If you had $100...

[Mallorie]

What would you get? My dh and I have a tight budget, but can swing the basics of curriculum. My parents are gifting us $100 for learning materials, and i'd like to get some things like tangrams, manipulatives, maybe some science books, whiteboards for the kids. Stuff outside the "essential" materials, but yet educational, kwim?

 

SO, for a newbie homeschooler, aside from basic textbooks, what do you consider a must-have for learning in the home?

 

I know you all will have some great ideas! I need to get the biggest bang for my buck! :D

[Ali in OR]

Answers may vary depending on age of kids and what you already have. Things to consider:

Pattern blocks

cuisenaire rods

cuisenaire rod track

bucket balance scale

weighted counting bears

gram weights

prismacolor pencils

watercolor pads

watercolors

markers

(these assume young kids and you're just getting started)

[JFSinIL]

Yes - what ages/grades are we looking at, here? Do you already have a used set of encyclopedias or a kid-friendly dictionary? A large white board and plently of markers will get heaps of use - do you have a couple good maps? I got a $15 antique-colored (but recent) USA map from National Geographic and spent a good $100 getting it mounted and framed - worth it since hubby agreed it was nice enough to be framed art on the dining room (school room) wall. You could just have a map mounted and tack it up w/o a frame for far less $$. Maps , esp. if wall-mounted and easily accessible, get tons of use! I wish we had the wall space for a world map, too.

A decent globe is also a good thing to buy. Maps, globe, dictionary, etc. - useful for YEARS.

Math manipulatives may be outgrown pretty fast.

[St. Theophan Academy]

I would also say cuisenaire rods - especially if you have young ones who are just beginning math. A globe is a big one for us (my 3yo just broke ours, so I am having to replace it so it is on my mind - very useful and important around here!). If you are teaching little ones to read - I love my sets of magnetic alphabet letters - that gets lots of use around here! I love prismacolors - but in our house those have become Christmas and birthday gifts - my son even saves his own money to replace his pencils because he loves them so much.

[Mallorie]

oops, sorry. I have a pre-k, 2nd and 5th grader. :)

 

We have a big bin of markers, some prismacolors and watercolor pencils. My guys are fairly artistic, and got some of that stuff for Christmas.

 

Some good ideas so far!

[Mom2GirlsTX]

to hold the stuff! $100 will buy a ton of stuff if you buy used. Do you have a homeschool store near you, many have resale of used items. At your kids ages, I'm not sure you would want to spend much of the $100 on stuff for the prek one...you would be running neck deep in stuff. I also recommend some good quality pencil grips to get there finger grip right, lots of colored paper, scissors (safe kind) for learning to cut shapes. I so overbought at the pre-k age, I now realize that less is more...

And I wasn't kidding about using some of that $100 for some type of bins to keep all those little items organized...LOL

I'm not much help, but I wasted so much money on stuff my kids didn't use. I bought tons of counting bears...kids never liked them, loved to count with pennies instead...sometimes creativity is better than buying stuff.

 

For the second and fifth grader, maybe supplies for art class? science supplies?

[Mom2GirlsTX]

to have a Half Price Books near you? Often they have things like tanagrams, science kits, etc very cheap, as long as some cool timelines and maps that could be very useful.

[TracyR]

Scissors , construction paper , drawing paper , glue , science kits , fun educational DVD's ( like Leap Pad , School House Rock , Sonlight science DVD's )

Lapbooking stuff ( file folders , markers, crayons , colored pencils , puffy paint and glitter glue ) . Printer INK !!! If you print stuff this stuff is like gold , YOu can get refill kits on ebay really inexpensive .

I had all those items , tangrams , cusienaire rods ,and such but most of them are beginning to get lost after 4 1/2 years . Containers to hold everything . I could go on :>) LOL.

[Mallorie]

We are about an hour away from 1/2 Price Books and a homeschool supply. We are making the trip this Saturday, and stopping at several places. I want to collect as many ideas now, it's harder to think with three kids in tow. ;)

 

Bins, oh yes, that I will do!

 

We have lots of art supplies, the kids are very crafty. But I may stock up on paper, the ink was a good idea too.

 

Going to look for some timelines and maps.

 

Your lists are helping me a LOT, I hope they keep coming!

 

Oh, and I got the pre-k set from Rod and Staff, and some ETC books for my youngest. They keep her busy along with a pair of scissors, a glue stick, and the paper recycling bin. :)

[Dani n Monies Mom]

Do you have a copier/printer/scanner? You can get a decent one for around $100. You'll be using that through your entire HS career. A great investment if you don't have one.

 

Ava

[Sebastian (a lady)]

We are about an hour away from 1/2 Price Books and a homeschool supply. We are making the trip this Saturday, and stopping at several places. I want to collect as many ideas now, it's harder to think with three kids in tow. ;)

 

Bins, oh yes, that I will do!

