When I first started homeschooling, we had some big life changes, including a major decrease in income. (Great timing, right?) I read all the blogs and Facebook posts about the “must-haves” for homeschooling, but there were some things that we just couldn’t justify buying. So, I didn’t. Fast forward eight years and there are three items on everyone’s “must-have” list that I still haven’t bought to this day!  Every homeschool is different, so these items may be necessities in your homeschool, and that’s the way it should be! 🙂

Number One. A laminator!

Now, I know big families can save a lot of money by laminating materials for repeated use, but that reasoning doesn’t work with two children. I have to say, this is one item I don’t miss having at all. I have only laminated once in our eight years homeschooling. I took a handful of my daughter’s artwork, Christmas bookmarks we made, and a few school items to a big box office supply store to be laminated. The young lady working didn’t charge me for the artwork (my daughter was with me, which I’m sure helped), and I ended up paying about $4 for everything else (which wasn’t much).

Number Two. A nice microscope!

I remember when a friend of mine shared her new ($250) microscope on social media and I immediately started shopping online for fancy microscopes. Here’s the thing – we are not a big, hands-on science family. We lean more towards literature and art. In fact, someone had gifted my children a $20 microscope and it was never used. The pieces wound up scattered throughout the house and we eventually tossed it. We have managed fairly well with two, hand-held magnifying glasses I bought during my teaching days.

Number Three. A full curriculum!

My homeschool style is eclectic. It is a mix of everything and does not fit into a boxed curriculum. Plus, I really don’t like being told what to do! Instead of a boxed curriculum, we read many, many books on many, many topics, we utilize educational videos and YouTube videos, we learn from nature (our favorite app for outside learning is Seek). I teach writing myself because I love it, and reading comprehension is done largely through listening to audio books and teaching/explaining themes, characters, vocabulary, you name it. Teaching Textbooks is my biggest, single homeschool curriculum purchase every year, as both children are now using it. (Not an affiliate, just a fan.)

Do you have any items you had to have for your homeschool and you regret buying? Usually, I hear from other moms that they regretted buying a complete curriculum. Complete curriculum is expensive and not always a good fit, or it may work well for one child but not for another. If you’re in this position, I would love to help you adjust your curriculum choice so that it works better for your family. One month of homeschool coaching can save you so much in the long run and prevent you from having to purchase yet another curriculum that may or may not work. If you have a curriculum that you love, let me know what it is! It’s nice to hear about things that work, too. 😊