Unfortunately, the Freescale Freedom FRDM-KL25z does not come with headers installed, or even included.
This set me back a few weeks having to wait for some headers to arrive in the mail - although I admit that as a good electronics nerd I should have already had some of these on hand 
Last week I finally received some double headers for my Freescale Freedom board. Hooray!
I purchased some 2x40pin headers for the job. The FRDM board uses 1 of 2x6, 2 of 2x8, and 1 of 2x10 headers, so it would be easier to just buy sets of those instead. I probably should have done that, but I think at the time I just couldn't find the ones I needed. The 2x40 are very inexpensive, so it does save a few dollars and since I don't foresee doing this regularly it also keeps me from hoarding more parts
In any case, one 2x40 piece is enough for the FRDM board. The trick is to score across a connector on both sides and then snap it off there, losing one connector in the process. For example, to cut the 2x10 piece, I used a hobby knife to score across the 11th connection.
A little bit of cleanup at the snapped ends, and viola! I have the pieces I need:
So I soldered them on.
That takes a little bit of fiddling soldering effort, but it's good practice and it's not difficult to do. I would even consider it a great learning opportunity for beginner students.
For those who haven't done any soldering before, Lady Ada has come up with a nice list of tutorials: http://www.ladyada.net/learn/soldering/thm.html
I'm by no means an expert, so I should probably have a look at them to see if I can pick up on any new techniques 
One little trick I did use is that I plugged in a shield to help keep the headers all aligned squarely.
This is what the board looks like now, ready to connect external bits:
And this is the soldered side:
Like I said, I'm no expert. But I think I got some nice connections - the little pyramids are not looking too bad. I double checked with a magnifying lens to make sure I didn't short anything out. On a side note, that magnifying lens is part of the soldering "helping hands" I bought recently - highly recommended! I don't know how I ever soldered little bits without them. Probably because I used to have better eyes, steadier hands, and much more patience
However, my soldered bits never look as nice and shiny as the ones you see on commercially produced boards, and I always end up with the flux sorta coating the area. I usually wipe around as best as possible using a kleenex and q-tips.
Can any soldering experts give me some advice on what I can do to change that?
Is it the solder I'm using?
Can I wash off the flux without harming the board? I've heard of maybe using a toothbrush to do that, but I would hate to get water staying under the chips, for example.
Cheers,
-Nico
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