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I’m getting ready to start my 18th year of homeschooling. I started when my oldest was 4-years-old, and she is now 21-years-old. I have eight children and my youngest is five! I would say I have a whole lot of experience!

Nonetheless, as I was planning and gearing up for the next year, I had to sort through our curriculum closet, because it was way too full for our new purchases, and get rid of things we no longer use, or had never used. I ended up with quite a pile!

My middle name is frugal, so there is almost nothing I dislike more than buying things and then disposing of them, unused. Who enjoys wasting money?

I have gotten better at choosing curriculum and supplies over the years, however, and I’d like to share with you some tips for choosing what you need, along with a list of the supplies you absolutely cannot do without.

Purchase your student’s supplies during the July/August sales

• Buy supplies like crayons, notebooks, lined paper and folders during the back to school sales (which happen during July and August) at the big box retailers, like Walmart. They have amazing loss leader discounts, like notebooks and folders for 15 cents each! So it’s really in your best interest to figure up what you’ll need for the entire year and purchase everything then.
• More expensive electronic items, like graphing calculators and laptops, usually go on sale during this same time. In fact, the back to school sales often rival Black Friday sales for items students need.
• You’ll often find good deals in early September when stores clearance out the back to school supplies, too. I like to look for backpacks, electric sharpeners, and things that aren’t usually as heavily discounted during the back to school sales.
• Amazon’s prices rival Walmart’s, and often for better quality, if you’re willing to look. The super cheap pencils from Walmart — the ones that are sold for mere pennies during the back to school sale — have crooked leads so they don’t sharpen evenly, the lead breaks, and they frustrate my kids. We end up throwing them away, so it doesn’t matter that they were cheap.
• Buy curriculum at conventions, when the sellers are all offering discounts. It’s especially helpful that you get to inspect the curriculum right there. Most of my wasteful purchases have happened when I buy curriculum I’ve never seen before and am unfamiliar with. You will also save on shipping! Be sure to attend conventions (or other places where you intend to purchase curriculum) armed with a list of exactly what you need, along with your child’s preferences and learning style, so you don’t purchase expensive items that never get used. This quiz is helpful if you need to determine your child’s learning style.
• Buy learning games and manipulatives when they go on sale. Legos, gear toys, magformers and all the fun building sets go on sale around Christmas. We’ve also scored some fantastic Black Friday deals on subscriptions like KiwiCo! If you have younger kids or want simpler projects you could sign up for one of the Kiwi Crate lines (Save 30% On Your First Month’s Box) or Creation Crate or  Mel STEM subscription kit. My kids are subscribed to Kiwi, Tinker and Eureka crates (all part of the Kiwi Crate line) and they jump for joy every month when their packages come.

Teacher (Mom) homeschooling supplies you can’t live without

Be sure to purchase your crayons, pencils, binders and notebooks at the back to school sales, when they are super cheap! Those sales are the only time you’ll find nice, 24-count Crayola crayons for 25 cents the entire year. So just take advantage of that and buy a year’s worth, plus a few extra.  Everything else is usually cheaper (and more convenient) to buy online from Amazon. I’ve provided links so you can just fill your cart and be good to go!

In addition to the crayons, pencils, markers, tape, glue and notebooks you’ll buy locally, you’ll need office-type supplies. Determine what you have already have and make a list of what you need in order to avoid overspending.

All of the following are supplies that every homeschool will benefit from — things that will not get shoved to the back of the closet and taken to Goodwill the next year.

1. 3-Hole Punch
2. Laminator and laminating pouches (this is probably my favorite of all my homeschool supplies!)
3. Dry erase markers (I like these odorless ones)
4. Dry erase board (or you can cut up a large, melamine board from Home Depot and make your own — cheap!)
5. Electric pencil sharpener (don’t get the cheap ones at the back to school sales — they won’t last!)
6. Scissors
7. Paper cutter (we use ours ALL the time)
8. Rulers
9. Protractor and compass set 
10. Graph paper
11. Paper clips
12. Page protectors
13. Brads
14. Push pins
15. Sticky notes
16. Globe plus US wall map and world wall map and map shower curtain and map placemats (because who wants to actually formally teach geography, when your kids can just learn it by osmosis?)
17. Art supplies. I like to keep a basket filled with pom-poms, feathers, googly eyes, washable paints and markers, crayons, scrapbooking papers and scissors, craft sticks, glue sticks, glitter, tissue paper and even a couple of empty toilet paper rolls. I like to keep all of these things on hand so we can make whatever we want without having to run to the store. Our nearest store is 20 minutes away, and if I have to go to the store for something, it just isn’t going to happen.
    

     

    You’ll also need a printer, ink and paper if you don’t already have them.

Fun, EXTRA homeschool supplies

Learning is more fun when you have some educational games and learning manipulatives to supplement the basics. These items will be well-loved, and used over and over and over. All of these are our favorites, and many of them have been given to the children as gifts for birthdays and holidays.

• Geo Puzzles (Your kids can learn geography without you having to teach it!)
• Scrambled States of America (card game that teaches US Geography)
• Ticket to Ride (fun game that teaches US Geography)
• Telescope (teaches astronomy — find an app that helps you locate planets and constellations)
• Microscope (science — this high-quality set includes prepared and blank slides
• Magnet Set  (science)
• Lens set and laser pointers (science)
• Snap Circuits (science)
• Magic School Bus (science cartoon series for kids — there are magic schoolbus sets to accompany the cartoons)
• Uniifix Cubes (math manipulatives to teach place value)
• Rush Hour (math and logic game)
• Tangrams and shape blocks (teaches math, spacial relations and logic)
• Qwirkle (math and logic game)
• Building sets such as Legos, K’nex, tinker toys, magformers, Lincoln Logs, and blocks help build math skills
• Liberty Kids (Revolutionary War cartoon series for kids — teaches history

Related Reading

• Lazy Homeschoolers Raise Geniuses
• Why I Decided to Homeschool
• The Top 10 Reasons to Homeschool
• 7 Easy Tips for Creating Lifelong Readers
• Ultimate List of Free Homeschool Curriculum
• Homeschool your Kindergartener (for free!) in just 20 Minutes a Day
• Teach Your Child to Read
• How can Something as Simple as Reading Aloud be so Powerful?

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