Last week I shared how I work through the process of planning a new school year. Today I will share with you a list of 10 of our must-have school supplies.
These 10 items are always on our back-to-school shopping list. This is by no means an exhaustive list. It was hard for me to stop at just 10! I’d love to hear from you in the comment section what items you would add to my list.
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Construction Paper . . . all colors. a rainbow of colors. for drawing and creating and cutting and get well cards and Christmas decorations and making your own math manipulatives and . . .
Index Cards . . . gotta love index cards! for making flash cards and game cards and jot-down-your-idea cards and . .
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Composition Notebooks . . . those beautifully bound, black&white marbeled covered notebooks that are so perfect for recording all the amazing knowledge we are collecting.
Sharpies . . . to label everything under the sun with. Need I say more?
Ticonderoga Beginners No. 2 Pencils . . . the old-fashioned, wood, turn-the-crank sharpened kind. I’m partial to these for beginning writers.
Erasers . . . the good ones that really erase and don’t leave black streaks across the page because none of us is perfect and we all should have the chance for do-overs.
Folders, pocket and 3-prong types . . . to hold worksheets and corral artistic works-in-progress and to create picture books for toddler siblings and to transport co-op assignments and . . .
File Folders . . . for organizing answer keys and creating lapbooks and saving masterpieces and filing away ideas for future use and . . .
Tape . . . lots of tape. all kinds of tape. masking tape and scotch tape and duct tape and packaging tape and painter’s tape and . . .
Clear Contact Paper . . . the tightwad frugal homeschool mom’s Laminator System
. I ‘laminate’ everything from flash cards to write-n-wipe worksheets to chore cards to craft projects with this stuff. It’s fabulous!
Now it’s your turn – what are the must-haves on your shopping list?
sharing this post at these wonderful places.
This is a great list. But I’m glad I don’t have to buy these things anymore.
There are times I wonder what life will be like when I won’t need to buy these things anymore, Janie. I’ve been at this so long, I wonder if I’ll be browsing the back-to-school aisles when I’m 80 years old. Thank you for stopping by, have a wonderful week!
Sharpies rock. I have never used contact paper, but I am definitely going to look into it. It sounds awesome. For me I LOVE my labeler. I use it all the time.
Hi Sherri, thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. Yes! a label maker is wonderful to have around! Clear contact paper comes in handy for all kinds of things. Give it a try!
Looks like you’ve got it all figured out. That reminds me, I need to add glue, glue and more glue to my list. That is the one thing that goes like hot cakes in my home.
Oh, yes! Glue! And be sure to check the leftover bottles from last year, that bottom third can get dried up before we realize.
Thanks for stopping by and leaving your comment, Tati. Have a wonderful start to your new school year 🙂
This is a great list. I only have one child I homeschool,and he is in 11th grade.
I miss the days of coloring,cutting,construction paper.
Thank you for stopping by, Renee, and for your comment 🙂 He may not be cutting and pasting much these days, but still it’s an exciting time watching our children finish up their schooling at home, getting ready for bigger and better things. I hope your new year gets off to a wonderful start – enjoy these days together!
As I gear up for another year of happy homeschooling, this post crazy blessed me.
So delighted to meet you. I hope you don’t mind if I splash around a bit to get to know you. This looks like a refreshing place to dip into some serious goodness.
I would love you to share this post! A group of moms gather each week. I usually post on Mondays, but missed it this week. I start jotting a few notes and then others join in. You can post whenever, doesn’t have to be anything new, it can be a gem nestled in your pages. I get the filled to the brim momma schedules.
Just moms. Sharing our notes. Creating a melody.
Be blessed,
Sarah
Hello Sarah! I’m so glad you stopped by to splash around a bit. Please come by, anytime 🙂
Thank you for the invitation – I’ll see you there! Have a wonderful and blessed week.
Totally agree with your list! Especially the pencils, the cheap ones just don’t do the job. Came over from NextGen link up 🙂
Yep! love my pencils 🙂 thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. Happy School Shopping
Great “must-have” list — thanks for sharing this at NextGen Homeschool’s “What’s Working Wednesday” blog link-up today! 🙂
Renée
Thank you Renee 🙂 I always enjoy the articles you and your sisters write up. I appreciate your hosting the link up every week. It’s encouraging to peek in and see what everyone else is up to. Enjoy your day!
I enjoyed reading your list. One thing we usually need is one large binder for each child with a view pocket on the front. I don’t usually get construction paper anymore. I like the colored paper in 8 1/2 X 11 size. Since it is more expensive I have it where the kids need to ask for it if they “need” colored paper. This size fits in our binders better. I still buy black construction paper and use recycled paper bags for brown paper when we need it.
Hi Suanna 🙂 yes, Binders! We use many around here, thick ones and not-so-thick ones. I love using colored paper, and keep a stock of good stuff for certain projects, but I still like having cheap construction paper available for the masses and their many projects. Brown paper bags are awesome – so many possibilities! Hope you have a wonderful start to your new school year.
This looks awesome!!! We would love it if you would link up at our linky party:
Live every Wednesday to Sunday.
Hosted by:
lifewiththecrustcutoff (dot) com/ Parrish @ Life with the Crust Cut Off
thissillygirlslife (dot) com/ Dana @ This Silly Girl’s Life
We hope to see you there!
Thank you, Parrish 🙂 and thank you for the invitation. I’ll pop over for a visit. Have a wonderful weekend!
Composition notebooks come in COLORS now! My kiddos picked up green ones (daughter) and blue ones (son). And they’re much more sturdier than those cheap one-subjects! They’re using them for the science notebooks.
1. Computer Ink
2. Computer Paper
3. Glue Sticks
4. Wooden Pencils
5. Hand-crank Pencil Sharpener
6. Colored Pencils
7. Composition Notebooks
8. Paper 3-Prong Folders
9. Individual White Boards
10. Dry or Wet Erase Markers
My kids are loving the colors on composition books! Me? I’m a purist – black and white for me, thank you very much. Makes me feel more scholarly ;). They do make terrific science notebooks.
Great list. I picked up some new dry erase markers, glue sticks and ‘puter paper too. We’re almost set!
I should just print this page and use a my shopping list : D
So many great ideas. I have to look for those pencils!
May I add a binding machine. I favor spiral type because this allows the kids to open the “books” flat or all around – you know what I mean…
This just turned never used and hard-to-stay-open activity books into their favorite spare time activities.
a binding machine would be wonderful! If I knew 20 years ago how long we’d be at this homeschooling thing, I think I would have invested in one. Hmm, maybe it’s not too late. Thank you for stopping by and commenting. Have a wonderful weekend!
Good reminder… I need to check the Back to School sales… we don’t need as much this year, but I still need to buy, Sharpies, index cards, printer paper and ink pens. 🙂 It is so much better to buy them on sale!!
this year printer paper and tape are at the top of my list, too. Even though my students have mostly outgrown the typical school supplies for younger kids, I still like getting out and shopping the back to school sales – nothing like the scent and feel of a brand new box of crayons!
I found that this was the first year I didn’t really need any school supplies (other than curriculum books of course!). It was kind of weird not buying anything.