I want to share with you a homeschool essentials list when you first start homeschooling. There are so many things that will be accrued as you homeschool throughout the years, so you do not have to buy everything on this list right now, but it may end up in your homeschool classroom one way or another.
Let’s check out these homeschool essentials below! You can click here to check out my full Amazon Homeschool Essentials List.
Furniture Essentials
Although we homeschooled kindergarten on our office/bedroom/living room floor, eventually we needed a desk by the next year for better posture, focus, and to keep our desktop essentials somewhere. We also needed comfortable chairs to sit at our desks. Bookshelves are another essential! I started off with one bookshelf, and now I have 6! Two of them are large and are used for all kinds of books that we have. The 3 others are smaller and are for holding toys, and then we have 1 medium sized shelf for board games. Bookshelves are very versatile! Both of my kids have a bookshelf built in to their bed but if they didn’t, we would need a third bookshelf for all of their books!
In addition to having a desk, if you have one with drawers, that’s excellent! My kids’ homeschool desks do not have drawers so we use rolling organizer carts (I took off the wheels so it’s just an organizer cart). Each of these drawers holds their textbooks/workbooks for each subject, and I just use the top to hold their whiteboards and the teaching guides.
Electronic Essentials
For us, it became necessary for each child to have their own laptop as my boys are interested in technology, and the computers allowed them access to a variety of things. They learned to code, type, research, create PowerPoints, create word documents, and just so much more. This has been a great investment as technology isn’t slowing down and my kids, especially my oldest, are showing signs of being superusers. If you do not own or choose to purchase a computer/iPad/chromebook at this time, check out your local library for events surrounding technology for kids. The Apple store also just reopened their Apple Camp for kids that’s free and the kids get to create things with iPads. Very Cool!
To go along with a computer, a USB or traveldrive is important! We each have our own. I use mine for educational printables that I create for our homeschool and to sell, and I also use another one for the online curriculums that I purchased. My computer alone will not function if I did not have these USB drives. And truly, get the larger size because online curriculums take up a lot of space! My kids each have their own as well and they save their work on there. (Side note: If you have an Apple computer, you may need to buy the USB-C port so you can attach the USB drive to the computer.)
Another essential is a really good printer! The ink cartridges are expensive but they last oh so long compared to the other cheaper printers/ink we used to use. We print a lot of stuff in our homeschool- curriculums, research papers, educational activities, holiday cards and banners that the kids create, and so on. We don’t print everyday but it’s helpful when we have a working printer at home.
Finally, a laminator is a must if you plan to reuse worksheets like handwriting practice sheets, or hanging up educational posters. I didn’t realize how useful it was until I got one secondhanded.
Desktop Essentials
Ok, so now that the more pricier essentials are out of the way, let’s talk about desktop essentials! These are the things that help each day run smoother and smoother. I highly recommend getting a planner– one for you and one for each of your students. I used to make my own planner but this year I decided to buy a simple planner that has a month and weekly view. This makes life so. much. easier. I include these planners in the kids’ yearly evaluation. The only thing that I am missing from the planner is a reading log, which I’ll just write out and stick in the planner each month. I also just stumbled upon a student planner, and I have to say I do like the layout so I may try that for next year. Some homeschoolers use a digital planner, and while I am personally not there yet, it may be worth looking at it if you are tech savvy.
Next, if you have a physical planner, a must are erasable pens! OMG, I remember having these as a child and they were and still are the coolest things ever. Granted, the pens back then weren’t as nice, but still awesome! I plan out our homeschool for each month, and sometimes I plan last minute activities that end up pushing back our subjects so then I just erase the subjects and fit them somewhere else in the schedule.
Another essential item are magic erase boards. This helps with reducing so much paper waste when teaching. If you have an iPad, I recommend a free drawing app that can also be used as a white board. And of course, if you have white boards, you need magic erase markers.
Another great tool to have are desktop organizers. This helps to keep pen, pencils, papers, misc. things organized (somewhat). My kids picked out their own and just helps to complete their homeschool desktop and get them ready for school.
Other essentials we have on our desktop include a stapler, staples, staple remover, three hole puncher (for the teacher), single hole puncher (for each student), tape dispenser, tape, painter’s tape (this is to hang up art, worksheets for display, etc.), tacks or push pins, glue, scissors, calculator, white out, pens, pencils, and a pencil sharpener.
Field Trip Essentials
We love field trips! Whether it’s with a homeschool group or as a family, we enjoy a fun outing. I love learning about new places and seeing new things just as much as the kids do. So with that said, some of the best field trips takes us to far away places or takes a few hours to explore so we need to eat! Due to our food sensitivities/intolerances, we cannot eat out here and there and everywhere like we used to. So, I will cook and prepare food along with approved snacks so we don’t get hangry.
The best insulated food holder I found is the brand Thermos. It has to be the chunky looking Thermos, not the thin and tall one that’s more for kids. Why? Because the chunky Thermos keeps the food extremely hot when filled to the brim compared to the one for kids. The one tall and thin one may be good for cold foods but I haven’t tried it out yet as the thought just came to me. Tip for the thermos though: heat hot water, pour carefully into Thermos for five minutes, heat up food so it’s smoking hot and not dried out (add a little water if reheating), and then carefully pour out the hot water from the Thermos and add in the food. Fill it to the top and close. If you feel it halfway, the food will be warm and will be similar to using the thin and tall Thermos, which I worry about food poisoning if food becomes lukewarm temp after a few hours.
Another essential are water bottles. Definitely invest in a good reusable water bottle that holds a lot of water. My kids use 12-18 ounces, but I usually pack a larger water bottle for myself and to refill their waters if necessary. Being out in the Florida heat makes you sweat, so we need to replace fluids and electrolytes as we lose them.
The kids have their own lunch bags for snacks although we truly just use one family one (unless they go to an extracurricular activity, then they use two).
Many times I have brought a cooler on field trips because it helps to keep our snacks cold and waters colder. For our hot meals, I usually just keep the Thermos in my large capacity backpack and walk around with it so if we need to eat, we can plop down somewhere and eat. This backpack is really wonderful! I am able to fit our water bottles, lunches, snacks, my personal essentials, even extra clothes in it! It get’s heavy so it’s nice when my husband is with us, then he can wear it, but I usually wear it for the duration of the activity unless we can put our bags down somewhere.
And that’s it! This is a pretty extensive list but I am sure you already have so many of the things. Be sure to check out my Amazon Homeschool Essentials List for everything and more listed. You don’t need to start off with everything when you first start homeschooling. It will all accrue as the years pass by. At this point in our homeschooling lives (after 4.5 years of officially homeschooling), we have many of the essentials, and all we really have to do is replenish the things we use out like paper, pens, tape, etc. I hope you found this article helpful! Happy Homeschooling!
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