With the events of recent years altering the lives of many, homeschooling has become far more common. No matter what your reasons are, if you’re seriously considering teaching your child from home, we are here to help by showing you the essentials you’ll need to have the smoothest experience possible.
The first thing on your agenda should be to gather the necessary stationary equipment your child's going to need. To start with, pens and pencils are a must – with pencils perhaps being the most important in some cases. Standard HB pencils are used in the majority of schools for a reason: they’re reliable. Not to mention a good pencil will mean your well-planned lessons won’t suffer from interruptions. Seriously, the last thing you need is blunt, broken nibs scattered across the table.
With the pens and pencils ready, an eraser and sharpener are no brainers as the next items on your list. From there, you can begin to consider items that will be necessary for particular subjects.
Maths is a guaranteed subject for anyone growing up, so we recommend picking up some handy maths and geometry sets to ensure measuring shapes and learning times tables is much easier.
Perhaps surprisingly, a globe will become a frequently used tool when homeschooling because of its usefulness in a variety of subjects. As well as geography, globes can come in handy when teaching history, literature, and more!
We also have a great selection of flash cards, workbooks, and activity books that can make for great material when teaching a number of subjects to young children in particular.
Once everything has been gathered, you might notice you have a ton of equipment but nowhere to store it all. This is where a desk organiser comes into play. An organiser of choice will ensure everything your child needs is conveniently stored, ready to be used whenever lesson time begins. Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean we recommend throwing pencil cases to the wayside – they are still fantastic storage items! Pencil cases arguably have more value to a child due to their knack for being designed in various ways to suit their tastes. From Rainbow cases to licensed designs such as Friends, Harry Potter, and much more, you’re sure to bring a personal touch to the classroom for your child if you get one of these.
Now, before you get ahead of yourself and start right away after noting down all these tips, you may want to get one of those notebooks for your child too. A notebook can be used to write down whatever's taught to them, making them great reference material later on. And while you’re at it, a planner would be good for you to keep ahold of as well. Because you’re going to be teaching from home, it’s important for your child to understand when it’s time to have fun and when it’s time to learn - that goes for you too. Keeping a routine so you both understand your new schedules will get you and your child used to everything faster.
Although not essential for everyone, we thought it would be worth mentioning some extra items you might need. Have a think – will printing sheets of information for your child to read be easier than writing it down? The same goes for tests such as equations or multiple answer questions. If so, get yourself a printer to make your life easier.
Although some younger people think them unnecessary, a good old-fashioned analog clock can help your child tell the time the traditional way.
Finally, it's important to remember that you'll need to motivate your child to work hard, so why not make a rewards chat? If we have piqued your interest, take a look at our guide on How To Make Your Own Rewards Chart for more information!
We hope this has helped you if you were struggling to get an idea of what essentials you'll need for homeschooling. If you would like to take a look at even more options, check out our entire Children's Stationery Department.
