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Homeschool Tools That Are Worth the Investment

October 23, 2017 by Selena Robinson 10 Comments

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Over the years, I’ve been rather cheap about homeschooling equipment. I’ll go crazy buying books, pens, and curriculum, but I was really hesitant to buy bulkier items for some reason. Probably because we have a small house and I didn’t want to overwhelm it with large items I wouldn’t use very often.

But, even though it’s wise to stay on a homeschooling budget, especially if you have several children (like we do), there are some homeschool tools that are worth the investment. During the years we’ve been homeschooling, I’ve found that three items in particular make this list.

Make your homeschooling dollar stretch with this list of homeschool tools that are truly worth buying!

Homeschool Tools That Are Worth the Investment

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When you go into a teacher’s lounge or the school copy room at a public school, you’ll see – among other things – an industrial-sized laminator. Public educators laminate nearly everything, which makes sense because they often have to reuse charts, placemats, and all kinds of other materials over the years.

I’d been hearing about the virtues of laminators for homeschoolers for some time, but I didn’t think I needed one. I was wrong.

Homeschool Tools That are Worth Buying Yourself

Amazon frequently offers laminators on sale, especially during back to school time, so when the price of the Scotch laminator dropped to $20, I picked one up.

I couldn’t have made a better investment for our homeschool. I laminate so many things! Curriculum covers, playdough mats, printable flashcards, and more! And, since we use so many different digital curriculum products, I need to print and laminate fairly often.

Another item that I was told would come in handy was a coil-binding machine. That one, honestly, seemed like an extravagance and I was a little intimidated by it. It just looked so complicated. Would I really use it?

Essential Homeschool Tools to Buy

Yes. Yes, I would.

I have the Fellowes Star Coil Binding Machine, which is super simple to operate and one of my favorite purchases ever. I can turn almost anything into a book now! Lesson planners, teachers’ guides, printed curriculum – the possibilities are endless.

And, while I thought this machine would be enormous and in the way, it actually folds up and fits on the floor of our hallway closet with no trouble at all. I stressed over that for absolutely nothing.

My other homeschool investment has been our classroom chalkboard.

Using a Small Chalkboard for Homeschooling

A whiteboard would work just as well, by the way. But chalk is cheaper to buy, so I went with that for our homeschool needs. The size I purchased is 23 x 35, which is large enough to be seen but not so large that takes up most of our wall.

Also – There’s just something about seeing me work out a math problem on the board that makes the light go off over my kids’ heads.

So, those are my top three homeschool tools that are worth the investment:

  • Scotch Laminator
  • Fellowes Star Coil Binding Machine
  • 23 x 35 chalkboard

I also have two other items that deserve an honorable mention:

  • My electric pencil sharpener (You would not believe how many times I hear the phrase “Can I sharpen my pencil, Mom?” during the day.)
  • My external hard drive (I use this to store all of my digital homeschool curriculum.)

Homeschool Tools That Are Worth the Investment

Do you have any homeschool tools that are truly proven their worth over the years? Share your tips in the comments!

Don’t miss these other homeschooling posts!

Think you're too broke to homeschool your kids Believe it or not, homeschooling doesn't have to cost a lot!

Think you're behind on homeschool planning You're not. You don't need a lot to homeschool, even if you're a newbie!

Think that you're too busy to homeschool You might not be! Homeschooling is a lot more flexible than it seems.

And see more ways to create your own homeschool on my Homeschool Planning Pinterest board!

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How to Afford Homeschooling eBook Download

Filed Under: Homeschool Planning Tagged With: homeschooling

Comments

  1. Ticia says

    February 11, 2013 at 3:23 pm

    We use our binding machine ALL the time!

    Reply
    • Selena Robinson says

      February 12, 2013 at 12:46 am

      I know! It’s addictive! I actually go around the house looking for things to make into a book…lol.

      Reply
  2. Erika says

    February 11, 2013 at 6:09 pm

    love the notebooks – they really do look great!!!

    Reply
    • Selena Robinson says

      February 12, 2013 at 12:46 am

      Thanks! I almost hated to have the kids use them. 🙂

      Reply
  3. This Week @ Great Peace Academy says

    February 12, 2013 at 7:24 am

    Nice! I’ve been thinking about a binder… *Note to self, find it in the budget to buy a binding machine.
    Stopping in from the Hip Homeschool Hop

    Reply
    • Selena Robinson says

      February 12, 2013 at 9:52 am

      Great to have you here! You won’t regret finding room for a binding machine. 🙂

      Reply
  4. Heather says

    February 12, 2013 at 12:17 pm

    Very cool! We have the laminator, but not the binding machine. I think that is definitely something we will use in the future…will have to put it on my never-ending “to-buy” list.

    Reply
    • Selena Robinson says

      February 12, 2013 at 5:33 pm

      Lol! Our list is pretty long too. 🙂

      Reply
  5. Garden Tenders says

    February 15, 2013 at 7:49 am

    I think you just put me over the edge into purchasing a binding machine!

    Reply
    • Selena Robinson says

      February 16, 2013 at 9:55 pm

      Well, then, mission accomplished! 🙂

      Reply

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Hi! I'm Selena, a veteran teacher and homeschool mom to four. I'm so glad you're here!
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