Please share 3-5 things your homeschool couldn't do without! - Page 2

[Mommy&Will]

1. A library card
2. A backyard
3. A dishwasher

[camracrazy]

We love:

1) Dry erase boards
2) Library
3) Local volunteer days (My oldest volunteers one day a month at our local water center, and I'm hoping to find more places she can volunteer this year. It really gives a good hands on experience!)
4) Friends! We have gotten a lot of neat ideas for projects from talking to our homeschool friends. And we've been to places we might not have gone to if they hadn't asked us to come along.
5) Games. We like Scrabble for spelling and my middle dd has one called Fun with Numbers that teaches counting and basic adding and subtracting.

[phathui5]

1) YMCA membership. Our local Y is great! They have free swim lessons for the kids (with membership), American Girl club, Scholastic book fairs, a huge art studio, family fun night, sports classes...

2) CLE workbooks. I use these with ds1 and dd. They're nice because I can hand them the book, say "Do lesson 3" and then check off that subject.

3) State Parks. They have lots of low cost educational programs that get the kids into nature and the outdoors.

[yllek]

Oh, this is good thread! Thanks to the OP for posting the question, and thanks to everyone else for their answers.

In addition to all the great ideas that others have said, I'd add:

• A magnetic dry erase board (at least 3x4).
• An Amazon Prime account. What can I say? Sometimes I find a great resource, and I need it yesterday. This has been totally worth it for us.
• An all-in-one printer that also makes color copies. Great for nature studies (protect the scanner glass with cellophane and then just scan bugs, twigs, leaves, feathers, etc.). Also handy in all sorts of ways.
• Discovery Streaming Plus. Hundreds of educational videos instantly available. There's a fantastic discount available through Homeschool Buyers Co-op.
• A ten-gallon aquarium. My kids have used this to observe lizards, skinks, tadpoles, frogs, fish, a praying mantis, and all sorts of other buggies. And I feel better that these creepy-crawlies are contained.
• I would also say a large world map and globe, but Google Earth has been replacing both those resources for us lately.

[dannic]

Books--non-fiction, informative, historical, fiction, ect.
legos--we use these everyday--building, counting, ect
internet--for me...for ideas...for HS support
globe, world map, US map (laminated!!!)
games-scrabble jr, dino math, upwords, mind your manners, pictionary jr, risk, ect.
tree/plant/bird/animal guides for your area

[Adamsmama]

subbing

[Grace and Granola]

[dotnetdiva]

Here's our top homeschool things we couldn't do without. Everyone already mentioned most of our favorites.

• Large magnetic dry erase boards - I love white boards, we had several before we started homeschooling, and my favorite is a large one that sits propped up on the floor. We also have several large ones hanging up on the wall in the learning area and our offices. Even Satori's learning desk has a whiteboard surface.
• Amazon Prime - I've had this service forever and I am completely addicted to getting books fast and cheap. I wish I could add a library card to my list of favorites, but we only use it once or twice a month, but Amazon I am on everyday.
• Netflix/Discovery Plus Streaming - I waver between 4-6 at-time Netflix service to supplement history, and Discovery Streaming is a relatively new subscription for us, but it perfectly supplements science, history, Spanish, etc...
• RightStart Abacus - a year ago I had no clue how to use an abacus, now it's the best tool for math
• Homeschool SkedTrack - free online flexible scheduling/tracking service
• 3-ring Binders - I like the ones that are easy to open and can display a cover page on the front. Just this spring I started to go crazy for these things.
• Google Earth/Globe/Talking Globe/Maps - just love learning where things are in the world. We love these all equally.

[chrissy]

Mine are kind of different, but these are the things that make our homeschooling life run smoothly.

1- daily morning walks

2- quiet time for everyone after lunch

3- pets

4- no electronic media for kids during the school week, and very limited on the weekend

5- lots and lots of time outside

6- wonderful, local moms and kids to get together with OUTSIDE!

As far as actual, tangible resources...

-play dough to keep the littler kids happy

-a big chalkboard

-that's about all i've got so far for tangible things.