Beginner materials?

[llm]

Hello Everyone,

We are new to homeschooling and were wondering what sorts of materials outside of curriculum that anyone would rec for the first year? Anything you absolutely need every day or is super helpful? (planners, wipe boards, etc?). I am just not even sure things like-- how big should the wipe/magnetic board be, etc? Or-- where to buy from? :) Thank you so much for any advice. :001_smile:

[kalanamak]

What age(s)? What style of homeschooling (unschooling, CM, WTM, school at home)?

[Mom2OandE]

What age(s)? What style of homeschooling (unschooling, CM, WTM, school at home)?

 

Great question OP! We are new to it too and I appreciate the question. I'd also love to know what all of those abbreviations stand for. Thanks.

[AuntieM]

Hmm, I could give you a list but I will just mention one of the items I found extremely helpful. I liked having a small (approximately 9x12") dry erase board. It was nice to be able to use it when sitting at the table with my students, for things like letter formation and solving a math problem. We did also use larger white boards but I didn't want to have to jump up like a teacher and write everything on the big board. The smaller one let me feel more like a tutor than a lecturer.

 

Best wishes on your new adventure!

[Trilliums]

When the kids were younger we had an easel with a white board on one side and a chalk board on the other. When we moved I gave it away, thinking the kjids had outgrown it. Should have kept it!

 

Also, related to curriculum more, but lots and lots of math manipulatives: measuring cups & spoons, counters, weights, measuring devices, ice cube trays, etc etc.

[almondbutterandjelly]

Dry erase markers in a variety of colors.

Sharpies in a variety of colors.

Many many pencils.

A good stapler (Swingline)

A good tape dispenser and good tape (Scotch)

A good pencil sharpener

Extra erasers for the tops of your pencils

A binder for each subject

Lots of looseleaf paper

Lots of plain white paper (like copy paper)

Decent colored pencils (we like Crayola twistables)

CD Player for the schoolroom

Three-hole punch

I love my 3-tiered metal rolling cart from Sam's Club for my teacher stuff

Decent desk for my student.

[kalanamak]

Great question OP! We are new to it too and I appreciate the question. I'd also love to know what all of those abbreviations stand for. Thanks.

 

Charlotte Mason and Well Trained Mind.

 

I have: a school desk with adjustable legs big enough and nice enough for kiddo to use through highschool, solid bookshelfs bolted to the wall, a nice white board 3x4, a Globe, a wall map about 5 x8 of the world, a huge Al cookie sheet too big for a home oven we do our art projects on (contains spills, scrubs clean), a row of bins for math extras, art supplies, card games etc, some plastic bins for science equipment, a Desk Apprentice, a Mac and printer, a small file cabinet, and big bean bag chair for cuddly reading. Good lighting is helpful, too. That's what I think of off the top of my head.

 

Again, what ages and what type of schooling?

[TechWife]

Chocolate is always good. M&M's are a tidy way to get a lot of chocolate into your mouth easily & w/out using utensils. If you practice, you might get good enough so that your kids don't even know there is chocolate in the house.:D

[myfunnybunch]

I'll second (third?) a small dry erase board. Nothing fancy, just the ones they sell at Target or a similar store.

 

And a really good pencil sharpener.

 

Cat

[Lovedtodeath]

Small white boards for each student and the teacher.

 

Flash cards for various things (they are just better than making them, IMO)

 

Abacus

 

Good pencil sharpener that won't get lost. :tongue_smilie:

 

Mechanical pencils for when you lose it. :D

 

Bulletin board.

 

Moveable alphabet (Lauri Letters work best IMO, but Peace Hill Press and All About Spelling have some too I think)

 

CD or DVD player in the kid's rooms.

 

Foot Stools for standing on in the kitchen.

 

We actually enjoy our school desks because each student keeps their books in it.

 

Good printer

 

Laminator

Edited June 16, 2012 by Lovedtodeath

[llm]

Hello everyone! OH MY-- -you all are so helpful. THANK YOU! Love these ideas and excited to make my list and get set up. :) My children are 4.5 years and 23 months, and we are praying for more children. :) Researching Charlotte Mason method and will likely begin to use some of the "Simply Charlotte Mason" materials this year as we slowly start our first year.

 

One question--- It sounds like some of you have a separate, dedicated room for HS? I feel like it would be nice to work in the kitchen at the island, but now I am realizing that sometimes I need to GET OUT OF THE KITCHEN :) b/c it is like a black hole for sucking up time and it is hard for me to look at the work to be done in the kitchen and focus on a lesson. LOL. I am not sure what will fit into our budget this year for decorating a room but I do like that idea. Any thoughts on this? We do have an empty room on the first floor that we have not put anything into so that we can possibly use it to HS.

