10 Must-haves for a new school year

We’re just about set to kick off a new school year! I homeschool my two younger boys, and my oldest goes to a more traditional school. He is a senior in a program where he goes to the local college and takes classes. So, this year is going to be especially hectic because we have one child finishing high school, another just beginning, and one ending his grade school years.

Since I have school on the brain, as I’m sure many of you do as well, I thought it’d be fun to make a list of my 10 must-haves for school.

10 must-haves: School issue

Whiteboard, erasers, and markers

This is a must-have for homeschool life, but I think any family would benefit from a whiteboard. I love this thing. I use it all summer for chore lists, and the kids write down the money we owe them for different jobs they’ve done. During the school year, it functions a little differently for day-to-day tasks. I have mine separated into 3 sections during the school year: daily schedules, lists of to-do’s for the kids, and then the middle section is for teaching—like breaking down a sentence or math problem.

Pilot Frixion erasable gel pens.

Thanks to a fellow homeschooling mom and friend, I have found the greatest pen ever. Meet the erasable gel pen. Your life will never be the same. Do yourself a favor and click on over and buy these pens. They’re amazing.

Homeschool/life planner:

When you buy those delightful pens, you need somewhere to use them. Every mom needs a planner. I normally use my phone for appointments, but for homeschooling and blogging, I have to have a handwritten planner. I can’t recommend a favorite planner because I honestly don’t know that I’ve found mine yet. Hey, maybe I should make one! It’d have to be some odd hybrid planner for the homeschooler/blogger.

I do have one thing that I must have in a planner: It must fold over on itself like a spiral notebook. Last school year, I used a binder-format planner and hated it because it wouldn’t fold over on itself. My hand forever ran into the rings, which was annoying. I’m using this one this year.

Colorful and fun clips:

I found little binder clips with smiley faces on them. Hey, if you have to clip papers together, why not have them smiling at you while you’re doing it? Enough said.

Spiral notebooks:

This sounds simple, but it became one of my 10 must-haves for our homeschooling days this last school year. It’s simple, cheap, effective, and saves so much time. My boys each have their own spiral notebook that outlines their days’ worth of assignments with a box where they check off their items as they finish. I try to get a week done at a time on Sunday evening but often I’m rushed for time and I’ll write it out the night before—if we’re being totally honest, sometimes the morning of—depends how the week is going.

Wall-hanging file separator with daily folders for kids.

I have a file folder that hangs on our office/schoolroom wall, which has several different pockets for files. My kids have a folder for each day of the week in it. I can easily put worksheets and any other school work they have for each day of the week. I love this method because it makes their work feel manageable. Rather than throwing an entire book at them, all they have is lesson 1 ripped out of their book for the day. Their spiral notebook also goes in the folder for the day they’re on. So, if it’s Monday, this is where they will find all the work for Monday and so on.

Bible time:

I’ve tried a few different bible study methods over my homeschooling years, and the one I like best is the most simple. My boys read a few verses a day and then summarize what they have read. We use another spiral notebook for this that I label as their Bible journal. And since it’s important to me I usually always pick a literature study that somehow involves a Biblical concept—even if it’s just a character trait. It’s amazing how many wonderful discussions are started from reading a book together.

Real books

This brings me to my next must-have for every school year—real, live books. Certainly, textbooks have their place, but there’s nothing like a story to bring their imagination alive. I love it because they will learn by listening to a book without even realizing they are learning something new. My kids have mentioned books we’ve read years later because of how they relate to something in their everyday lives. This is probably one of my greatest joys from homeschooling.

Cathy Duffy’s 101 top homeschooling picks.

I love this book. It is the “bible” of the homeschool curriculum, and it has nearly every curriculum you could imagine. I bought this book eight years ago when I began homeschooling, and it still sits on my shelf, where I pull it out to look up various curriculum ideas. Cathy Duffy also has a website that you can go to.

School binder/filing system.

I have an entire binder just for our school information. My boys go to school two days a week where we’re part of a parent-partnered co-op, so I need to keep all kinds of records. Not only do I have records I must keep for school but also for home. Having a proper filing system in place is a lifesaver.

I hope this post will give you some inspiration and fun ideas to start your school year off right!