Forgetful Momma

Secular Homeschooling in Canada

school supplies

Storage for Homeschool Supplies You’ll Love

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We are in the middle of a kitchen reno after moving and everything is getting a face lift, including my table box that my husband made me a few years ago. Now instead of beat up painted jars that were catch all jars, I have pretty painted jars that are storage for homeschool supplies.

Storage for Homeschool Supplies

Storage for Homeschool Supplies You’ll Love

This post contains affiliate links, see my disclosure policy for more information.

This was a simple up-cycle, reuse project. We have an eat-in kitchen and the dining room table is where we do the majority of our lessons. I have a warm, inviting pale pale yellow with white wainscot on the walls, with grey cupboards. I wanted to use more grey at the eat-in side of the kitchen and this was the perfect place to do it.

What I used:

What you need:

  • hot glue gun
  • hot glue gun sticks
  • paint brush
  • plastic flowers of you choice – I got mine from the Dollarama.

What I did to make these decorative storage jars:

I painted my jars outside because the day was perfect, nice and sunny warm, making the paint dry fast. Painting on glass, in my experience, is not easy. I did I quick coat over each of the four jars and let it dry. I did not paint the very top where I was going to be gluing the twine.

The next coat I cheated a bit on, I only painted down as far as I needed, to where the box would hide the rest. I just did a quick and let it dry until the next day.

Using my hot glue gun I wrapped and glued the twine around the top of jar. My finger tips were sore by the time I finished all four jars.

Storage for Homeschool Supplies

Storage for Homeschool Supplies

I knew I wanted to use these jars to store our school supplies. Things like pencils, scissors, glue sticks, erasers, etc. But I didn’t want it to look ugly so I picked up fluffy, plastic flowers that would cover that covered the tops of the jars.

We cut them down to size so they fit perfectly in the jars. The pencils are holding one flower up, but that is because they are new and my kids haven’t had a chance to use them all yet. That flower will be sitting right in no time.

Storage for Homeschool Supplies

Recommended Products to Make Your Own

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Helpful Tips for the Disorganized Homeschool Mom

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Our Homeschool Room – Our Dining Room

Washi Tape School Supplies for Your Homeschool

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Washi tape is a fun way to make your school supplies unique and reflect your own personality. Which is exactly what I wanted my kids to do. It’s a great perk of homeschooling, getting to be unique and embrace their personality. Washi tape school supplies is just one way to do that.

Washi Tape School Supplies

Washi Tape School Supplies

This post contains affiliate links, see my disclosure policy for more information.

Washi isn’t really all the expensive. I have seen it at the dollar store before, though do you think I could find it there when I actually wanted to buy lots of it? No. But that just seems to be the way things go though I guess.

School Supplies you can Washi Tape

I sat down and made a list of the school supplies that we could personalize with washi tape. I’m sure this list could go on and on, but you get the idea.

  • pencils
  • glue sticks
  • notebooks
  • tablet charger
  • binder clips
  • ruler
  • clipboards
  • binders
  • dividers
  • paperclips – use to make inexpensive bookmarks
  • phone/tablet case

One the first day of school, I thought it might be a good idea to just give them their new composition notebooks and a pile of washi tape, and let them make their notebooks their own. We lucked out that I found some space tape and my oldest was super eager to use that one on her space notebook.

How I like using Washi tape

I like using my Washi tape in my Happy Planner. It’s a fun, easy, way to add a splash of color to my pages. Plus, honestly, it is cheaper than buying Happy Planner stickers which can get pricey.

The paper clip (shown below) is the easiest, most inexpensive bookmark I have ever made. Because it is a paper clip, it’s not sliding off the page loosing my spot which drives me crazy. My kids didn’t make any, probably too practical for them, so I think I’ll be making a few more for their books, both homeschool books and their casual, relaxed reading books.

With my kids having decorated their notebooks, it is super easy to tell which one belongs to who. Their personalities literally shine off them with the shiny, and glitter tape that some of them used.

Washi Tape School Supplies

Organizing Your Home for A New Homeschool Year

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The homeschool year is coming to an end. Whether it is coming faster than you want or not fast enough. I always find that the second half of the school year goes faster than the first. It seems to fly by when we have a deadline for the end of the year reporting or for summer vacation plans. One of my favorite things about the year coming to an end is the tidy up and organizing.  I love getting ready for a new homeschool year.

Organizing your Home for A New Homeschool Year

Organizing Your Home for A New Homeschool Year

*This post contains affiliate links, see my disclosure policy for more information.*

Let Go for a New Homeschool Year

Now that the school year is coming to an end, look at what you have and let go of the stuff that you don’t use. The books that you bought a year ago and haven’t opened yet because you have a well loved book on the same topic? Donate, sell, or give it to a friend. There are Facebook groups that are specifically for buying, selling and trading curriculum, and there may be one in your area for you.

Same goes for curriculum. If there is something that you haven’t used for your first two children because you don’t like it, chances are you won’t like it for your next homeschooled child. Make room for different curriculum or books that you’ll enjoy using.

