Our Homeschool Must Haves (So Far)

Someone recently asked me about my homeschool must haves for a mama beginning her journey with homeschooling, so I thought this would make for a great topic to share with you today. I know not everyone here homeschools, but if you do or may have your heart feeling that desire, I want to share some fun info with you that you may find helpful.

We are still figuring things out with homeschool; I am certainly no veteran. I have reorganized our “homeschool room” a million times and ordered quite a bit of things to begin with. Some days I feel like I’ve gone overboard and other days I realize how blessed I am to have these tools at my fingertips. The beauty of homeschool, especially with larger families, is that what you order today for one child can be loved on by many throughout the years. You can slowly build up your stash!

We love these wooden letters for sight words and spelling

Homeschooling doesn’t have to be a huge start up cost or an investment, but building a stash for a large family provides you with many resources at your fingertips. But let’s be totally honest here…all you need to homeschool your children is some pencils, colors, paper, a library card, a few classic books or readers and a curriculum (or plan of some sort) to follow. Oh, and lots of love, grace, nature and laughter!

I went into this with a desire to make learning fun and a constant experience that will hopefully provide my children with lifelong memories. Our daughter did public school for two years and I suppose a part of me also wanted to make sure that I made things even more fun - you know, more arts and crafts and more play and nature! So far we are loving every second of this journey and nothing has ever felt more right for our family.

We love the Masterbooks curriculum and our tracing board

Don’t get too caught up on this list below. It’s just some things that work well for us but aren’t necessarily a “need” for others. When it comes to homeschooling, you can’t compare yourself to others. You can only find inspiration from others and use their thoughts and ideas to build your own.

With all of that said, here’s some of my must haves below.

Curriculum or Workbook. There are some families who don’t invest in curriculums for little ones, but honestly I need the structure. Homeschool curriculum makes things so much easier because it lays out what you’re to do each day and even tells you sometimes what to say! We have really enjoyed Masterbooks curriculum, a Christian curriculum that is very well laid out and affordable. We also use My Father’s World, Mother of Divine Grace, and Abeka and have been pleased here as well.
Bible or Devotional. This applies if Jesus is your jam, but homeschooling is the perfect place to build your family on the rock. Read daily from the bible; read from a children’s story bible; find a fun children’s devotional…there’s so many ways to do this! We have also enjoyed the scripture alphabet worksheets from Arrows and Applesauce to memorize scripture. Check her shop out for TONS of fun extras and worksheets that you can print from home.
Art Supplies. This is a given but let me tell you why I love having everything on hand - our crafts and projects are often spur of the moment for me. I love having it on hand because then I can just find a craft or painting that correlates with a story or lesson we are on. You also may have days where something may not flow right or you may have a lot going on and an impromptu art lesson is a great cure.
Manipulatives. Yes, yes, yes! I love having counting manipulatives for my younger ones. We use colorful sorting bears, counting cubes, wooden balls and more. There are some really cute wooden ones over at Chickadee and Jack and Link. We also like having letters of some sort to make our sight words. We found these precious wooden ones on Amazon.
Little Readers. Oh this is a must have!!! We found the most adorable and wholesome readers for our beginner reader from Dash Into Learning. These beautiful books have a vintage appeal to them and each book builds upon each other as they learn new sounds and new words. Use code THEMUSHYMOMMY for 10% off of your purchase! Make sure to get the right set for your child.
Classic literature and/or a Library Card. I won’t lie, it took me awhile to actually sit down and utilize our library card. Thankfully our library allows us to borrow books from online and then I just run there to pick them up. Now that we are utilizing the library, it’s a great way to grab books for our units. However I will say I have enjoyed building up our book stash with classic literature, faith based books and Usborne encyclopedia style books. I see this books as an investment because with four little ones, they can be loved for many years to come.
Number board/Twenty Frame Board. Sometimes when you begin investing in homeschool items, you may purchase a few things that you won’t use a ton. Let me tell you that my 10 Frame reversible number board and twenty frame addition/subtraction board has been the best investments ever. All three of my children have used them at different times for addition, subtraction, writing numbers and developmental activities for the little one.
Grace. You need grace and lots of it. You need grace for yourself and for your children. This will be a beautiful journey but it will also be hard and messy at times. You will delight in the small things that your child accomplishes and find joy in learning side by side. It will be warm and cozy, but also tiring and hard at points. Some days you will question yourself and your WHY, but just remember that you’re doing something extraordinary for your child. You're giving them the gift to learn at home, connected as a family unit with the freedom to run, play, explore and grow within their faith. There is truly nothing quite like it. As I sit here and type this, I have a smile on my face because nothing has ever felt quite so right for us!

Below I will share a few things that are much lesser on the priority list for me, but great extras if you can build your stash up eventually.

Our space has evolved so much. These shelves look different now!

Educational Board Games/ STEM activities. This is a total bonus that you don’t “need” but I love having a few great board games for the kids. This is great for light days, Fridays or rainy/lazy days. We enjoy these straw building toys, Pete the Cat board games and Sight Word Swat. Just search for educational games on Amazon. Eeboo is a wonderful brand too!
Space. You don’t have to have a fancy school room or glamours bookshelves. While those things would be wonderful, it’s just not doable for many people. If you’re short on space, invest an a fun rolling cart to keep the bulk of your supplies and just roll it up to the kitchen table. Our dining room became our homeschool space!
Unit Studies. This is totally extra and fun, but something many homeschool mamas will do is create a unit study for the month or the week. One week you may study ocean life, then George Washington and then Pine trees another week. Basically you just tie all of your activities, books and extra lessons/experiments to match your unit. This is totally extra but so fun and a great way to utilize your library or personal book stash.
A morning routine. Establish a solid morning routine and be prepared that it may evolve over time. Whether you do the popular morning basket, breakfast school or just a laid out set of supplies for your children in the morning, it’s nice to have a consistent way to start the day.