10 Essential Office Supplies You Need for Your Homeschool

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This year my printer has been giving me problems. Sometimes the head is off and magenta isn’t printing quite right. Other times it’s refusing to talk to my computer. It’s made me realize there are ten essential office supplies we need for a functioning homeschool. Ten supplies that make life so much easier.

10 essential office supplies you need for your homeschool.

1. A Computer

It’s hard to homeschool these days without a computer. A computer gives us access to forums, blogs, and places where we can ask questions and get answers. You can find the curriculum, order the curriculum, and download PDFs. It gives access to a larger world.

In addition, there are a huge number of online and computer courses available these days. Not to mention the field trips and enrichment programs available.

2. External Storage Drive

If you don’t store much up in the cloud, use an external storage drive in case something happens to your computer. Like the time my two-year tried to crawl on my desk, knocked off my computer, and fell himself…. landing on the computer. My toddler was just fine. In fact, he toddled off to find more mischief a minute later.

The computer didn’t survive.

Hence why you need to keep all important documents, such as all of your homeschool pdfs and family photos on an external drive or in the cloud.

3. A Printer

How many times do you need to print up a pdf workbook in your homeschool? Since I adore pdf workbooks, I need to print copies all the time. In addition Tapestry of Grace also requires me to student pages and maps for the year.

Since good printers can also scan and copy, it’s worth the investment to save you countless hours and frustration trying to find time to run down to the copy store to print up the papers you need.

4. Filing System

Every homeschool needs a good filing system to deal with weekly papers. I use these file boxes to store our weekly homeschool plans.

All those pages I print up with my printer? I file in my filing box.

A simple rundown goes like this: The hanging folders are labeled 1-36 for each week of our school year. Within each hanging folder is a folder labeled with the name of each homeschooling child and a colored folder at the front labeled teacher.

I place papers I’ll need such as tests, grading sheets, instruction sheets, etc. in my folder at the front. What each child needs during the week, goes into their folder. If you’d like a full rundown of my filing system: Here it is!

5. 3-Hole Punch

Very mundane, but my 3-hole punch is used constantly in my house. A good 3-hole punch easily punches holes in stacks of papers for filing in children’s work binders or portfolios.

Single-hole work, but is time-consuming and annoying. Can you imagine trying to punch holes in a huge stack of papers with a single hole punch? It would take hours!

Over the years I’ve been very grateful over the years to have a good 3-hole punch to use.

6. 3-Ring Binders & Dividers

Each child has two 3-ring binders. One is a working binder that goes in their school crate. Previously I divided the binder by subject and all papers for each subject were placed accordingly.

This year I’m trying something new. After looking through all the workbox systems, I decided to organize my kids’ papers by day rather than by subject. Theoretically, that means each child can pull out their binder, open up to the day of the week, and have all their needed homeschool papers easily available to grab.

The second set of 3-ring binders is for the kids’ portfolios. This binder is divided by subject. I organize their material in it as we work through the school year. It gives an excellent overview of everything we’ve covered during the year.

7. Tape

Tape is a very mundane office supply to keep on hand, but one that’s used constantly. In my case, I hang the children’s Tapestry of Grace reading assignments on the kitchen cabinets. Guess what. I need tape for it!

Maps are also hung in the kitchen so the kids can easily reference what they need to cover. Schedules, chore charts, and Motivated Moms are all hung for easy reference during the week.

I constantly need tape for an organized homeschool.

8. Loose-leaf Paper, Graphing Paper, and Spiral Notebooks

I can’t tell you how much paper we use over the course of the year. During the back-to-school sales, I purchase loose-leaf paper, graphing paper, and spiral notebooks by the ton and store them. The kids use the loose-leaf paper for their homeschool lessons if needed, but they prefer the spiral notebooks.

My kids will grab a spiral notebook to begin writing a book, drawing pictures, or keeping detailed notes. Between the personal projects and the homeschool, we use up countless spiral notebooks over the year.

9. Pens and Pencils

Another ordinary office supply, but pens and pencils make such a difference in the homeschool. Have you ever tried to finish a notebooking page without a pencil or pen in hand?

Pencils are wonderful for math problems, after all, you can erase them as needed. But I’ve noticed my kids often prefer to write essays and history papers in pen.

As a result, we use up quite a few pens and pencils over the years. Do you?

10. Homeschool and Day Planner

The Homeschool and Day Planner is the one I created and use. I use it to organize my life. It holds my blogging plans, volunteer work, homeschooling plans, and daily routines.

My planner the heart and soul of my ability to stay sane, calm, and on top of life.

These are the office supplies I have found critical during my many homeschool years. We’ve used these for years and I can’t imagine homeschooling without them.

What essential office supplies do you use in your homeschool?