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I always see a whole bunch of back-to-school supply checklists at the beginning of the school year. Those lists are great, but what about homeschoolers? Do you have a homeschool supply checklist? Maybe you are a new homeschooling mom and wonder what you REALLY need? (Check out my post on How to Homeschool!)
What are your essential supplies? Today I am going to share with you some of our favorites that make our homeschool life easier. I also have a little checklist of supplies that I stock up on each year at back-to-school time. Some of these are bigger ticket items, but we literally use them almost daily.
One of my all time favorite places to stock up on supplies is through Discount School Supplies. They have an awesome selection of art supplies and learning resources that we love.
Check out how Our Homeschool Room is set up, too!
My Essential Homeschool Supply List:
This is literally the stuff that I use ALL OF THE TIME in our Homeschool.
PENCILS– Lots and lots of pencils. Get good durable ones like Ticonderoga because they sharpen better and write better.
Big Dry Erase Board or chalk board & dry erase markers
Mini Dry Erase Boards or white boards (bonus if they have lines for writing practice)
We also recently got these fun Boogie Boards~ They are LCD writing tablets. I bought the generic, less expensive ones and got one for each of my kids. We are planning to use them for handwriting and math and other things when they need to write. My kids are obsessed with them!!
Laminator & Laminator pouches – These may not seem essential to you, but it is so nice to be able to make things re-usable or more durable!
If you don’t want to invest in the laminator, these dry erase pouches are also a wonderful addition!
Laser Printer or another good printer- Laser printers are expensive to purchase initially, but saves $ in the long run. Ink lasts forever! White printer paper will also be used endlessly.
iPads– Definitely a bigger expense, but worth trying to budget in! If you already have one, I highly recommend tases kid-proof cases. There are some amazing learning apps! (See my post on our favorites)
Heavy Duty Stapler (don’t forget the staples!)- we have to staple big packs of paper often. It comes in handy for sure.
Electric Pencil Sharpener (It’s worth it to buy a GOOD one! The one linked was probably our fourth one. This one has lasted years now! I searched for the one with the very best reviews.
Plastic Crates or bins- We use these to store each child’s books. But any good storage bins or shelves will do!
We also like using cube storage shelves for our crafts and other supplies.
Big Rolls of Paper– great for art and craft projects, tracing bodies, using on an art easel, etc.
World Map– We use this often to look up locations we are studying in history or geography lessons!
Globe– easy to pull out for lessons! My kids love looking at out globe.
3- Hole Punch & a Single Hole Punch. You’ll use these all of the time for putting papers and things into notebooks!
Microscope– these are awesome to have for science lessons and for studying nature finds! Don’t forget some slides to look at, too!
Post-It notes (I especially love the page markers) I use these as book marks in all of our lesson books and read-aloud books & they stay put!
Tempera Paints & other art supplies including: Watercolor paints, crayons, markers, colored pencils, watercolor paper, construction paper, paint brushes, etc.
Notebooks with lined paper, so many of them! I buy a bunch when they are cheap at back to school time.
I buy both spiral notebooks and composition notebooks.
File folders & a file box or cabinet to organize all of the papers you will accumulate.
3-Ring Binders– we like the ones with the insert fronts so we can put labels in them.
A few other important basics you’ll want to have: Rulers, scissors, sharpie markers, note cards and sketch tape, glue bottles & glue sticks. You likely already have these things on hand, though!
I also have a list of the typical school supplies we use up each year and continue to purchase. These are things I usually stock up on during the back-to-school sales in August. I made a little Homeschool Supply Check-list for you to print out and use.
More Homeschool Support:
How to Homeschool in 10 Easy Steps
How to Choose a Homeschool Curriculum
The Ultimate Printable Homeschool Planner
Want more Homeschool Tips & Tricks? Check out my podcast: Called to Homeschool.
You can watch us on YouTube, too!
Rebecca from Hip Homeschooling says
I love this! There are so many great resources on here and tips. I need a new pencil sharpener, I got the cheapest electric I could find and it is not very good 🙁 Thanks so much for sharing! Popping over from the blogging homeschoolers group, I will schedule to pin as well 🙂
Karyn Tripp says
I can’t even tell you how many cheap pencil sharpeners I bought before I finally gave in & bought a good one! Thanks for your comment & for sharing!!
Susan Evans says
Looking at this list of supplies makes me all excited about starting another school year…
Jennifer | The Deliberate Mom says
What a fabulous list of supplies!
We love our world map. We have it in a plexiglass frame (so we can write on it with dry erase markers) and it’s hung in our kitchen.
I also love our whiteboard and laminator and printer. I’ve been wanting an electric pencil sharpener but I was wondering if it was a “luxury”. Maybe I should purchase a good one after all.
Pinning this to my Deliberate HOMESCHOOLING board.
Thanks for sharing.
xoxo
Shecki @ Greatly Blessed says
I bought the laminator a couple years ago because everybody said homeschoolers just had to have one. I’ve used it *once* in all that time. Not worth it for me, but everyone’s different. I wasn’t thrilled when my husband brought home a white board and put it up in my school room, but that, I use ALL the time.
Grace says
I love the checklist!
Suzie Homemaker says
I will add long arm stapler. you need a small one too if you want to open flat to put stuff on a board if you have a cork board….
Suzie Homemaker says
Use contact paper and washable markers or washable dry erase markers. A ton cheaper then that very pricey laminate sheets!!!