The Small Supplies That Quietly Hold Our Homeschool Together (Fall Checklist)
- HumbleHomeschoolerMama
- 3 days ago
- 10 min read
A few weeks ago, my seven-year-old looked up from his cereal bowl and asked, "Is there oxygen in water?"
That's it. That's how it starts around here. One second we're talking about breakfast, and the next I'm knee-deep in a chemistry explanation about H₂O molecules. And the only reason that moment turned into a delighted "ohhhh!" instead of a shrug and a lost spark of curiosity, was because my little dry-erase board was sitting right on the shelf behind me. I grabbed it, sketched two hydrogen atoms and an oxygen atom, and watched his eyes light up.
If I'd had to dig through a drawer for a marker, or hunt for a scrap of paper, that moment would have passed. And it doesn't come back.
That's the whole truth about homeschooling that nobody tells you before you start: the big stuff, the curriculum, the co-ops, the field trips, that's not what makes or breaks your day. It's the small stuff. It's whether the scissors are actually in the drawer when the lesson says "cut this out." It's whether there's a working pencil sharpener at 9am instead of a pile of dull pencils and a meltdown. Whether the glue isn't dried out. Whether you have paper right now, not "I'll order some this week."
I've put together the full list of small essentials that keep our homeschool days flowing, plus the one big purchase that was genuinely worth every penny. Every single item below is either something we use in our own homeschool right now, or something I researched carefully before recommending it — because I've learned the hard way that buying the cheap version of any of these just means replacing it in six weeks, out of frustration, at double the cost.
Let's set up a space where the lessons flow, the supplies are just there when you need them, and you get to spend your energy on what actually matters: your kids.
A quick, honest note before we dive in: this post contains affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend equipment I've genuinely researched, tested, or am using myself — printers are not cheap, and I'd never point you toward one I didn't believe in.
Writing & Drawing Essentials
This is where it all starts. A dull pencil or a dried-out marker doesn't sound like a big deal, until it's the third one in a row and your child's patience (or yours) is gone.
We buy pencils in bulk because they disappear, break, and get lent to siblings constantly. A pre-sharpened bulk pack means school doesn't stall out on day one.
👉 Grab the S&E Teacher's Edition #2 HB Pencils, 50-Pack — this is the exact pack we restock every fall.
And once you have that many pencils in rotation, a good sharpener stops being optional. Ours is electric, hands-free, and genuinely saves us from the "the pencil sharpener is jammed again" derailment.
👉 Automatic Electric Pencil Sharpener is the one on our desk — 3-second sharpening, rechargeable, no mess.
For color work, we've tried the cheap sets, and I don't recommend them. Faber-Castell's colored pencils hold their tips and their pigment far better than budget brands.
👉 Faber-Castell Castle Colouring Pencils, 60-Piece Set is worth the small upgrade in cost.
And of course, no homeschool art shelf is complete without the classic:
👉 Crayola Crayons — some things just don't need reinventing.
For erasing, a good eraser matters more than people think, especially for younger hands still learning pencil control. The cheap pink erasers smear and tear paper. This one doesn't.
👉 KOH-I-NOOR Small Elephant Soft Eraser — small, but it earns its spot in the pencil case.
For pen work (older kids, journaling, or just Mom keeping the planner running), we go through a lot of ink.
👉 Paper Mate InkJoy 100RT Ballpoint Pens, 72-Count are smooth-writing and last through the whole school year.
Paper, Notebooks & Sketchbooks
You cannot run a smooth homeschool day without paper. Full stop. I keep a deep stock of it, because "we're out of paper" should never be the reason a lesson gets skipped.
👉 Amazon Basics Multipurpose Copy Printer Paper, 500 Sheets is reliable, bright, and jam-free — which matters a lot once you see the printer recommendation below.
For art and drawing, we keep a dedicated sketchbook so all the doodles, diagrams, and "look what I drew, Mom!" moments live in one place instead of scattered on loose sheets that get lost.
👉 9x12 Spiral Sketchbook, 100 Sheets — thick, acid-free paper that holds up to pencil, marker, and light watercolor.
For daily written work, composition and spiral notebooks are non-negotiable in our house — one per subject keeps things organized without becoming a filing project.
For hands-on projects and crafts, construction paper gets used more than you'd expect,
especially with younger learners.
And if watercolor is part of your art time (it should be — more on that below), regular paper will buckle and tear. Don't skip real watercolor paper.
👉 Hapikalor 9x12 Watercolor Paper Pad, 140lb — you genuinely need the heavier paper for watercolor to look and feel right; it's a small purchase that makes a big visible difference in the final artwork.
Art & Craft Supplies
This is the category that turns "school" into something my son actually looks forward to. A rainy afternoon and a box of art supplies has saved more than one hard day for us.
