While I am fairly minimal when it comes to curriculum, materials, and supplies for our homeschool, I do have some favorites to share! If you are new to homeschooling, don’t let this list overwhelm you. Start with the basics and add to your collection over time. Homeschooling can be done well with a library card and a few essentials.

If you are looking to add to your supply cabinet, this list will point you in the right direction of what you may need to get started, as well as brands, types, and sizes that have worked well for us. This blog post is a round-up of my very top essentials and favorites in multiple categories and academic subjects.

For a full list of recommendations, visit my Amazon storefront.

If you are curious about how I store and organize our homeschool supplies, check out this YouTube video where I share a full tour of our homeschool space.

Related: Homeschooling Setup and Organization for Small Spaces

In this blog post: 

• Office supplies and lesson preparation
• School room organization and decor
• General school use supplies
• Arts and crafts supplies
• Handcraft supplies
• Language, phonics, and handwriting supplies
• Math supplies
• Nature study supplies
• Math, history, and science supplies

Office supplies and lesson preparation

These are the office supplies I use for organizing and preparing our homeschool lessons. Most of these stay in my home office area.

• Ink-jet printer and printer paper
• Laminator and laminating sheets
• 3 hole punch
• Stapler
• Paper cutter (If your paper cutter is dull or out of alignment, ask about having it sharpened at your local hardware store!)
• 3-ring binders: 1-inch and 3-inch– I like to use these to store and organize curriculum, as well as my children’s work.
• Clear envelope dividers – These are great for organizing sheets that you don’t want hole-puched, but still stored in a binder.
• 3-ring binder dividers
• Binding machine – You can turn any digital curriculum or guide into a bound book with this.

School room organization and decor

These resources keep our school area looking pretty and organized at the same time! My favorite ones on this list are the posters and garden caddy I use to hold jars of pencils, markers, etc!

• Paper organizer – We store cardstock, tracing paper, printer paper, and watercolor paper in this in our school area.
• Label maker – I use this to label things in the school area to help keep them organized!
• Craft storage boxes – These are great for small loose parts and math manipulatives.
• Baskets – I keep books, art supplies, and pretty much anything in pretty baskets all around the school area.
• Garden caddy (similar) – I put supplies like colored pencils and markers in mason jars inside this caddy. It goes in the middle of our school table for everyone to reach.
• Wide-mouth mason jars
• Picture ledge – We put our week’s books on the ledge for easy reach and wall decor!
• Poster hangers
• Cavalini posters
• Candle holders and beeswax candles – We light a candle for Morning Time to set the tone. The kids can roll these beeswax ones themselves.

Related: How to Make a DIY Wall-Size Chalkboard

General school use supplies

These are the tools we reach for every day. The most unpredictable on this list? The cookbook holder! We use it to hold books open while we are researching or replicating drawings and art.

• Pencils
• Pencil sharpener
• Copy paper
• Cardstock
• Clipboards
• Small whiteboards – We keep these handy for solving math problems or writing out a sentence for copywork. So many uses!
• Whiteboard markers
• Bluetooth speaker – We stream music and audiobooks on our speaker almost daily!
• Restaurant menu covers – These are perfect for preserving and displaying sheets like traceable calendar, hymns, folk songs, poetry, and more.
• Daily Rhythm Cards – These are a game changer for keeping peace in our school day and making transitions easier.
• Velcro strips – I use these to hang the Daily Rhythm Cards.
• Cookbook holder – We use this to hold open books for display, observation, and research.
• Timers – We use timers to help keep lessons short or for timed math and independent reading time.
• Mixed media sketchbooks – We love these for notebooking and art!

Related: Homeschool Preschool Supplies and Copywork in Your Homeschool: Why and How?

Arts and craft supplies

I use these items for art classes, art replications, notebooking pages, and general drawing, painting, and coloring during school.

• Watercolor palettes
• Watercolor brushes
• Oil pastels
• Beeswax crayons
• Colored pencils
• Tracing paper
• Thin-line markers
• Chalk pastels
• Tempera paint
• Paint cups and brushes
• Artist pencil set

Handcraft supplies

These are my favorite handcrafts to do during read alouds or in the afternoons.

• Polymer clay
• Embroidery kits
• Crochet hook and yarn
• Latch hook kit
• Origami kit

Related: The Best Handcrafts for Children 

Language, phonics, and handwriting supplies

These materials are key during learning to read in a multi-sensory way.

• Sandpaper letters
• Mini chalkboards
• Alphabet stamps
• Handwriting books – These are our favorite for print and cursive handwriting.
• Phonics books – These are our favorite for phonics.
• Handwriting paper
• Moveable alphabet
• Wonder of Nature Alphabet Cards
• Wonder of Nature Alphabet Sheets

Related: Handwriting Without Tears Curriculum Review

Math supplies

These are fun additions to our math lessons, especially when we need something hands-on to help make connections or just to mix things up!

• Math manipulatives
• Student clock
• Ruler
• Play money
• Math games

Related: 50 Hands-On Math Activities for Preschool and Kindergarten

Nature study supplies

Here are some resources we use as we study nature through the seasons. 

• Magnifying glass
• Dissection tools
• Field guides
• Binoculars
• Small hiking backpacks

Download a FREE week of Treehouse Nature Study

Geography, history, and science supplies

I’ve used these materials year after year as we study geography, history, and science. 

• Globe
• Maps
• History timeline books
• Microscope

Related: Incorporating Geography & Cultures in Your Homeschool [FREE World Map PDF] and Favorite Homeschool History Curriculum and Resources

I hope this list will help you select items that will enhance your homeschool experience and prepare you for year of fun and learning! Let us know your must-have items in the comments below!