Back to (Home)School Shopping List

The back to school sales are starting up where we live… and across the other side of the country, the kids’ cousins are back in the classroom next week. With that in mind, I thought it was time to share our homeschool shopping list. We try to top up on various supplies while the back-to-school sales are on.   Here are some of the things that we use in our homeschool:

Now that I’ve shared the list, I thought I’d highlight a couple of purchases we’ve found especially useful.  Last year, I bought a date-stamp – Trodat Economy Self-Inking Date Stamp (affiliate link). For whatever reason, the kids really like using it. I’ve found I really like having their writing and other work dated. It helps me remember when we’ve had a break or helps me quickly flip back to see when we covered a certain subject. It’s one of those things I’m not sure I would have purchased if I had not read about it, but I’m SO glad we have one!

I was never much of a “timer” person, but last year I decided to buy three of them and try it out.  The kids know to spend 10 or 15  minutes at certain subjects (typing, piano, etc.) and I found we use these throughout  the day.  Ten minutes never sounds bad and the kids jump into their work in a way they didn’t before. Maybe that’s because the kids are getting older, but I really think it has a lot to do with the handy-dandy timer. We use it ALL the time!! (In fact, now we have 5 of these because they walk away to the piano area and elsewhere.) Electronic Digital Timer (affiliate link)

Last year I bought several good quality tote bags (from Thirty-One Gifts) that I absolutely love. They are strong enough to fill to the top with library books.  We use our bags when we have to grab our books and head out for the day. I don’t sell these bags, but I sure do like them!

This past year we also got a lot of use out of our storage clipboards. We got them at the back-to-school sales at Walmart.  They were not in stock (at Walmart) a few months later when I looked last year, but I see they are back on sale this summer. I like them because they are just deep enough to allow a small stack of paper and a few pencils.  When we had to do school on the go, I could put our printables inside in the storage area of the clipboard and they were not mashed or wrinkled by the time we got to our destination.

We’ve gotten a lot of use out of our magnetic dry erase board. Some homeschool families have a huge board attached to the wall. We’ve used a small easel-style magnetic board that works well for us. You can see the Learning Resources Doublesided Tabletop Easel (affiliate link) in the picture below on the left.

We also use forward-facing book displays, which I find useful. I especially like this wooden forward facing wooden bookshelf . (affiliate link) which I got from Amazon last year for $55. We also have cheap cloth style book displays which you can see in the picture above just above ED’s head.

Another important organizing feature for us are workbox drawer sets. You can get them here: 10-Drawer Mobile Organizer, Assorted Colors (affiliate link) Each of my kids has a set and I use a label maker to write the subject/books that go in each drawer. I find these incredibly useful especially when I have a bunch of papers I’ve printed out and want to keep track of. The kids keep their math books in the carts, though our writing/grammar related books are in another part of the room.

If you’d like to print out a copy of this checklist, just click on the link below:

Here is the updated 2015-2016 list:

Homeschool Supply List – Homeschool Science Supply List Printable

Find out more about our new Homeschool Science Supply List at this post here.

Coming Soon: Homeschool Supply List and Homeschool Science Supply List

Did I leave anything off the list that you think should be there? Let me know over at our Homeschool Den Facebook page! 🙂 ~Liesl

You might be interested in other posts in this series:

• 10 Steps to Get Ready for Homeschooling
• How and Why We Got Started Homeschooling
• How Long Will We Keep Homeschooling (Homeschooling Through High School)
• How to Start Homeschooling
• How Do You Know What to Teach the Kids: Finding a Homeschool Curriculum
•  What Happens in a Homeschool Day — Our Week or 2 in Review (K, Gr. 3, Gr. 5) — A glimpse into our homeschool (last November) that helps give you a flavor of what our homeschool routine looks like.
• Math Curriculums & Going Beyond the Text – This post includes 15+ ideas for making math engaging and fun!