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While I advocate for simplicity within the home and not overburdening your space with “stuff”, I also appreciate quality, intentional items within a homeschool space. Items that serve a purpose, encourage creativity, inspire learning and ultimately bring value to our lives. Which is why this was one of the most difficult lists to create. There are so many things I cherish in our homeschooling space. From art supplies, to storage solutions, to learning items – I love them all. But this list has crunched down all of our homeschool classroom favorites to 10 homeschool classroom must-haves.
My Top 10 Homeschool Classroom Must-Haves from Amazon
1. Rolling Homeschool Cart
This is my number one favorite homeschool classroom item. We actually have two of these; one we use in our dining room area for morning time, table time, and a place to store our morning basket, and the other is for our art supplies and is located in our homeschool classroom.
What I love about this rolling cart is its versatility, manueverability and how easy it makes organizing supplies. We have changed up how we use our carts several times before finding a way that fits our family. I could truly add 2-3 more to our home (which I may still do), because of how versatile this cart is. Another thing I love about it is that I can roll it onto our back porch for morning time, roll it to the table while we’re doing an art lesson or even roll it in the living room if we want to take Morning Time to the couch.
You can buy this rolling cart HERE. Or check out different color options below:
2. Epson EcoTank ET-2850
This could tie for first place in the list of “Top 10 Classroom Must-Haves”. I use our printer more than I ever thought I would – which is crazy, because we don’t even use much “packaged curriculum” (we primarily use Ambleside Online, which is a free literature-rich, Charlotte Mason homeschool curriculum). Nevertheless, this printer is used almost every single day.
I use this to print off full-color pictures for our artist or picture study, items for nature study, flash cards for nature study, full color anatomy pages, planners, pages for our Morning Menus (like this full-color calendar), and so much more. I bought this last year and have not had to refill the ink yet. To be transparent, I do not own the ET-2850, I own the ET-4800. I recommend the ET-2850, however, for it’s ability to automatically print double sided. I’m kicking myself for not ensuring my EcoTank purchase offered automatic double-sided printing. But in all honesty, I never expected to use it as much as I do.
The Epson EcoTank ET-2850 is at its LOWEST price right now – go buy it before they’re gone!
3. Globe
Is a globe necessary? I would argue, “Yes”. I believe they can be the most incredible learning tool in your homeschool. Everything you read, learn and explore can potentially be explored on a globe or map. A globe transfers what a child sees on a map, or reads in a book, into a real-life Earth form. Since we’ve purchased our globe, we use it daily. We love it so much that my oldest now has his own globe in his room, in addition to the globe in our classroom.
When we went to purchase our first globe, we searched for the best globe around – but ended up buying a cheap one from Hobby Lobby to save a bit of money. It broke within the first couple of weeks, and we had to trash it. We wanted to find one that had raised areas to indicate the mountain ranges and hills, and also wanted it to be sturdy.
Finally, we found our dream globe at the local thrift store. It took a while, but the long search was worth it. If you don’t have that option, this one is an excellent find. It is high-quality, sturdy and had excellent reviews.
4. Geo Board
Do you remember using these in school? I do. This nostalgic item has brought so much wonder, creativity and fun learning in our classroom. It earned it’s spot on this list due to its diverse uses, and my children’s desire to use it often.
Our geo boards sit on an open shelf for use during any “down time” in our school day – which is usually when I am doing a one-on-one math lesson with one of my children. Using a bit of a Montessori approach, I have 4 shelves that rotate items to use during downtime – but the boys are always excited to see the geo boards. Apart from their home on the shelf, they are also offered as an easy morning invitation – one that is requested more often than not. We sometimes use cards to make suggested images, and other times the boys let their creativity shine with their own designs.
While the geo board we use is no longer manufactured, this one from Amazon has stellar reviews and is beautiful.
5. Book Stand
If you use a Charlotte Mason approach, this one’s especially for you. If not, keep reading – you’ll likely find the benefit in this genius homeschool classroom purchase.
I once saw an image of someone using a bookstand to display their nature guide, and I thought it was genius. But I wasn’t sure how the bookstand could truly be useful in our homeschool classroom, so I waited many months before purchasing. In the meantime, I made a list of ways I could possibly use the stand; for drawing lessons, copywork, nature study, picture study, etc. Finally, I decided it was worth the $17, and ordered it.