 

And THANK YOU for the added humor. Oh the power of hearing from other mommies and now, for the first time for me, other mommies who homeschool. :) LOVE the chocolate idea. Let the mothers go out and play! :):001_smile:

[Bang!Zoom!]

llm, we find that camping out daily at the library is where it happens for us..this particular kid does better there for the environment than at home - but I think we might be a bit unusual in this regard.

 

I wouldn't worry too much in the beginning on where the learning happens, but I would encourage to explore different settings for different skills.

 

Some activities will just naturally lend themselves to other places and routines. Just experiment with areas, things will fall into place; what's the climate like where you are at? Year round outdoors, or indoors, or a mix?

[happypamama]

Our schoolroom is very simple and not really decorated, but it is a nice space, and we're grateful to have it. We don't necessarily stay in it all the time, but it is nice to have a central dedicated space where we can keep the stuff and leave out projects if need be.

 

I bought clipboards for each of the children (and I have one too), and I also have a box that has pencils/pens or crayons, scissors, gluestick, and erasers for each child, so there's no excuse for them not having that stuff right nearby. The clipboards provide an always-smooth surface for writing and make it easy to take work to another room or in the car.

 

I do have world and US maps on the wall, and those are helpful too, but not essential.

[lynn]

Magazine holders are the perfect size for most workbooks, paper etc.

A good, real pencil sharpener (think old school kind)

3 whole punch.

Highlighters

Whiteboard (good expo markers and eraser)

calculator

timer

[Reflections]

llm, we find that camping out daily at the library is where it happens for us..this particular kid does better there for the environment than at home - but I think we might be a bit unusual in this regard.

 

I wouldn't worry too much in the beginning on where the learning happens, but I would encourage to explore different settings for different skills.

 

Some activities will just naturally lend themselves to other places and routines. Just experiment with areas, things will fall into place; what's the climate like where you are at? Year round outdoors, or indoors, or a mix?

 

I know of several families where this is true, so much so that I am thinking about doing this once in awhile.

[kalanamak]

Hello everyone! OH MY-- -you all are so helpful. THANK YOU! Love these ideas and excited to make my list and get set up. :) My children are 4.5 years and 23 months, and we are praying for more children. :) Researching Charlotte Mason method and will likely begin to use some of the "Simply Charlotte Mason" materials this year as we slowly start our first year.

 

 

At 4.5 I had a little desk with a little bookshelf, a nature area (sprouting, a nest we'd found) etc. We are CM-y (I've never read a word by her, but tested as such with Cathy Duffy's 100 Picks book), and we spent a LOT of time outside at that age. Hours a day. The other big chunk was reading aloud. I read 2 hours a day to kiddo.

 

For us, really wanting to avoid the early-eager-to-get-homeschooling burn out I heard about here (Mom is ready, child is not), we played math games, did a bit of Early Bird SM math, and Plaid Phonics first book, which is more art, and some Kumon trace and cut and maze books. But the bulk was outdoors and read-aloud.

 

Our sit down with a book started at 5-7 minutes of focusing on mama and instructions and holding a pencil, to a couple 15 minute sessions by the end of K5.

 

At that age, I found educating myself was what I needed to do: Liping Ma's Book, Ahroni's Mathematics for Parents, grammar, a quick read through history. My trick was to read material for 6th grade. A grown up can plow right through history and science for junior high, fill in gaps of knowledge, blow the dust off the memory, and get fluent in the language of the fields so you can USE IT IN conversation. Much better teaching than laboriously sitting down and explaining the meaning of "theory" to a 6 year old.

 

HTH, and ask away. There is a K8 board just busting with info.

[Denise in Florida]

Great to have you here. Welcome

 

I started when my girls were little too!

 

Some of the favorites that I remember:

 

1. An old laundry basket where I threw 'useful' stuff: old paper towel rolls, bits of fabric/ribbon, empty squirt bottles, empty boxes, etc. They also had a rubber maid 'drawer' thing with tape, scissors, rubber bands, glue etc. They could do whatever they wanted, these things were not 'saved for a project' they could just get in there and play.

 

2. A science shelf/table. Jars, cages, magnifying glasses, field books, one of those old display box things with the little compartments. Over the years they collected everything from rocks and sea shells to bugs and 'moldy' things.

