We are now a few years in to our homeschooling journey. In the beginning I did a lot of planning and research, deciding what kind of classroom space I’d like to have for my child and what kind of things we would need to have on hand to make our days and our school year run smoothly. For today’s post I’m sharing a few items I LOVE and consider to be must-haves for our homeschool.
Tank Printer – I absolutely love searching the internet for school printables, but ink refills for traditional inkjet printers are outrageously expensive I had to be VERY selective about what I printed. I’d find some so many great resources, but I’d only print certain ones because the ink was so expensive! And then sometimes I’d be right in the middle of printing a great resource, and I’d run out of ink.
Finally I invested in a supertank printer. These printer are a little more expensive than your average inkjet printer, but they will completely pay for themselves in just a couple of months (if you are someone who print out stuff a lot). We had ours almost 3 years before we decided to refill the ink. (And even then, the printer wasn’t empty.) And I’ve been able to print so much curriculum and learning games. Best of all, I can print everything I find that might be useful. I no longer have to worry about rationing the link and being afraid I’m going to run out! I don’t have to worry about the price of ink. These tank printers are a life saver! And if you homeschool, you should definitely invest in this.
Home Laminator – Another item that I think is a must-have for homeschooling is a laminator. These are relatively inexpensive, and they are very easy to use. It is so great to laminate all those printables I’m making with my tank printer. I love using mine to laminate Bible verses we are learning. It’s also great to laminate our printable learning games, flashcards, and manipulatives, so we don’t have to worry about them getting ripped or getting covered in peanut butter and jelly, or chocolate smudges. And because the printables are nice and sturdy, they have a good shelf life. You can save them for years or pass them along to others who need them.
Book Binder Machine – I always use to 3-hole punch my papers and place them in binders or folders, but for certain projects and school items, I love being able to put stuff today into a book. For this reason, I bought a binding a machine a couple of year ago. As I’m creating planners for the year, I can easily punch holes in all the papers and put them in a spiral binding. I’ve also been able to bind our memory verses together into little books, which makes it easy to keep them organized and accessible. This is also a great tool, if you ever print out unit studies or journals for your kids, or if you purchase your curriculum in an unbound format.
Dry Erase Board – When I was a kid, I used to play school, and I wrote so many lessons on my chalk board and white board. Then we started homeschooling, and I questioned whether I really needed a white board or not. I didn’t want to just buy a board that would hang on the wall and never get written on, so right before the start of kindergarten, I considered how I’d use it and finally I decided that we would have a white board.
While some homeschool moms opt to not get a white board (and I understand that), I would say that it is definitely a must-have for us. I often use it to write words and sentences for reading, which gives us a good break from reading off flashcards and paper. It is also great for demonstrating how to write our letters. And I find it very useful for when you need to review something or drive a point home. (And as you can see from my photo, it also gives kids a place to write and draw.)
The Right Organizational Tools – Finally, every home school mom must have an organized space! This, of course, looks different for everyone, and depends on your own personal style and what kind of stuff you have in your homeschool room. I have a cube organizer in our class room space. (It houses a lot of learning manipulatives and games, but also contains puzzles and some toys.) I also have an 8-drawer cart. This is where I put the majority of our curriculum and workbooks. I also have a separate library cart for some our reading curriculum and supplies. and of course, we have bookshelves for books and supplies!
So these are MY must-haves! If you are a homeschool mom, and there is something you would add to this list, please tell me in the comments!
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