and work well, at least according to many in the homeschooling community. Of course, homeschoolers are no strangers to innovation. The number of applications they’ve found for whiteboard paint is of interest not just to homeschoolers in particular, but to anyone that is seeking unique ways of organization and communication in general. Learn about whiteboards and whiteboard paint, and the many ways they enhance the well-being of families, homes, businesses, churches, non-profits, and more, everywhere, contributing to their ability to both organize and create

Why Not Just Buy a Whiteboard?

While this might be what some choose to do, it goes against the grain of many homeschoolers for several reasons. One, if you’re like most homeschoolers, you might not have a place to hang it. What isn’t taken up by family photographs is likely covered with chore charts and maps depicting various parts of the world. Second, why waste the opportunity for a learning project? The big advantage of making your board vs purchasing one from a store is that you have more freedom and control over the board you ultimately end up with.

Whiteboards Increase Efficiency Everywhere

Whiteboards are visual and colorful, and today, ubiquitous. They are renowned for increasing efficiency wherever they are used. Homeschooling families are often larger than average, and efficiency is required for such a family to function without chaos. Every homeschooling family needs one or more well-positioned whiteboards. While it is possible to commercially purchase whiteboards made from a variety of materials, larger sizes are often expensive. Besides, so many homeschoolers are likely to prefer the process of making their own from scratch.

The Homeschool Whiteboard Connection

What is the connection between homeschooling and whiteboards? Quite a lot, as it turns out. Whiteboards are an ideal means by which to communicate crucial information, to explore new ideas, and to map out in physical space things one previously only imagined. Whiteboards are like pen and paper to many types of organizations, but homeschoolers were among the first to ditch their dusty, allergy-inspiring chalkboards for this highly superior and colorful tool. Homeschoolers are known for their innovative willingness to work outside the box and they’re no strangers to the DIY mentality.

Flexibility is the Name of the Whiteboard Paint Game

Every whiteboard paint project is different in the sense that every person’s home, working space, and needs are all different. Furthermore, their needs change over time. Writable, erasable paint is a flexible medium that can change and grow with the family, organization, or business. When properly applied, whiteboard paint makes any surface a writable surface. This means you can use it where it suits you best: on the bathroom wall, a window, a table tip, on the front of a kitchen cabinet, or even a section of centrally located wall space. Or to a board of your choice!

Not All Whiteboard Paint is White

It always pays to read labels carefully, as you can’t always take everything you read at face value. Whiteboard paint labels are no exception. This is because not all whiteboard paint is white. Some whiteboard paint is clear. Clear whiteboard paint is rolled on just the same as the white but preserves the appearance of whatever is beneath it. This provides one with the option of not only of preserving the area’s original appearance, but it also unleashes many creative options for those who may wish to decorate their board before turning it into a writable, clear surface.

Not Your Granny’s White Board

Whiteboards have been around since the 1960s, and since that time they’ve come a long way from the heavy enameled steel boards were the first whiteboards. These original boards had to be washed after each use as dry erase markers didn’t arrive on the scene until the mid-‘70s. By that time, whiteboards had evolved as well. Within a few years, it was possible to purchase whiteboards made from a variety of materials such as particleboard, vinyl, and even coated paper.

White Board Magic

At this time, it is clear that the future of whiteboards is primarily going to be in the form of applied paint. It’s just a matter of who is applying the paint? Sure, you can still go to your local big-box store and purchase a traditional whiteboard … that’s an example of someone else applying the paint. However, home DIY whiteboard kits are now so popular that it isn’t difficult to imagine them eventually making what people have traditionally thought of as whiteboards all but obsolete.

Go Ahead, Make It Magnetic

Yes, magnetic paint exists as well, in case you were unaware! Today one may purchase paint that when applied makes the surface magnetic, writable, and even of a chalkboard surface … although one will likely triumph over the other for obvious reasons. The establishment of a whiteboard communication center is as simple as going to buy whiteboard paint and rolling it on wherever you want your communication board to be.

Wave Your Painting Wand and Put It Where It Needs to Be

When you purchase a board from an office supply or big box store you have to consider the amount of wall space that you have available. Space, in general, is at a premium for many large homeschooling families, and wall space is no exception. One of the primary advantages of making your own is the control one has in choosing just where the whiteboard will be. You may choose to buy whiteboard paint for a section of your wall, for the back of a door, a window, a cabinet door, or even a tabletop.

The advantage of a DIY whiteboard is the control that you’re able you exercise, making the area where you think, dream, exchange messages, or even play tic-tac-toe one that reflects your personality and provides for your needs to express yourself easily and conveniently in writing or drawing, in full and vibrant color. The answer to the question that everyone wants to know: “Does white board paint really work?” is a loud and emphatic, yes, yes, YES! Give it a try for yourself and you’ll join the crowd of others who will never again purchase a whiteboard when it is within their power to create one just as they wish.