50 Essential Homeschool Supplies (What We Love Most and Use Daily)

Our homeschool tends to be simple and minimalist and I love it that way. We don’t buy a ton of grade-specific curriculum, we don’t use many workbooks, and I don’t buy a lot of unit studies. I’ve also heard it said – and agree with the sentiment 110% – that you can homeschool with just a math book, a library card, and a forest. If you are just starting out on your homeschool adventure, please do not go out and buy everything on this list. Even though I call these “essential homeschool supplies,” these are not all necessary for every child at every grade level and, if you are just starting out, you don’t know yet if you will need these items. This list is what we have slowly accumulated over the course of six years homeschooling, and is meant to simply spark ideas. Perhaps you’ll see just one or two new items that might help you out at this very moment, and make your life easier in whatever season of homeschooling you find yourself!

However, the other side of the coin is the truth that we do use (almost) all of these homeschooling supplies and they do make my life easier. We have been homeschooling multiple grades at the same time for six years now, and I am at the point where I am deeply thankful for anything that makes my life a bit simpler and more manageable! Also, perhaps it’s just me and my weirdness, but I find great enjoyment in reading through lists of what other homeschoolers use on the daily. Sometimes it’s just validation (yes, I am not the only one who has an unnatural love for my laminator!) and sometimes I am inspired with new ideas of ways to streamline our busy life.

Personally, I’ll read lists like this perhaps once a year in order to help me re-evaluate my own systems and spaces and think through if there is a better way to do things or a easier way to organize our supplies – and then I will maybe purchase one or two new items. The rest of the year I won’t worry about it, because most likely, what I already have is enough – and I’m better off spending my time praying for and loving on these children in my care.

Finally, I am going to note for you which items I think are worth spending a bit more on and getting better quality, and which ones I’ll just buy as cheap as possible. Other families might have slightly different priorities or ideas about this, but I’ll share what’s worked for us! As with all my ideas – take what you like and ignore the rest.

Essential Homeschool Supplies: What We Use Daily for 5 Children

Office-Type Supplies

• a good laminator and laminating pouches (I’ve used this so, so much. It’s amazing)
• a reliable printer and plenty of ink
• 3-hole punch
• stapler and staples
• 3 ring binders (we use these to organize copywork pages or narration pages or artwork)
• clear page protectors, for artwork you don’t want to hole punch OR for items that you’ll be switching out frequently)
• binding machine (I do not have one of these yet but I love the idea of being able to turn printed curriculum or unit studies into a book! Perhaps it will go on my Christmas wish list…)
• many pairs of scissors: ours always seem to vanish mysteriously and then turn up months later in corners of the basement or at the bottom of the sock drawer or inside the Lego bin)
• multiple kinds of tape (Scotch, masking, washi, and even packaging tape for repairing the books that your toddler destroys)
• a paper cutter comes in extremely handy for certain crafts and projects! Just be careful of the sharp blade with little fingers.

Writing Supplies

• small dry erase boards and markers (either blank or lined like this one)
• a large whiteboard or chalkboard (we didn’t get this until a couple years into our homeschool journey, but since then we have used it every single day!)
• good pencils and erasers – Ticonderoga are the absolute best and I don’t buy any others now!
• good electric pencil sharpener (this is probably in the top 10 of our most-used homeschool tools!)
• computer & comfy chair to sit in (definitely not needed for the younger years, but as our boys have gotten older they have started to practice typing and need the computer more)
• blank notebooks – I usually buy these cheap during the school-supply sales, but this year I’m excited to try a few of these beautiful notebooks from School Nest!
• clipboards – I have one for each of the older children and we use them for all sorts of activities
• timers (very helpful for practicing difficult skills – some kids love having a visual countdown of exactly how long they need to practice their handwriting or math drill or whatever it might be)

Book/Reading/Phonics Related

• bookshelves, obviously
• a storage spot for each child (could be a cubby, or a bin, or tote for each child’s specific books)
• library card and a way to corral those library books! (we have one specific spot where we try to keep all the library books, and it *mostly* works… we’ve only lost a handful of books in all our years of library-ing)
• a up-to-date globe: we use ours almost every day
• candles (my personal favorite is the Woodwick brand that sounds like an actual fire crackling – so very cozy!)
• our much-adored Yoto player and cards
• a bluetooth speaker – my go-to way to play music in the house
• a wooden alphabet set (we have this one) or alphabet magnets (any sort of letters that the little ones can pick up and play with!)
• post-its (I am always using these to mark spots in books that I want to show at our homeschool group, or to mark pictures that go along with our history reading, etc)

Art Supplies

• watercolor paints and brushes (we aren’t too particular about the paint, but don’t use the cheap Crayola brushes that come with the paints – they hardly hold any paint and are frustrating to use! You’re better off finding some slightly more expensive brushes that are thicker and will work far better)
• markers and crayons (we usually get Crayola when they’re on super-duper sale in July or August)
• colored pencils (this is one item I will splurge on, because cheap colored pencils are so difficult to use; they are scratchy and break easily and the colors are dull. Prismacolor pencils are our favorite and if I can find them on sale I’ll snag them! Otherwise Faber-Castell is another brand we like that’s cheaper than Prismacolor and infinitely better than Crayola)
• glue sticks and glue bottles, any kind
• all the papers! Construction paper, cardstock, tracing paper, heavy duty paper for painting on, giant rolls of paper, and printer paper. I try to find these cheap because we go through so much of it.
• jars, baskets, or bins in which to organize the afore-mentioned art supplies (check Goodwill!)
• another organization option – a clear turntable like this one (we’ve used this for years for our markers and pencils)
• table-top easel (we have not tried this yet but it is in my cart at the moment as I am envisioning how useful it could be for propping up books with pictures we want to study, or holding art prints, or propping up our small whiteboards, etc)
• a way to display artwork (perhaps with magnets on the fridge, or a simple string with clothespins on the wall, or a spot on the chalkboard where you can tape them up)

Exploring/Nature/Play Supplies

• pretend money – useful for math but also for pretend play
• any kind of wooden blocks collection – open-ended toys like this can be used with equal delight by both the baby and the middle schooler. Ours are often played with during read aloud time!
• magnifying glasses – we are not too picky about these but we do like this kind that is fairly durable!
• binoculars – it’s nice to have one real (adult) pair handy, though you may not want the kids playing with it until they get a little older
• small backpacks (so the kids can get used to carrying a small load on your hikes)
• water bottle holders – my husband got me one of these for Christmas and it has been SO helpful for those shorter hikes where you only need some water and your phone! I’m thinking of getting some smaller ones for the kids at some point.
• maps of your state and/or city
• large world map, if you have the wall space for it!
• field guides relevant to your part of the country
• totally optional but completely beautiful: Cavallini & Co posters related to a current topic of study

For Mom

• your favorite drink of choice: coffee, tea, seltzer, etc – something to bring you a little bit of joy and perhaps give you a chance to sit down and rest for a moment!
• a good book or two that will encourage you throughout the school year! Get the free download of all my personal favorite parenting and homeschool books at the link here.
• a planner! I could not live without all my thoughts and ideas and chores and homeschool lists and life events written down somewhere outside of my brain. Like, I am absolutely certain that my brain would explode -poof! – if I could not use a planner. There are a million options out there and you’ll find one that works for you.
• your favorite pens, highlighters, or markers (my current obsession is these Paper Mate felt-tip pens but pick some that you like and have them ready to go!)

There you have it, our very favorite essential homeschool supplies that have kept us organized and creative and learning for the past six years! What would you add? Is there anything you really love that I missed? Let me know in the comments!