What are the best items you have for homeschooling....

[illinoismommy]

What items do you have laying around that you have gotten a lot of use out of as far as "education"? Or that you feel are invaluable? By this I mean things like.... a map of the world, a specific book....? I want to make a list of things to watch for.... good deals and all. :giggle Thanks!

:popcorn

[jghomeschooler]

:lol I guess "our bible" doesn't count then, :giggle

We have really enjoyed the Usborne Encyclopedia of the Natural World

[illinoismommy]

:lol I guess "our bible" doesn't count then, :giggle



Well it does, but we have one of those ;)

[Teacher Mom]

Our bible and our yard. I believe in the Charlotte Mason method of the kids being out in nature for several hours a day. Does not always happen, but we are outside quite a bit.

Plus our books. Any and all books. I am sure there are other things, but those are the first initial ones to "pop" in my head.

[mwwr]

a library card
and books
did I mention books? ;)

[Marmee]

My first thought was my library card, but I see someone beat me to it! :giggle
My children love our art shelf (stocked with supplies), the globe and some nice wooden blocks.
Unschooling books for me to read occasionally to help me chill out

[LittleSweetPeas]

I'm pretty new to this but so far DD has really enjoyed the inflatable globe we have, a map of the US and I made up a bunch of boxes by subject (math, language, art, clay, science, social studies) and filled them with items for them to use at will. For example, the math box has a Melissa and Doug clock, magnetic numbers, a white erase board with numbers to trace and some teddy bear counters. The science box has some rocks, a magnifying glass, bug box, magazines on animals. The girls will take them down and play with the items pretty frequently.

[Littledisciples]

Things we love

Play Dough you would be amazed at how that helps. Sounding out words could not be funner.

Pinto Beans You would be amazed how many numbers, letters and activities can be done with beans. My Visual Impaired kiddo can then trace them and she learned her numbers and letters this way. As well as the above. Not to mention using them to add and subtract.

My library Card for sure :yes

Paint and Crayons, Markers, Colored Pencils Pencils and Paper are great but a old fashioned Chalk Board is aswome too. The magna doodle is great too. Learning to write could not be easier. Not to mention less waste of paper.

My computer I can find so many things online for free to print off.

[Leslie]

Some bookshelves for all those books! :lol

A globe - I really like my kids to see the world as it really is - round - not flat, with continents that really are neighbors divided on the left side of the paper and the right side.

As a Charlotte Mason homeschooler, I like to have classical music CD's and nice art books. Shakespeare plays, ballets and other cultural events on DVD are nice extras.

We've loved some of the books posted online at mainlesson.com - especially (but not exclusively!) living history books by HE Marshall.

An old (1963) copy of World Book Encyclopedias - I know you can look stuff up online, but you can't take the computer to bed the same way you can drag an encyclopedia to bed. Two of my sons do this, they'll browse a volume in bed before going to sleep. We got ours for $15 at a library sale.

A subscription to God's World news, and Kids Discover magazine

[birthchic]

The CD player. There are so many great song collections,The Wee Sing Cd's, the Music Masters series of CDs that are a steal on Amazon (like $3 a piece-- they are biographies of composers with music interspersed- and then about 30 min. music at the end), wonderful audio books and stories- and any other classical music recordings. My kids have loved listening to unabridged versions of The Hobbit, Little Women, The Railway Children, Roald Dahl books, Narnia, Heidi, Eargon...and more! Some they have listened to several times. We have purchased some and checked a ton of them out of the library

[Mamatoto]

Beeswax block crayons
Playsilks
Seasonal poetry and singing and verse books
Watercolor paints and paintbrushes

[FourCutieBugs]

That was a good question. I am in the thinking about hs stage, so I am taking a few notes...

[Katydid]

Just saw this.... and hoping for even more ideas as yard sale season is quickly approaching ;)

[FourCutieBugs]

here's something I just found: largefamilylogistics.com It has a flylady type yahoo group list, and the website is full of tips on how to do this whole homeschooling/home management thing. it says you don't have to have a large family or even be homeschooling for this to be useful.

[illinoismommy]

Just saw this.... and hoping for even more ideas as yard sale season is quickly approaching ;)

Me too!

[r2dab2da]

Clipboards. I bought one for all three kids in different colors. The kind that has the compartment for paper and pencils.

[HuggaBuggaMommy]

Paper
Tons of art supplies
Math manipulatives
Maps (we have a huge world map, and every time we read something about another country, or cook an ethnic meal, ds marks the map with a FIAR-type picture)
Books, of course, and a library card
Educational card and board game - we play at least one a day
Stuff for exploring nature (compass, bug box, magnifying glass, small rakes and shovels, boxes for collecting rocks and leaves, etc)

[MamaMansa]

Books of all kinds
Puzzles
Melissa & Doug learning toys
Science kits (ant farm, tadpole hatchery, garden science, etc.)
Board/card games
Globe
Math manipulatives
Art supplies

[ProudMommaof2]

That was a good question. I am in the thinking about hs stage, so I am taking a few notes...

:yes me too :popcorn