Aside from what the kids need, what supplies and tools should we, as home school parents, have around the house? I've ordered a few teacher catalogs only to find myself over-whelmed....I have a cabinet with drawers and baskets along with two bookshelves to keep us organized. I think it would be cheaper for us to have a printer/copier/fax combo than to go make copies of reproducibles anywhere else (the library charges .20 a copy) and I know I'll probably need an electric sharpener. I'm going to use a HUGE three-ring binder with page dividers instead of a file box/cabinet for my filing needs (I wanted something I could take with me everywhere). I'm also buying a bulletin board and I'm CONSIDERING buying a white-board/chalk-board, but with the student planners I bought for my kids it looks like we may not need one. Any other suggestions?
I love my laminator, but I must confess, I don't use it for homeschooling as much as I thought I would. I mostly use it for business and teaching classes at church. I LOVE it, though, and I know a lot of homeschoolers (here included) who couldn't live without one. Another suggestion - get a laser printer/copier. I know it's big bucks up front, but it doesn't guzzle ink or wear out as fast as an ink jet IMHO. I guess that all depends on who you ask and what brand you get, though.
I have a huge dry erase board that I use ALL the time! Im also glad I have a lot of bookshelves, even so I still need more storage space. I bought alot of stuff we didnt really use in the way of little things last yr, so not so much this yr, but I do want one of those manual wall mounted pencil sharpeners for sure! Weve lost lots of tiny pencil sharpeners this yr lol.
My must haves are: Laminator Labeler 3 hole punch white board with extra pens ( go to Sam's club they have large packs for super cheap) electric pencil sharpener and a small hand held one for colored pencils extra binder (I try to keep a few empty ones on hand all the time, never know when you need one) File boxes expandable file type envelopes ( keeps all those loose odds and ends you don't want to box or put in a binder nice and tidy) my brothers printer and the super cheap ink! (ends up being way cheaper than any printer I have found yet. Always have a lot of printing paper on hand. I buy it buy it in 5000 sheet boxes. A nice supply of learning videos or a netflix membership for instant videos. You never know when you just need an easy day to keep it simple and these are perfect for that. Also extra supply of what the kids need. Those items are like socks in a dryer they always come up missing and are never found! I know there is more, but these are my must haves right off the top of my head.
Instead of shelling out big bucks on a pricey white board, go to Lowes and buy a piece of tile board (sometimes called shower board). They will cut it down for you for free if you want. But it was only a few dollars for a 4x8 foot piece and it's exactly the same as a white board, just without the frame.
A good printer/copier is a must, a library card (or three lol), white board (we have the tile board Amie was talking about), dry erase markers, electric pencil sharpener, lots of printer paper (Love staples back to school sales), 3 hole punch, colored permanent markers, and of course school supplies, and craft supplies.
I have a laser printer and it is so much better then the "all in one" I had. The last time I went to buy ink for my epson "all in one" it was over 100 dollars. (Ink for this one is like 75 dollars BUT it prints 2,000 sheets. You aren't going to get that colored ink.) Most of my printing is in blk/white. I think a midrange scanner and the laser printer is the way to go. I don't have a white board right now (though I did have one at first). I used it more for "me" (menus, to-do lists, announcements, shopping lists) then for HS. (But my kids are "older".) I use binders for everything. (plus my kids use one too) I also like them to have a box or milk crate to keep all their current schoolwork in. (Books, workbooks, clipboard, and they each have a box with colored pencils, scissors, a ruler, and index cards.) I also have rubbermaid "totes" for the Sonlight books/curriculum. (Each book gets a sticker when it comes in and goes into the labeled tote) I keep textbooks (and like) on a small bookshelf in my office. Their free reading books are in their room. (We have 6 IKEA bookshelves in the famlily room for "family" and adult reading.)
Ok.. A good printer, most claim laser, but I have a brother that takes lc-51 ink, any that take that or lc-61 ink will be super cheap, and in color. I just did an experiment and it cost me less than a half a penny per page both front and back and it was in full color (I started by just changing ALL of my inks when I started a new ream of paper, I went through 3 reams before I had to change even 1 ink). It's also an all in one so I can copy things easily. A Laminator, the one at Walmart for under $30 works great and I buy the laminating sheets at Sams for 200 for $20. I love my comb binding machine.. it is an expense that can wait, but it was well worth it when I could afford it. We don't use a white board, but I use the laminator to make the kids their own "white boards" with cool boarders to keep it fun. Lots of arts and crafts supplies.
I find I use a globe more than I ever thought I would. We use it for history, science, geography, literature, etc. I also recommend a tool caddy for school supplies. They can be brought to the table and then set back on a shelf easily to get them out of the way.
a Globe or Maps, thanks for the reminder Brooke. I have Wall Maps on my to buy list. We do a ton of geography. That is almost always my first lesson. (Where is this on the world/us map???)b
For Christmas a few years ago, my husband bought me a laser printer. It's AWESOME. It's not a 3-in-1, but I can send myself pdfs via email and print them at the printer where it's hooked up. Hubby's computer has a scanner. I replaced the cartridge after two years using the one that came in the box. Hubby spent $60 and got the heavy duty cartridge! LOL It will take YEARS to get through it all!!! And I print A LOT! Bookshelves, we have two medium Billy's from IKEA, but I need the tall ones. Hoping to replace over the summer, if all goes well. I never seem to have enough book storage. Can you ever really have enough books? I don't think so.
I know a lot of people use the regular pencils, but I love mechanical ones. They may not work for really young kids. They have some with thicker leads that don't break as easy. I love the fact that we don't have to sharpen our pencils. I would recommend a good dictionary (someday I want an older one, with more original definitions), maps or globe (or both), binders, folders, map colors or crayons, paper, and whatever else you think fits your family. The catalogs can get pretty tempting, so resist the temptation to buy everything that looks good right now. Buy it a little at a time.
I love my shelving and magazine holders. The holders are GREAT for sorting subjects and keeping everything where it should be. I found them on Amazon at a really good price. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000J09BKG
I agree get the basics, I have a drawer now that I got for school stuff, one drawer has ( plastic rolling type) is school books we have yet to use. Second drawer is pens pencils, markers, crayons and glues etc craft stuff too, Bottom drawer is sewing and hot glue stuff. Those we actually used, A bookshelf or five hahah, ya I have five! Two go to the ceiling, uh.. we have two more half full with educational books too but they are for family haha. We have our encyclopedia type books and atlases out the ears.. they have them for each level you know? I should sell some of these things once College Finals are over and I can go through things we will! In the den I have reading books and bible study books etc, on a full wall dh and I have our own books plus some from college courses and such, so theres a lot there. We do have some save for grandkids books, but then there are some we got to get oru kids into books, hard covers that they will never really read... So I want to rid the shelves of those, we probably bought them for a dime a peace or less. I think you need a dvd player and a tv, or a lap top with capabilities. Computer access is a must! A library card JoAnn's Teacher Discount card Pizza Hut reading program sign up membership in one or more of the free printables, which leads me to a printer! Printing is a must! Lamanating is nice but its frivolousness was too much for my budget. You want to order from Scholastics when they have a dollar sale and get posters for Science, Grammar, Maps for History and Geography you can acctually get from National Geographic on line if you want, I forget how much they are. CSPAN has things too, HUGE wall lists of Presidents in a time line. Pencils, Pens, erasers. Staples rewards carD! They have a Teacher Reward card and you can get way more off on the 1 cent sale even! Boarders had a teacher discount too, b and N does as well.
Great post. I dont have anything to add, but I do have my notebook out, and am making a list. Thanks!
