We are year 3 into Homeschooling and we have settled into a routine and now know what materials and supplies we need for the new school year. We homeschool through an online academy and some materials are provided but we found some of these extra tools help make the homeschooling school year run even smoother.
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Pre-School - 3rd Grade
These low order fine point dry-erase markers are our favorite markers to use with our whiteboards. Since we are always using the whiteboards, these markers are a must have for homeschooling.
You can’t have dry erase markers without dry erase erasers. We went through quite a few of these last school year. So we replenished the stash and got these and they are proving to last longer and not leave over the marker residue other erasers can leave.
This is a product we are not officially affiliated with but we LOVE it so much it had to be on our Homeschool Must Haves list! Big Bee, Little Bee is a mommy-daughter, woman-owned, self-funded business we are proud to support. They have created the Marker Parker, no more markers rolling onto the floor, no more lost marker caps, no more dried out markers! We use these for our white board markers, It fits an entire set of the pack listed above. How I managed to do homeschool without it last year, I don’t know but with two kids, they each have their own, we wrote their initial on each and now no more fighting over markers or losing markers. You have to check these out! Totally worth the buy. Also, check out their ScrubBEE Easy-Grip Silicone Scrubber which is great for kids to use to wash their faces.
The first semester we homeschooled I had used cans, cups and other storage boxes to hold the kids drawing utencils, glue, scissors etc. It became a mess and eventually I had enough with it. When I found this rotating storage caddy, I couldn’t believe how much easier having all our materials in one place would be. I fit everything I needed to fit in it and I love how we can take the boxes out and the kids can use them and then put them back and no additional mess. We put it in the middle of the table for school time and both kids can share.
These bins are the perfect storage caddy for the girls textbooks, folders and notebooks. They each have one under their desk and decorated them with their name in stickers. They hold up really well and hold a decent amount of books.
We did the first year of homeschool with one student, from our kitchen table. It worked out fine, but this year with two students, I knew I had to modify our homeschool room in our house. This desk has proved to be the perfect desk for two kids to work on. We got the 63″ desk and have our pencil caddy in the middle at the top which helps separate them. It comfortably fits two kids or adults with two no arm rolling chairs. We also, bought this cover for it and cut it to size. This way it would be easy to clean after the kids art assignments.
I had been using this for my art supplies for about a year but when we changed our craft room into a homeschooling room, I turned this into drawers for the girls supplies and it fit perfectly under our desk minus the wheels.
If your kids are staring at the screen for long periods of time, these glasses help with the eye strain and glare. It helps the focus of the screen and helps decrease headaches or eye pain.
Since grade school children use pencil to write just about everything, you will ear out those pencil erasers very quickly. Our solution was to get a big box of these Pink Pearl Erasers and never have to worry about not having an eraser. The beauty of getting a big box of them is also that kids tend to misplace things so to have an endless supply of these lying around, you won’t have to wonder where the eraser is.
We started using this this year and it has really helped the girls learn days of the week, month, seasons and more. They take turns everyday with who gets to put the magnets on the correct spots. They enjoy getting up and doing this every morning.
Jewels was struggling with telling time until we purchased this clock. It’s silent and so detailed in it’s labeling. We have this on the wall above their school desk so they look at it a lot. I especially like how it has labels for o’clock, half past etc.
These magnetic chore charts have been a godsend in our homeschooling routine. I actually use them for assignment rewards. Each of the girls have a chart and the chores are their assignment categories. They get checked off once they complete that assignment for that day. The checks turn into rewards.
If you are like us, you have a ton of construction, computer and writing paper everywhere. We purchased one of these to organize our selection of papers and it has helped the kids know where everything is.
Nothing beats putting on music while your kids are doing their assignments or need a dance break. Music always helped me to focus and get through school. With amazon music you can play any song with no ads. Our link above will get you 3 months free!
Everyone needs a good electric pencil sharpener with all the pencils and colored pencils kids go through. I found this one is super easy to use and empty. The kids can even use this too.
I didn’t really know what to expect when I ordered this 6 in 1 Letter Sounds Games. I was actually pleasantly surprised and so were Jewels and Heart. It was more for Heart as she this is pretty Kindergarten based with sounding out letters. She enjoyed working on the puzzles and was enthusiastic to play it over and over.
When I was growing up Ten Frames meant ten picture frames. When I first heard about ten frames and number bonds I thought, “What is this witchcraft”. Then as I had to learn alongside Jewels, I was like, “Oh I get why they do this”. These counter toys for ten frames will help 1st grade and up.
These little counters have become so helpful when doing 1st/2nd grade ten frames and addition and subtraction problems. They are durable plastic counters that provide a variety of counting and probability activities for students. Counters measure one inch in diameter and are red on one side, yellow on the other. Can be used for counting, sorting, patterning and more.
I’ve been waiting to get this Zingo Sight Words game for Heart for about a year as I didn’t think she was quite at this level. Now that she’s in K, I thought why not? I’m so glad I did and it actually is helping my older daughter too! They enjoy playing it together and setting up the plastic yellow word cards in the Zingo box. I noticed a big jump in Heart’s reading. I recommend this game for K+.
A good thing to always work on with your 3rd graders in spelling and this book helps you do that. 95+ puzzles and games make spelling fun for 8-9 yr olds.
Crayons, crayons and more crayons. We have crayons up to our ears but if you are looking to refresh your crayon box this is the perfect set with all the colors your child will need. 152 Crayola crayons!
These notebooks are especially useful in Kindergarten and 1st Grade. Instead of having paper all around the house, these notebooks keep your child’s work in one place that you can keep as long as you want to.
For Preschool and all through grade school, glue seems to be a must have school supply. We bought this 30 pack and it has lasted us 2 years so far. Highly recommend buying these in bulk.
How many times has your child been coloring and gets upset because the colored pencils won’t erase which leads them to throwing a tantrum and starting over? These colored pencils will prevent that. Easily erases and puts your child’s mind at ease.
My kids love all the Piggie and Gerald books by Mo Willems. If Jewels needs to choose a book to read the first choice is always one of these books. Easy to read and humorous books. They are great for kids!
Both my girls love to play this game and put words together. When we first started the game we played without the timer and paper. I wanted to focus more on having them find and spell words without the pressure of a clock.
“Players compete with themselves and each other in this fast-paced word-building game. Kids hurry to build words using all sides of the Reading Rods® within a two-minute time limit. Game can be played at multiple levels and can be customized to practice specific reading and word-building skills. Includes 112 color-coded Rods, one two-minute timer, four pencils, one score pad and instructions. For 2-4 players.”
This post contains affiliate links. These products may or may not work with for your child but we suggest giving them a try.