Originally written in the summer of 2019, this post has been republished for all the new homeschoolers out there looking to buy some awesome school supplies for this upcoming year!
**This post contains affiliate links.**
If I sound excited to buy school supplies, it’s because I am. There’s nothing quite like a fresh notebook and a new pencil, am I right?
Remember this pen? I found this pen at my brother’s house in West Virginia last month, and memories of 10th grade American History came flooding back. And every other subject, for that matter. With this pen and a crisp, new Five-Star college-ruled notebook, I was invincible. My notes were neat and organized and I was going to ace whatever test I took.
I quickly ordered myself a box on Amazon (link above), and it got me thinking…even as a kid, I was jazzed about school supplies. Brand new office-smelling binders, papers, and pencils were always my jam, but now, as a homeschool mom, there are certain school supplies that have become essential to our school. Herein, my top 6 that I just can’t live without.
A Laminator
Even before we homeschooled, I had this awesome tool at home. A laminating machine makes everything more official. I laminate labels, name tags, report covers, times table review sheets to make them erasable so my kids can use them to practice, you name it. A laminator is a one-time investment you will not regret.
Ticonderoga Pencils
There is seriously no other brand of pencil I’d rather use. You may think it doesn’t matter, but if you’ve ever sharpened a pencil only to have the lead fall out repeatedly, you get my drift. A Ticonderoga pencil feels more substantial in your hand, writes better, and doesn’t break as easily. If you don’t want to take my word for it, just read the scores of Amazon reviews!
Sheet Protectors
If you’ve never flipped through a binder full of neatly organized papers in sheet protectors, you have never lived. Seriously. My 8-year old’s short story about farting unicorns that talk? It’s suddenly important in a sheet protector. Labels for the math manipulative bins? They’ll never get lost, crumpled, or thrown away again. My 6 year old’s drawing of our family? Well, that I laminated and hung up, but you get the idea. 🙂
Label Maker
Hi. My name is Chanie and I’m addicted to labeling. No really. My husband jokes when I label a clear container of band-aids Band-Aids, but haters gonna hate, you know? Labels make your kids feel more official – I label their workbooks, their binder, their end-of-year portfolios. They love it, I love it. Win-win. I recently commissioned my 10-year old to label all the toys in the playroom. He practiced his spelling, learned how to use a labeler (life skill, perhaps?), and made his mama proud.
Rolling drawer organizer
Each of my kids has their own binder with all of their worksheets for the year in each subject preprinted, but what do I do if my kids have projects that they’re still working on? Enter this drawer organizer to save the day! Each kid gets two drawers (both the red, or both the blue, etc.) for artwork, projects, papers we bring home from field trips that they want to save. It keeps their binder neat and organized and the dining room table clear from clutter. Awesome.
Dry-Erase Boards and Markers
As a classroom teacher, I loved using wipe-off boards as a quick check for understanding after a lesson. It was an easy way to see quickly that 25 children had “gotten it.” What I also figured out was that kids LOVE using these, and whenever I brought them out, a buzz of excitement swept the room. I continued using these at home for kids to practice math facts, with different colors to label parts of speech in a sentence, and to draw examples for science and history. What’s awesome about this is that it’s something my first grader and 5th grader can do on their own levels at the same time – he can write out the answer and she can draw a picture. Brilliant!!
What are some of your favorite school supplies? Comment below and share!