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. If you have a curriculum that you love, let me know what it is! It’s nice to hear about things that work, too. 😊