I used to feel like I had to have every educational toy, every workbook, all the curricula, every new thing I saw – to homeschool my children well.
Kids learn well when left alone, maybe just a little coaching and guidance. We’re pretty laid back these days.
There’s so much available online that we could virtually homeschool for free, anywhere, anytime. We don’t need much at all.
I have minimized to the top ten items we love and need to homeschool our four kids.
Our Top 10 Homeschool Items:
10. Art Supplies. (all that crafty stuff that makes life stressful and messy and fun and beautiful). We love colored pencils and glue sticks and the Back to School aisles still give me butterflies! I try to buy the highest quality supplies that will last and give my kids the effects they desire.
9. Library Cards. (we all have our own cards and we max those suckers out each week!) We love books. While I purchase lots, I always check the library and the Libby, by Overdrive app to borrow eBooks first.
8. Tablets. We each have an iPad Mini. Thank God for technology. Starfall taught Alex his ABCs. We all have one with color-coded cases. (They were gifts from grandparents.) We use them daily for schoolwork and fun. I gave the girls their own shared Kindle account and we download FREE eBooks all the time! We love weather and geography apps. We love Stack the States, Splash Math, and Duolingo! And yes, we watch YouTube, Netflix, Disney+, and cable TV when we have WiFi.
7. Desks/Lap Trays. My kids each have a desk from thrift stores. We had four of this little table kind of lap desk. We also have some portable fun ones from lap gear. And I even found a mini one with a cool clipboard on it! They’re also great for travel.
6. Printer. How else would I function and print all the kiddos’ notebooking pages?
5. Pencils and Sharpeners. The kids all love their Staedtler manual pencil sharpeners. I like this big electric pencil sharpener. It’s also a good idea to get good pencils, not those cutesy bargain ones.
4. Science Supplies. We love to do demonstrations and experiments. We have not regretted the expense of a good microscope and telescope.
3. Games. Just Dance and other fun active games. When it’s cold or very wet and windy, the kids love to exercise or wind down with the Wii and Switch.
2. Bookcases. We have lots of books. I have a wall of bookcases in my office. We have bookcases in the kids’ bedrooms. We have bookcases in the basement. I have a basket of our morning reading beside the sofa.
1. Dry Erase Boards. We have a pretty big board in our basement. I also like a small personal board to do small work and have fun.
This is a great list!!
Great list, Jennifer. I’ll be sharing your post with my homeschooling friends! Have a blessed week!
I think we use all of these things except for lap desks. I’ve thought of buying them, but I find that with multiple desks/tables throughout the house they haven’t been necessary. I don’t think that I would add anything to your list.
Definitely a library card! I’d also have to say Wifi since we use a few on-line programs and YouTube, etc in our day. Great list.
oh, WiFi is a must!
Great resources, Jennifer! I used to love reading the encylopedia when I was a kid.
We will be starting our ‘official’ homeschool journey next year. I completely agree with the lap desk, nothing better than sitting down comfortably whilst doing some learning, I used to hate sitting in those hard plastic chairs at school! #twinklytuesday
Yes, it’s time to start thinking school again! Thanks for this gentle nudge.
I have some friends that would find this super helpful!!
I’ve just got myself one of those lap desks for evening blogging in front of the TV. I love it. I’m a bit sad mine isn’t a marvel one now. Hmmmm. #fortheloveofBLOG
Love the lap desks!
I have a friend who is going to home school so will pass this on #fortheloveofblog@_karendennis
I know that if I was to homeschool, I would have all of the notepads and stationary that exists hehe!!! Thanks for linking up with #TwinklyTuesday
I’m not a homeschool mom, but this sounds like a great list. And after our last PCS I’m all for purging and downsizing! LOL Thanks for sharing!
I agree with the others that this is a terrific list. As an educator, I appreciate the inclusion of the reference books, and library cards. It seems so much more efficient and productive teaching in the digital age, but I think it’s also important for kids to know there’s more than one way to get information. Thanks for sharing what you’very learned.
Visiting from Quietly Reminded! This is a great list…foundational! Instead of lap desks, we use Clipboards like crazy so that they can grab it and work in the car or on the couch. The library card is the gem of them all!
Library cards! Yes! Couldn’t have homeschooled without them.
I’m not homeschooling this next year, but this is a great list of homeschool supplies. Thank you for sharing.
Shopping for school supplies is one of my favorite things to do! I love the idea of a lapdesk. As a homeschooling family, these would work great – thanks for the suggestion!
I like the simplicity of this list! I need some of those lap desks and a better way to organize!
Such a useful list for homeschooling. Thanks for linking up to #fortheloveofblog x
I am a mama to ten children, and we homeschooled for 13 years. I have had many of the items on your list. And having a good quality pencil sharpener, that has alway been at the top of my list has a “must have” — I hate having dull pencils. It’s like a silly pet peeve of mine! Okay, maybe not so silly to home schooling mamas, right?
Good pencils are super important!