Assess for a New Homeschool Year

Now that you have set aside the books, curriculum, etc. that you want to re-home, before you buy new curriculum for the coming year, take time to look at what is working for you and your kids, and what isn’t. Now is the time to see if your child needs a little more work in one area, or are ready to move ahead a little faster in another. Sometimes your child is going to outgrow a curriculum’s style and need something different.


Organize for a New Homeschool Year

Clean up everything you have in your homeschool space. Tidy up your books, and binders and papers. If you keep a portfolio of your children’s school year, now is the time to go through their work and keep the pieces you want to save.

Repair anything you want/need to save that needs repairing, or in list in your husband to do so as I do.

Order homeschool supplies to have them when the school year starts, I’m talking things like pencils and erasers which seem to have legs and walk away everyday. Buy more laminator sheets for “posters” you want to make for the coming year.

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7+ Essential Homeschool Items

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Another school year is coming, quickly. There are some essential homeschool items that I have already gotten, are on their way to me, or in my shopping cart. I love shopping, even when it’s for school supplies.

7 Essential Homeschool Items

7 Essential Homeschool Items

*This post contains affiliate links, see my privacy policy for more information.*

Start your shopping now, if you use Amazon Prime as we just started doing, you get your things so much faster. I love it!

Let’s be honest, what I think is essential might not be essential for you, and your essentials items might not be mine and that is A-OK! But maybe we’re learn about new items too.

Laminator

The first thing I ordered and had delivered for the coming school year was this thermal laminator. There are so many different uses for one in your homeschool. Perfect for repetitive work, write on, wipe off.

With a kindergartner this year, we’ll be practicing letters and numbers, and with a toddler who likes doing what his sisters do, this is going to be handy. I know that this is going to be my favorite homeschool items this year!

Dry Erase Boards

How convenient is this for teaching your children? I happen to love dry erase boards – even as a child, I had one in my room (public school student). My kids love writing on them, working out math problems on their individual ones. I do recommend getting a large one that it magnetic, two for one kind of deal. I found mine at Costco for a great price, mounts to the wall, everything can be kept beside it.

Electric Pencil Sharpener

Here is one that is on my wish list: an electric pencil sharpener. How much time is spent sharping pencils in your home? The pencils in our house always seem to be in need of sharpening. This is a mini one, it won’t take up much room, and you can hide it away from the kids who are going to love using it as they love manual ones.

Printer

This is the MOST used school/office supply that we own. Everyone in our house uses it for one reason or another. While this is the newer version of our all-in-one printer, I love it. I also love that I can get the cartridges refilled at Costco for a fraction of the price of new ones.

Print off worksheets to laminate for each of your kids, for yourself, etc. This is one of favorite homeschool items in our house, Gauge loves that he can steal paper out of it to draw on.

UPDATE: We recently, mid-year, changed to an Epson printer… LOVE IT! The ink is much cheaper, and it is all wireless, WiFi printing and scanning which saves a heck of a lot of time. Instead of replacing all three colors at once, each is their own, so you’ll only have to replace one color at a time. PLUS Costco does refills of the ink making it cheaper again!

Microscope

Adding a microscope to your homeschool adds a whole new element to your science. You can get them for younger children, or more advanced ones for older children. There are a number of things you can look at, simple everyday things for your kids to explore their world up close. They can learn so much about simple things with a microscope.

We also LOVE this pocket microscope. It is perfect for taking in the backyard, on walks, and most recently for us, to the beach.

3 Hole Punch

We use our hole punch a lot. I had a single hole punch thinking I could get away with it, but it just wasn’t worth the pain. There was a sigh of relief when I finally got a three hole punch. We have to keep a portfolio of each year, a hole punch makes it easier.

Maps

We have one of these in our house (the Canadian one of course) and I am always amazed how much our kids look at it at random times.

This company also offers one for the USA and for the world. These are dry-erase, stick and peel maps, which makes me loves them more.

The Smaller Items

Those above are just the “big” items that you just have to have. Not including bookshelves and the books to fill it, because you can store books in any number of ways, and get books from the library. then we have the smaller must have items.

Pencils, erasers
Crayons, markers
Paper – lined, unlined, craft
Binders, dividers
Index cards

Also for this coming school year I have bought:

Wooden Pattern Blocks Which we are going to be using a lot, especially for keeping Gauge entertained this year while his sister do school.

Plastic Beakers These are going to be so much fun to use this year along with the Plastic Test Tubes. My kids love science experiments so these are going to be a blast.

You can check out my Amazon Store for more of what we use in our homeschool.

Buying Art Supplies for Your Homeschool

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Labeling for School – Name Bubbles Review

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Are youand your kindergartener ready for school? We are official ready here. School supplies have been bought and labeled. Lunch and recess items have been bought. We have the forms all filled out and ready to be handed in on the morning of registration. All that’s left is walking her to school and walking away.

I have tissues ready to go as well. For me. And for Brookland.

Did I mention school supplies labeled? Every little school supply had to be labeled. I’m talking each marker, each crayon had to have her first and last name on them. Ugh. Time consuming? Hard work? Not really.

Name Bubbles makes back to school labeling easy. Their School Value pack has everything you need for back to school.

Name Bubbles School Labels [Read more…] about Labeling for School – Name Bubbles Review