The Only 2 Essential Homeschooling Supplies
Wondering what you REALLY need to homeschool? Find out what are my essential homeschooling supplies in this article. Plus some bonus things that are helpful but not necessary.
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From the moment I decided to homeschool my children, I knew that creating a well-equipped environment would be key to fostering their curiosity and love for learning.
Over the years, I’ve curated a list of homeschooling supplies that not only support our academic pursuits but also enrich our daily routines, especially during our cherished read-aloud sessions.
In this blog post, I’ll share some of the items that have become staples in our homeschool, from engaging books that spark imagination to practical tools that make learning fun and interactive.
In reality there are ONLY 2 Essential Homeschooling Supplies! 1) Access to Books and 2) Basic Art Supplies!
Whether you’re just starting your homeschooling journey or looking to refresh your supplies, these essentials will help create a dynamic and inviting space where your children can thrive.
Join me as we explore the supplies that make our homeschooling experience both effective and enjoyable!
1. Access to Books
Whether that’s a library card, a curated home library or YouTube read alouds, it really doesn’t matter. What matters is that you have access to good quality reading materials.
A fun resource if you don’t have a local library is The Gutenberg Project. The Gutenberg Project is an online library of over 70,000 FREE ebooks! You can find classics like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Little Women that you can download for free.
2. Basic Art Supplies
Whatever art supplies you like to work with, then thats what you need! I would say a lined notebook and a pencil are all that are needed, but the rest make it more fun! Some basic art supplies ideas are:
- Paper: Plain white, lined, construction
- Writing Utencils: Pencils, crayons, markers, colors pencils, dot markers
- Other fun Supplies: Stickers, stamps, chalk, pompoms
Other Helpful Homeschooling Supplies
Let me just say, again, that these are NOT essential, but are super helpful to ME. You can see what works for your family. You do not need everything on this list. This is just a helpful resource so that you can see what another homeschooling mama actually uses.
- Printer: I use an Epson Ecotank 4760. Yes, it’s an investment. But I use it everyday or almost everyday. I have had it for 5 years of homeschooling, printed SO much curriculum and have only purchased ink 2 times (which is super affordable).
- Laptop: Also an investment, but I have a MacBook Pro that I use to research curriculum, download and save all of my digital homeschool curriculum and to keep a digital record of our homeschool days.
- ipad: Again, an investment that I did not need right away. We use a dedicated iPad for my kid’s schooling for online piano practice, Spanish practice (we use DuoLingo), Reading eggs, and Taekwondo Practice. They also use the iPad to take pictures and create and edit their own movies.
- Curriculum: This can be as minimal or as extensive as you decide you want it to be. I use several different curriculums for phonics, spelling, memorization, copywork, grammar, reading, math, science, and history. You can choose to be minimal and get good quality books to learn all of these things. I find it easier in some aspects to do individual learning with each of my children and some as group subjects. Science, History, and memorization are great group subjects. The language arts and mathematics are individual subjects that I buy each year. I’m currently working on a new Curriculum section on this blog that will include curriculum options for each subject for each grade. Check out what I have, but know that it is not complete yet.
- Homeschool Planner: I like to use A Simple Plan because it’s a paper planner that gives me room to plan for my kids schooling and write down what we do daily.
- Museum and Zoo passes: These are great for a change of scenery for our schooling or just to have a fun field trip to visit someplace fun and educational.
- Number Blocks: This is a great addition to learn hands-on math concepts.
- Deck of Cards: Also a great hands-on math activity. We use this to play War – which teaches greater than and less than, and also to create addition, subtraction and multiplication problems. Since it’s interactive and not just a piece of paper with a bunch of numbers, my kids seem to enjoy doing basic math problems.
- Duplos and Legos: This is great to keep the toddlers busy or for my bigger kids to recreate a history scene that we are learning about.
I’m sure there are other items that are helpful that I’m not thinking about at the moment that I will add to this list later, but for the most part this is it. I encourage you to look at what you really need, not just what you think you need.
There are beautiful, colorful homeschool rooms full of three tiered carts all over instagram and pinterest, but remember, just because someone else has it doesn’t mean you need it.
Always Learning and Always Growing! Happy Homeschooling!
