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Hi friends!
If you didn’t catch it, yesterday I shared our most used homeschool supplies. These are items that we use every week, if not every day, in our homeschool. Items that have made it easier to complete lessons, or easier for mom to cleanup. Check it out HERE!
Today I am sharing my most used supplies for planning and prepping. This also includes a list of supplies I like to have on hand to complete most of the crafts and projects we do often.
Planning
I LOVE to plan, especially unit studies. My favorite planner is the Minimalist Homeschool Planner from SchoolNest . It is a great planner that has year at a glance pages, month at a glance pages, weekly pages, book list, attendance pages and more. This planner comes book bound, but I take it to my local office supply store (Staples) and they cut the binding off and spiral bound it for $5.
**Head to my Instagram highlight “Planning” where I share a break down of how I plan our homeschool by the year, month, and week.
These past posts might also be helpful to you:
Upcoming School Year(s) Planning
How to Choose Homeschool Curriculum
Homeschool “Planning From Behind”
How to Plan Unit Studies in 5 Steps
These Frixion pens are my favorite pens for planning because they are erasable! Homeschooling gives us the flexibility to constantly change courses and plans, so having erasable pens is a must for me. They write on smooth and are easy to erase.
If you need help deciding what topics to teach your children each grade year, this is a great book that provides comprehensive plans from preschool through high school. It shares integral subjects for each grade, with lists of topics, recommended resources, and book lists.
Prepping
These are my most used items I use to prep resources, activities, or parts of crafts. You do not have to have all these items, but these are the ones I use often throughout our homeschool year.
Printers are a big expense and if you don’t have the funds for a big printer right now this HP Inkjet Printer worked great for me for many years. The only downside to this printer, if you use it often, is going through a lot of ink cartridges. I would have to get new black and color cartridges once a month.
Last year I got an Epson 2760 Ecotank printer and I’m in love!! It uses ink bottles instead of cartridges and takes forever to go through ink. I bought mine last May and haven’t had to add new ink yet! If you know me, you know I print a lot too, so this more expensive printer has actually saved us money in the end! *Costco always has great deals on these printers and ink, so be sure to check there if you are a member.
I never thought I would use a paper cutter so much, but I use it all the time! It is great for sharp, straight cuts and does multiple pages quickly.
I don’t laminate as often as I used to, but I still do enough that having one is valuable. I have had this same laminator for 5 years and it still runs great! THESE are the laminating sheets that go with it.
I finally caved and got a small binding machine this year and now I’m hooked. I bind it all! I have this Pro-Click Binding Machine that is small and easy to use. I love the snap together spines that go with it because whenever we are done, I can take the spine off and reuse it to bind something else (saving money!)
My rolling book cart is amazing! If you take frequent trips to the library and grab lots of books, you need this!! Your back and arms will thank you! We go to the library often and it is so nice to load it up and wheel it out to take home. When we get home I unload all our books into baskets by our school area, but I leave my book cart in my laundry room. Whenever we finish reading a book we toss it back in the book cart to return to the library. Next trip to the library we grab the cart that is already filled with our returns and head out!
Organization
For most of our homeschool resources and printables, these are what I use to store them. I put all the large papers in file folders in this file box. All small pieces I put in these small photo boxes and label the top. This is a great way to keep all our resources organized and easy to find.
Here is an example of what mine looks like. I use THIS label maker.
We love to do a lot of hands on activities and crafts, so we have gathered lots of great craft supplies over time. Most of my basic craft supplies I get at the Dollar Tree! Pom poms, popsicle sticks, feathers, felt, googly eyes, pipe cleaners, construction paper, and more is all at the dollar store. If you are just starting out I suggest getting one of these craft kit boxes. It comes with everything you need at once (saving you money) and is a great box to store it all in.
THIS is the paint we use and I buy the large bottles because we go through a lot. However, even these bottles will still take us 2 years to get through.
I love this hot glue gun! We use it often while doing projects and I love that there is no cord! (Rechargeable) It is easy for the kids to use and doesn’t get so hot I’m afraid they will get burnt. It comes in handy often.
If I don’t bind my homeschool resources and guides, then they usually go in a simple 3 ring binder. A 3 ring hole punch always comes in handy and making it easy to do many pages at once.
I shared about these trays in my post yesterday also, but they are so good I had to share again. We use these trays for everything; crafts, painting, play-dough, kinetic sand, beading, and even meals! It keeps all the mess contained and they can go straight in the dishwasher for easy clean up.
I love homeschool planning, especially unit studies, and we love doing crafts and art projects. These are the supplies that I use frequently that help me plan and help us create easily! Please add any of your favorite supplies in the comments below!
Be sure to head back tomorrow for my last day of this series where I am sharing my favorite homeschool reference books to have on your shelves!
Happy Wednesday!
Lindsay
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