I was pleasantly surprised at how much I began using it. When drawing a narration from Tree in the Trail, my boys appreciated seeing the drawings from the book – so I would pull out the book stand. When we would take our nature journal supplies to the backyard to record a finding, I would grab the stand and a nature anatomy book to help us compare our finding with what was in the book. If we wanted to take our math lessons to the backyard or the park, I found myself bringing the stand along to prop up a small whiteboard that we bought from the Dollar Tree. At our dinner table, we would use the same stand and white board for our copywork. The possibilities are truly endless, and what makes this particular book stand so amazing is how it folds almost flat for easy storage and travel.
6. Magazine Holder
Homeschooling comes with so many papers, books, curriculum and printables. It can be hard to organize it all. After trying so many different methods, I finally purchased 6 magazine holders to organize my piles of papers and curriculum I had accumulated.
These reside on our bookshelves in our homeschool classroom and on our art cart. I have one designated for math, where I place the boys’ math curriculum. I have another designated for narration notebooks, and another for language arts which holds handwriting curriculum, a grammar book and their copywork notebooks. The others are used for upcoming unit studies, to hold history reference books that are applicable to what we’re learning, and one for our history timelines.
We love these white magazine holders from Amazon which come in a 2-pack.
7. Glass Jars with Wooden Lid
Next on storage necessities are these glass jars. Before you rush off to purchase them, make sure you have a need for them. We certainly did. We had accumulated so many wooden acorns, rocks, wooden balls, felt rainbow balls, and many other cute math counters but we had nowhere to put them. We also had an art cart full of supplies in random plastic boxes – it was unsightly and not easy to access. I decided to take the leap and buy a bunch of jars.
I found a few different styles in Target’s dollar section (for $2.50-$5 each) to begin with, but when I needed more, these were the best find. I love how sturdy they are, how beautiful the lids are and how they all match.
These have a 3.9″ diameter opening and are 5.9″ tall, and you can buy a set of 6 of them on Amazon here.
8. Clear Envelopes (8.5 x 11)
Here’s our last organization item on the list – and it’s one of my favorites for organizing all the unit studies and printables that are a natural part of homeschooling. Within the next few weeks I plan on making an entire post on how I organize and access unit studies. In the meantime, I introduce you to these life savers.
These envelopes are excellent to store your unit studies and all the printables that you will not want to re-print in 6-12 months. They’re great for when you’re at the Dollar Tree and stumble upon the cutest butterfly lifecycle wheel that would work great for a butterfly study – you can simply add it to your “Caterpillar and Butterfly” envelope.
Once you get these, you’ll find so many other fun uses. On my Instagram, under the “Organization” highlight, you can see exactly how we use these in our homeschool.
Buy a pack of 30 clear envelopes HERE.
9. Prismacolor Pencils
When I first began homeschooling my children, I was introduced to the Waldorf method of homeschooling. There are so many beautiful principles of Waldorf, but one thing that stuck with me is the importance of providing high-quality, professional-grade art supplies to your children.
I know, I know… it sounds crazy at first. But hear me out. If you offer high-quality art supplies, your children are more likely to want to use them. No one is fighting over the off-brand crayons that are mostly wax and have little pigment. Your hand is exhausted before you’ve colored half of a picture. With quality crayons, such as Stockmar or these beeswax crayons, you don’t have to focus on how hard you’re coloring – instead, you focus on the masterpiece you’re creating.
The same thing applies to colored pencils. We buy the Prismacolor colored pencils and only have to purchase them once every 2-3 years. Each child gets his own set, plus we have a classroom set. They don’t break often, have great pigment, are easy to travel with and are one of the most used art supplies we own. These are a great investment in your homeschool space, by far. And make for an excellent addition to a “Back to School” basket for your child. You can buy a 36-count of Prismacolor pencils HERE (plus they’re on sale right now).
10. Ticonderoga Pencils
These are the pencils of all pencils. Buy this big pack and you’ll be set for the next 1-3 years. The erasers are like butter and remove pencil marks beautifully. The lead does not break and stays sharp after sharpening. My sweet husband gifted us pencils last year (a small pack from WalMart) and we had to donate them – they were ruining our papers. I gave him two pencils to try – the Ticonderoga and the other brand that was a bit cheaper, and he instantly saw that there is no comparison.
There are a few things in life you buy named brand – Ticonderoga pencils are one of them. If your children want more “flare” with their pencils, here are some options for unique/colorful Ticonderoga pencils:
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