 

3. A large flannel board. I bought a few flannel board story sets but mostly they made their own with construction paper (construction paper dolls stick to flannel just fine) and fabric. The year dd21 was in 2nd grade she made a complete Abraham Lincoln lifestory set and acted it out on the flannel board (yes, I saved the pieces :lol:)

 

3. Music kit. Drums, rythmn sticks, recorders, tamborines. Let them play. It will get loud but that is okay.

[kalanamak]

Hmm, I could give you a list but I will just mention one of the items I found extremely helpful. I liked having a small (approximately 9x12") dry erase board.

 

Yes. I, who doesn't have a cell phone, a ipad or Wii, did spring for the larger of the Boogie Boards on amazon. My writing is neater on it than a white board, the "pen" clicks right onto it, and it erases in a flash. It has been a good change for us.

[Lovedtodeath]

for that age fat crayons... My son loves them. Other writing and coloring utensils... not so much.

[mom4him]

One thing I haven't seen mentioned is a paper trimmer.

 

Here is a couple and I do have a couple of different sizes. I got the small one first and then realized I needed/wanted one a bit bigger.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Fiskars-01-005446-SureCut-Paper-Trimmer/dp/B003WASFMU/ref=sr_1_23?ie=UTF8&qid=1339948252&sr=8-23&keywords=paper+trimmer

 

http://www.amazon.com/Fiskars-Scrapbooking-SureCut-Trimmer-Capacity/dp/B000OMYB18/ref=sr_1_24?ie=UTF8&qid=1339948310&sr=8-24&keywords=paper+trimmer

 

I also have one like this but don't use it much. It take room I don't have in order to use it.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Fiskars-SureCut-Rotary-Trimmer-01-005419/dp/B003SLHPWE/ref=sr_1_32?ie=UTF8&qid=1339948310&sr=8-32&keywords=paper+trimmer

 

It goes in spurts but I have used my paper trimmers A LOT!

 

The one word of advice I would give is when you start to feel burned out, take some time off. I have taken up to a week to just get caught up and refresh myself. I find that when I do I can come back with a great attitude and energy. Life has caused for us to have to take a couple of months off a couple of times. I am learning to relax with that and simply take advantage of it all.

 

We do hs year around taking weeks off here and there. This works very good for us and helps me with the not stressing part.:tongue_smilie:

[AuntieM]

Yes. I, who doesn't have a cell phone, a ipad or Wii, did spring for the larger of the Boogie Boards on amazon. My writing is neater on it than a white board, the "pen" clicks right onto it, and it erases in a flash. It has been a good change for us.

 

Wow! Just hopped over to amazon for a look. That gadget makes me wish I still had a student doing Spelling Power! Hmmm... how can I justify one now???

 

Seriously, I think that would be a nice surprise for a young friend of mine. Did you get the 10.5" screen? Would you get that same size if you had to get another?

[llm]

Thank you to you all for your incredibly helpful responses. I made a huge list and am going to figure out what we need now and what we can wait on and get once we have the budget for it. :) God will provide, right? The energy, the time, the finances, the patience. :)

[swellmomma]

llm, we find that camping out daily at the library is where it happens for us..this particular kid does better there for the environment than at home - but I think we might be a bit unusual in this regard.

 

I wouldn't worry too much in the beginning on where the learning happens, but I would encourage to explore different settings for different skills.

 

Some activities will just naturally lend themselves to other places and routines. Just experiment with areas, things will fall into place; what's the climate like where you are at? Year round outdoors, or indoors, or a mix?

 

We do our best work at our hidey hole. Unfortunately my car is too small to take everyone if I have daycare kids here so sadly it is a rare treat to do school there.

[swellmomma]

For us the must have materials that are not curriculum are

 

paper paper and more paper of every kind. lined, graph, blank, watercolour, charcoal. finger paint, construction, newsprint rolls, you name it we use it.

 

markers, we like the thin and thick crayola markers as well as "smelly" markers

 

coloured pencils (we have standard crayola for now but as my bigs are now junior high I will likely splurge on prismacolor for them)

 

Real art supplies, you get what you pay for with art supplies, be willing to buy the good quality ones not the $ store ones if you can.

 

laminator

 

printer and ink(if you are like me you will wish you had bought stocks in ink with the amount you will go through)

 

globe

 

erasers, pencil sharpeners (electric and standard, the standard is good during tests when you don't want them out of their seat until done), rulers, white board markers, etc

 

white boards, I have a huge one that I mainly use, a 2'x3' magnetic one for our AAS tiles, a 12"x18" for messages to the kids, notes to leave up etc and a similarily sized chalk board for certain drawings etc.

 

notebooks (coil and bound based on kid), binders, duotangs (we use TONS of these), page protectors, file folders (again we use tons)

 

shelving to hold everything in a contained space.