 

We have lots of art supplies, the kids are very crafty. But I may stock up on paper, the ink was a good idea too.

 

Going to look for some timelines and maps.

 

Your lists are helping me a LOT, I hope they keep coming!

 

Oh, and I got the pre-k set from Rod and Staff, and some ETC books for my youngest. They keep her busy along with a pair of scissors, a glue stick, and the paper recycling bin. :)

 

Some of the best investments we've made include SOTW audio books (I got a couple used and one bundled with Susan Bauer's History of the Ancient World), a Brock microscope (that's a bit over $100), good reference books on subjects the kids love and lots of books for the kids to wallow in.

 

Half-Priced Books will give homeschoolers a teacher's discount. They also have a teacher weekend when stuff is discounted more than normal (I think this is in October). They may also have special sale weekends when stuff is lower than normal. I have gotten great stuff from the clearance shelves. Stuff that is just golden to me but isn't a big deal to other shoppers. I think you could also make $100 go a long way at a library book sale. We have been known to actually schedule vacations around these sales.

$100 on a dvd set or similar aide for a subject that you have trouble teaching would also be a great investment. We would have never made it through Latin without the dvd's that dh talked me into buying.

[ABQmom]

Bins or bookshelves to put things in.

My magnetic whiteboard and markers (got at Sam's)

My 3-hole punch (Love this!)

World and US maps

Glitter glue and lots of paper for my 4 year old

[KarenNC]

I second printer ink (or a good printer/scanner).

 

A wheeled folding crate. http://www.staples.com/office/supplies/StaplesProductDisplay?storeId=10001&jspStoreDir=Staples&productId=98062&cmSearchKeyword=folding+crate&fromUrl=home&cmArea=SEARCH&catalogId=10051&langId=-1 is an example. Invaluable for trips to the library, going to a curriculum fair, holding stuff and pulling it into another room for class, etc.

 

Tangrams are very easily made out of a piece of cardstock or posterboard which can be had at the dollar store--put clear contact paper on both sides and they will last a long time. We counted using buttons, pennies, toothpicks. We have cuisenaire rods, but frankly have almost never used them. I found them to be counter-intuitive.

 

I found the Right Start Math abacus to be quite useful for prek-1st grade, even into 2nd, though we didn't use their curriculum http://www.alabacus.com/. I liked that it was done out by 5's, as that helped a lot with skip counting, place value, borrowing and carrying, etc. It is also a great math manipulative that doesn't have tons of little pieces to get lost in the couch, etc.

 

A basic globe has been very useful to us.

 

If you get the prismacolor pencils, you may want to go with the somewhat harder Prismacolor Scholar ones for the younger kids. They will last longer. I am finding that my almost 8 yo is only just getting to the point that I think it would be worth getting these, but she's not particularly art-oriented.

 

A basic digital camera would be a nice thing if you don't have one. We just got our daughter one for herself for Yule. She enjoys taking pictures with it, and it is very useful for taking pictures of projects, etc for a record and memory of things they have done. If you get a smallish one (and I wouldn't get a specifically "kid" one---go for a basic adult camera), it can be stuck in a purse or backpack and used on nature walks, etc.

 

Some geometric solids might be nice. http://www.eaieducation.com/geometry.html shows some that have stoppers and can be filled to discuss volume.

 

An analog clock with the minutes marked out http://www.eaieducation.com/531523.html is like the one we have used a lot.

 

A decent stopwatch for timing experiments, etc. A decent compass. A nice sized sturdy magnifying glass. A kit to raise butterflies (you can get additional caterpillars each year). A set of magnets of different shapes. A kitchen scale that measures in grams. Three hole punch. Stapler.

 

With the age of your oldest, if you get a balance, I would get one that has weights and measures in grams, probably aimed at middle school use and just closely supervise the younger ones with it rather than get one of the basic bucket balances aimed at the younger kids. We didn't use ours very often.

 

It's the wrong time of year for scissors, glue, construction paper, file folders, notebooks, lined paper, etc---all that will go on sale for pennies in mid July to early August as part of the back to school supplies. Unless you have none at all, I would wait.

[chiguirre]

I'd get some math frogs, pattern blocks, tangrams (all of these are pretty inexpensive from Rainbow Resource). If you don't have a chalk board or white board, that's essential for a school room.

 

I'd put $25 away until the back to school sales in August. You can get 24 crayons for 10 cents, glue for 20 cents, watercolors, markers, paper, construction paper, folders at the best prices of the year. I buy A LOT then and keep it on a shelf in the garage to use during the year.

 

If you have money left, I'd get bookshelves or those cube organizers for the school space.

