I love PINTEREST so much!

One of the most useful homeschooling tools that I use these days is PINTEREST (also great for hobbyists and crafters too).

Pinterest is a social bookmarking tool used to “pin” images found around the Web into categorized collections, or boards. It’s like an interactive, shareable scrapbook.

I am almost positive I am not alone when I put this website down as a great homeschoolers resource site. You can and will find ideas and inspiration for anything and everything you can ever imagine. It’s a way of keeping the stuff you find and want to refer back to another time. And if your memory is going like mine, (not sure whether that’s a mama or age thing … ) the fact that you “pin” things by images is great as it is usually a much easier and quicker way to remember which site you were looking for. You can also just sit and lose time searching through Pinterest for inspiration.

 

SOME TERMINOLOGY 

PINS - A pin is an image or video, either from a website or uploaded from the user. A description can (and should) be added to pins.

 

BOARDS - Pins can be organized by topic, called boards. By default, Pinterest starts users off with a bunch of boards, but these can be deleted or renamed to suit a user’s interests. Within my pin boards, I’ve created collections of everything from recipes I want to try and Home schooling boards broken down by subject. Ie Anatomy, history, math, music, crafts, natural cleaners, healthcare, and so on (and so and so on … oops).

FOLLOWING - You can follow anyone, even if they aren’t following you back. You have the option to follow all of another user’s boards, or you can just select certain boards to follow. I follow a number of homeschoolers and that way I get a feed of their latest pins. It is surprising how often a pin will show on my page when I go in for a look that is on the very subject that the girls are currently interested in.

REPINS - Repinning is sharing an image pinned by someone you follow or found while browsing Pinterest, and then adding it to one of your own boards. Repinning gives credit to the person who first pinned the image. You can also edit (or add to) the description when you repin something. Source links also stay on the pin no matter how many times it is repinned. You don’t need to be following someone to repin from them.

LIKES - Liking a pin just adds it to the “Likes” on your profile, but doesn’t add it to one of  your boards. Again, you don’t need to be following someone to like their pin.

SHARING - Anytime you pin something, you can easily share it on Twitter and Facebook but you don’t have to. I recommend unless you are wanting lots of people to follow you that you don’t do this as you may end up annoying some friends who get sick of seeing you pin stuff all the time!

PINNING FROM THE WEB - You can add a “Pin It” button right onto your browser to easily pin things you come across on the Internet. You’re given a choice of which image to use from the page you are pinning and you then select which board to add the pin to. Remember you can add or change a description.

 

How to Join (Come on you know you want to … )

1. Sign Up – You used to have to get an invite to join the site but this doesn’t have to happen anymore. When you do sign up, you’ll have the option to link either your facebook or twitter account with your Pinterest account if you have any of those. If you prefer to start with just your e-mail address, you can always connect your social accounts later if you want to (but there is no real need).

2. Create Your Profile - When you create your account, think about the other social accounts you have. Try to stick with a consistent username if you already have a blog name, or Twitter or Instagram account. That will make it easier for anyone who follows you to find you via searching on Pinterest. It also helps to use the same profile photo—that way people know it’s you. You can also remain completely anonymous. I even let my young daughters have their own accounts (using fun, false names of course) and they can now be found making boards on knitting, horses, origami, the latest musician or anything else that is currently taking their fancy. Say for instance they want to make some origiami, they can click through to the board and pin and it will link them straight through to the blog and instructions.

3. Check Your Settings - Once your account is active the first thing you should do is take a look at your e-mail settings. Luckily, Pinterest’s options are straightforward and easy to understand. When you first start pinning, keep all the e-mail notifications on. It’s a great way to find new people to follow by seeing who likes, comments, or repins ideas from your boards. You can turn them off later if they are clogging your inbox. 

WARNING -- Pinterest is extremely addictive and it can also cause feelings of inadequacy. Oh and husbands can get a little annoyed with it, when you keep showing them outdoor settings made out of pallets or other decorating and gardening ideas that “will just take like 5 minutes for you to make hun”! That will teach him for watching rugby and leaving me to amuse myself on Pinterest … hehehe.  Now must be off, am about to whip up a fail proof recipe off Pinterest that looks the bomb!