My Top 5 Homeschool Essentials
These are 5 simple things that I wouldn’t want to homeschool without! These basic supplies let us get so much fun work done each day.
It’s that time of year again when us homeschool moms are busy planning out our year to come! I’m so excited to be joining the Back to Homeschool Blog Hop. Over the next 5 days, I’ll be sharing posts about my homeschooling essentials, how to choose your curriculum, planning your school year, lesson planning, and my favorite online resources.
There is so much available when it comes to homeschooling. The amount of curriculum and supplies can be overwhelming! These are my top 5 essential resources for homeschooling.
1. Library Card
We live in a rural area and I have to admit our local libraries are not the most well-stocked. Even considering this I love them for being able to do interlibrary loan requests. Being able to borrow books and DVDs this way saves us a lot of money.
2. Whiteboard
One of our most used school supplies is our magnetic whiteboard! I use this for making to-do lists, and copywork, and it’s the kid’s favorite place to work out math problems. I guess it seems more fun to use the whiteboard markers than to write in their notebooks.
We have a medium size magnetic one on the kitchen wall and then a second non-magnetic one on the door to the basement. The second one is at kids level so the younger ones can draw on it any time they like. These I find are essential for doing group work!
3. Basic supplies
It’s that time of the year when the stores are full of great deals on school supplies. I LOVE shopping this time of the year, who can pass up .05 notebooks or .50 crayons? I try to stock up on enough notebooks and paper packages to get us through most of the year.
Crayons, markers, glue sticks, paint, and basic craft supplies are always in demand at our house.
These are used in so many history, science, and unit study programs it’s always great to have these on hand. I’ve found that we go through a crazy amount of crayons, pencil crayons, and glue throughout the year.
4. Kindle
I love to read but for the longest time, I resisted getting a Kindle. See I love the feel of holding a book and curling up in a corner to read. However, I think one of the best purchases I’ve ever made is my Kindle!
A few years ago I bought a Kindle Touch it’s filled with books that I’ve found for free online or bought much cheaper than a print copy. As an added benefit I can’t LOSE any book on the Kindle if, for some crazy reason, the Kindle gets misplaced I can also read (or have the kids read) the same books on the computer.
No more turning the day upside down because your book is lost. I can’t tell you how many times that has happened to us!
5. Linux
My 5th pick for a homeschooling essential would be Linux. Linux is an amazing easy-to-use, secure, and FREE operating system. There are versions of Linux that run great on that brand-new computer and many that will bring back to life your older laptops and desktops.
Using a lightweight version of Linux (Bodhi Linux) made my hubby’s little netbook a joy to use. I was able to pick up 2 older laptops a few years ago for the kids combined they were both under $100. Using Windows they are very slow, but Linux makes them fly.
Linux also has a huge free software database including the most very popular programs such as GIMP, LibreOffice, a huge range of browsers, photo, and video editors, etc. Anything we’ve needed we have been able to find for free. Of course that frees up more money for books!
So that’s my top 5 homeschooling essentials! Does it seem short to you? Really I think we often overcomplicate things, I know I’ve been guilty of this too. If I had to I know I could have a great homeschool year with just the resources listed here.