[sadiegirl]

My boys say:

*ElectroWhiz and ChemistryWhiz(and others in that same group)science books. Easy to work with and both can learn from it.

*Code Master books(we bought ours at Books a Million...

*Prismacolor pencils

*Labelmaker for your tubs...we label EVERYTHING that doesn't move!

*desk organizers for their own supplies...they love first day of school as I give them "sugar cones"...great big poster board cones filled with school supplies and misc. fun things to start our year!

[PeterPan]

I'd suggest you visit your local community college's teacher resource lab and see what they have that you can check out. I know tanagrams OUGHT to be attention-holding, but for some reason they weren't in our house. Manipulatives go in and out of use, style, might not fit your kids either. Where I'd put that money, if you don't already have them yet, is in a GOOD table, one with a laminate top so anything will clean off it, and rolling, adjustable height chairs. If you watch the sales, you could probably get an 8' adjustable height table and a couple rolling desk chairs, also adjustable height. You'll get tons of use out of it and be so glad. Your parents will be glad because it will be a big, tangible thing they've done for you.

 

If you already have those things, I'd look at a white board, paper cutter (exacto makes one, look at your office supply, I use mine a TON), and a laminator.

[dalynnrmc]

A serious, heavy-duty hole punch and something that can cut the bindings off my books. And lots and lots of 3-ring notebooks. :lol: I'm becoming a binder queen. (I've seen Cindy Rushton's site, but haven't looked at it really or read her book. It's just coming naturally for me. LOL)

 

Most people would be interested in science experiment stuff. (I'm not most people, and we have a co-op for that. LOL)

 

Personally, I'd be all over a new printer/copier/scanner, lots of ink, and CurrClick. ;) And Hands of a Child lapbooks! Okay, well, maybe not all that for $100.... LOL

[carol]

Not sure if you belong to a homescool group of some sort but if you do

I'd consider putting aside part of it for field trips or co-op supplies.

I'd purchase manipulatives for areas my child struggled in to make it more fun or Educational software or educational board games depending upon which your child would enjoy learning with the most.(For me it would be software so while one plays an educational game I can work individually with another child.)

And every homeschool room needs index cards and storage box! You can use them for quick things-improptu alphabetizing all the words in this sentence, making falshcards etc.

 

Happy Shopping,

Carol

[bethben]

Flashmaster! It will take up half your budget, but I don't think anything beats it when learning math facts. It's simple to use and a child can use it independently. Less than 10 minutes a day and your child will learn their math facts well!

 

DK and Usborne books (or any of those big books with the great pictures). I could get these from the library, but when they're around the house, I've noticed my kids just reading them for fun - just because the mood was right. I want to keep more of them around. Half priced books will be the place to go for those.

 

Beth

[Tami]

What would you get? My dh and I have a tight budget, but can swing the basics of curriculum. My parents are gifting us $100 for learning materials, and i'd like to get some things like tangrams, manipulatives, maybe some science books, whiteboards for the kids. Stuff outside the "essential" materials, but yet educational, kwim?

 

SO, for a newbie homeschooler, aside from basic textbooks, what do you consider a must-have for learning in the home?

 

I know you all will have some great ideas! I need to get the biggest bang for my buck! :D

 

I would get a set of wooden Cuisenaire Rods, a Backyard Nature coloring book, a Hands and Hearts History project kit, a couple of field guides for nature study (birds and flowers maybe?), and an Adventures in Science kit. The best math manipulatives you can get is a bag of M&M's. :D Oh, and obviously I would spend my $ on hands-on kits and materials for the kids, rather than stuff like a whiteboard. If you're not "mathy," I would get a Miquon math activity book - they are cheap (like $5) and will guide your child in using the Cuisenaire rods through Montessori-style discovery activities.

 

: )

Tami

[Cindy in FL.]

Mallorie,

 

I am currently clearing off my shelves and may have some stuff that you could use. I am NOT trying to sell anything to you, this is stuff I was going to send to Book Samaritan and if you can use it I'd love to send it to you.

 

I have: attribute blocks, pattern blocks, tangrams, wooden base ten blocks. I also have a Primary Building Thinking Skills book which uses attribute and pattern blocks.

 

Also, if you could share what curriculum you might be interested in I can see if I have any of that as well. Just want to help if I can.

 

Cindy

[Mallorie]

Cindy, I pm'd you. That would be a HUGE blessing. :)

 

Also, I'm LOVING the other ideas that everyone has posted. So much to think about. I'm very glad that I started this thread now, it gives me a couple of days to think about how best to spend the money. I cannot say how much I appreciate the tips. :)

[Kathy in MD]

A world atlas and a CD-rom of outline maps. Uncle Josh has current maps and Black Line Maps of World History has maps running from the first cities to 20th century. World History includes a blank map, a master map and a paragraph of intructions for each map.