What a great response I had to my recent post about taking the word “school” out of homeschool.
In conjunction with that post I thought I would list some simple items that are a must in your home learning environment:
- cooking utensils
- tools-hammers, nails, screws, screwdriver, scrap pieces of wood
- measuring tape-{learn perimeter, area, radius, circumference, terms of measurement}
- bean box
- recyclables-for making inventions, crafts, or to use to hold paints and materials
- books, preferably “living books”, non fiction, picture books, reference, all kinds!
- maps and atlases
- brown paper lunch bags for puppet making
- camera-use for learning photography
- video camera-learn to make movies and video editing
- sketch paper-all sizes
- long rolls of butcher paper/newsprint
- colored pencils, markers, crayons
- classical music cd’s (playing in the background most days-not a forced time to listen)
- classic artwork- strategically placed about the house-immerse them in art!
- microscope/telescope
- magnifying glass for nature study
- paint
- scrabble game
- binoculars
- constellation charts
- gears
- old magazines-use the pictures for collages and crafting
- a chess set
- logic puzzles and tangrams
- craft sticks-not just for crafts! math manipulatives or preschoolers making shapes/letters
- paper and pencils for creative writing
- cardboard boxes-all sizes for building towers, making dioramas, and all crafts
- field guides-birds, flowers, trees, animals
- a needle and thread/sewing machine {for the young ladies} and fabric scraps
- knitting, crochet, needlepoint
- dictionary/encyclopedia {good old fashioned kind}
- homemade play dough/salt dough
- a library card
- the outdoors
- a garden or pots for planting
- legos
- a regular clock (not digital) for learning to tell time-don’t really need to buy a plastic “toy”-a real one works just fine 😉
- old checks {from an old account not in existence} and a register- learn how to write checks and keep a balanced account. We did this recently and everyone LOVED it!
- envelopes and stationary for writing letters
And a few extra “things” that are a must:
your encouragement
eye to eye contact
being fully present
Nothing is more important than these last four things that only you can give. Children want us to be fully present with them, engaging with them, and loving them while they learn.
That is something no other learning environment outside the home can provide…
That is something no other learning environment outside the home can provide…
Learn more about having less stuff and MORE JESUS this summer!
Grab a ticket now before prices go up!
No Comments