Top 10 Homeschool Supplies You Need

Our first year of homeschooling is in the books! We had a great year, and both my daughter and I learned a lot!

One thing that I personally learned is that I shouldn't have gone out and bought as many supplies as I did. I did not need everything that I thought I would and could have saved myself some money if I wouldn't have purchased most of what I did. And I went a little crazy. I had drawers full of stuff we never use and likely never will.
I have compiled a list of must-haves (besides curriculum/books/etc) that I feel would benefit someone just starting to homeschool. I hope to help you not make the same mistake I did and save you some money!

one. Pencil Sharpener

We went the first couple of weeks of our first year of homeschooling using one of the hand operated little plastic pencil sharpeners. Wow, that got old fast! I recommend investing in a pencil sharpener. This one is a good one and has served us well. 

two. Pencils

To go with item number one, pencils are a must. Whether you do school at home or lapbooks or even online homeschooling pencils will be needed at some point. At the beginning of the school year, I purchased a bulk amount of off brand pencils on sale at a local store and boy did I regret it. They shredded and would not sharpen. It was frustrating, to say the least. I then purchased these pencils and fell in love.

three. White Board

We wasted so much paper before purchasing these whiteboards. We have the lined and non-lined varieties. My kiddos love using the dry erase markers (< so many fun colors!), and it makes doing math problems or spelling tests a little more fun!

four. Printer

This printer is amazing! It does only print black and white, but, it's fast, wireless, can print approx 1200 pages with one toner cartridge and did I mention it's fast?? Prior to this I had a regular inkjet printer and while it printed beautiful color pages, it was slow and with purchasing all the ink cartridges, expensive. My Brother printer may be my best homeschool purchase.

five. Laptop

It is almost impossible nowadays to get away from using a computer. The ability is required in almost every field. Starting a child early in learning their way around a computer will likely help them in their future career. We use our laptop for watching educational videos on Youtube, looking up further information on a topic we are discussing and I use it for finding supplemental worksheets. My favorite brand of is Toshiba, I have had a couple and all have/still perform amazingly.

six. And/Or a Tablet

One of the kiddos Christmas presents last year was a tablet. Amazon had an amazing deal on their Fire Tablet for $33.33 on Black Friday. These have been great with the addition of Amazon's FreeTime Unlimited. The kids can only access pre-approved apps/books/videos that have been selected for their age group or any that you select for them. We do limit the time that they get with their tablets but it's a nice treat for them! I do recommend a case, this one has come in super handy for my youngest.

seven. Worksheet Sleeves

Another big saver for our paper are these worksheet sleeves. They are such fun bright colors and can be wiped off with paper towels and reused over and over. We have been using them for tracing practice for the youngest and math problems for the oldest. These

eight. Timer

This little timer has so many uses. We use it to track reading time. It's used for taking turns with video games/toys/something we only have one of that needs to be shared. We use it to track how much time we will spend on a particular lesson. It can be used as a countdown to bedtime. I personally use it when trying to get work done to allow myself a break time. It is a great little timer and the fact that the light changes colors are so neat for the kids(and me!).

nine. Magazine Holders

I have found that being organized greatly helps us get more done. These magazine holders are great for keeping all of our curriculum, books, and papers in order and grouped together. They also make the shelves look so much nicer and neater. They have been a saver of my sanity!

ten. Amazon Prime

Before writing this post I saw a meme on Pinterest about being more of an Amazon Prime Mom than a Pinterest Mom and I can totally relate. I am a big time procrastinator, the 2-day shipping that comes along with Prime is amazing. The Prime video and Kindle app are also awesome! We use something that is offered with our Prime membership at least once a day. It has definitely paid for itself. Try Amazon Prime 30-Day Free Trial << by clicking this link you will get 30 days to try Prime out for free. You can cancel at any time. But I personally think you will love it!

And that's it! What are your have to have items for homeschooling? Leave a comment below!

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