👉 48-Color Solid Watercolor Paint Set with 3 Wooden Brushes — vibrant, washable, and travels well if you paint outside.
👉 Soucolor 20-Piece Acrylic Paint Brush Set for anything beyond watercolor.
👉 Conda 17" Wooden Tabletop Easels, 2-Pack — having a real easel makes art time feel special instead of "just another worksheet."
👉 Elmer's Washable No-Run School Glue, 3-Pack — no-run matters more than you'd think when little hands are the ones squeezing the bottle.
Two supporting pieces that changed our craft time completely:
👉 Officemate Recycled Wood Clipboard, 3-Pack — I cannot overstate how much my son lights up using this. Give a kid their own clipboard and suddenly they feel like a "real" student with a "real" job to do. It's such a small thing, and it matters so much to him.
👉 Extra Large Silicone Table Mat — we put this under paper for painting, cutting, and gluing. It protects the table, wipes clean in seconds, and takes the stress completely out of "not on the table!"
A quick reminder: if messy craft time has been something you avoid because of cleanup dread, this mat alone might change that for you. It changed it for us.
Organization & Everyday Tools
These are the tools that quietly prevent the "wait, where are the—" moments that break your flow mid-lesson.
👉 Scissors, 5-Pack of 8" Comfort-Grip — buy more than one pair. I promise you'll need it the moment two kids want to cut at once, or one pair goes missing (they always do).
👉 3-Ring Binders — one color per subject keeps
even a 7-year-old able to find his own work.
👉 Sheet Protectors — these are wonderful for protecting your child's artwork and for keeping worksheets reusable with a dry-erase marker.
👉 Colored Masking Tape, 7 Colors — we use this one constantly, more than almost anything on this list. Tape a hopscotch grid on the floor for a math game, mark distances for a measuring lesson, make a color-sorting activity, get him up and moving while he's still learning. It peels right up afterward without any residue.
👉 Self-Locking Tape Measure, 33 Feet — once you start measuring things for a math lesson, you'll want to measure everything. This one's sturdy enough to become a household tool too.
👉 Lots of Sticky Notes — perfect for tabbing curriculum pages, marking books, or flagging pages you'll want to revisit.
👉 Scotch Thermal Laminator — this one surprised me with how often it gets used: laminating chore charts, flashcards, reference sheets, and anything you want to reuse with dry-erase markers instead of reprinting. If you need more info on laminators, check out this article.
Two pencil pouches, for two very different jobs:
👉 Forvencer Pencil Pouch for 3-Ring Binder clips right into a binder and travels easily — this one's really for you, Mom or Teacher, to keep your own supplies together.
👉 Kids' Pencil Case, Large Capacity — this one's for your student. Having their own case with their own stuff builds a surprising amount of independence and pride.
Learning Boosters (Small Things, Big Motivation)
If I had to pick one item on this entire list that we reach for the most, it might genuinely be this one:
👉 Dry Erase Boards, 9x12, 6-Pack — this is the exact board I grabbed for the "is there oxygen in water?" moment. Keep one within arm's reach at all times. You will use it more than you expect, for math, for spelling, for spontaneous explanations that can't wait for you to find paper.
If you only click one link in this whole post, let it be this one. It's inexpensive, and it will
save more lessons than anything else on this list.
We also use motivation tools constantly, more than I expected to when we started:
👉 Reward Stickers — we use these a LOT, for finishing
hard work, for good behavior, for small wins that deserve celebrating.
👉 Wooden Stamp Set — a great alternative if your child is past stickers or you want to mix it up.
Planning & The Small Joys
A homeschool planner isn't glamorous, but it's the backbone of the whole operation. I plan a week ahead (sometimes more), jot notes on what needs review, what needs more practice, and ideas I want to try next.
👉 Find a homeschool planner that matches how your brain works — I won't tell you which one to buy, because this is deeply personal. Some people need a weekly grid, some need open pages, some need a monthly view. Try one, see how you use it for a month, and adjust. Mine genuinely keeps me sane.
And then there's the pure joy category. We read constantly, and picking out a new bookmark for a kid's new book is one of those small rituals that makes reading feel like an event.
👉 Browse cute bookmarks for kids — call it a splurge if you want. (Deep down, I do think bookmarks are for quitters — if you're really into a book, you don't put it down. But don't tell my kid I said that.)
The One Big Purchase Worth Making
Everything above is small, inexpensive, and easy to justify one at a time. But if you're going to make one larger investment before the school year starts, make it this one: a genuinely good printer.
I do not say this lightly, and I don't say it about most things: do not cheap out on this purchase. A slow, jammy, expensive-to-refill printer will cost you more in frustration, wasted ink, and delayed lessons than the money you saved buying the bargain model. We print constantly, worksheets, coloring pages, extra practice sheets, reference charts, and a printer that can't keep up becomes a daily obstacle instead of a tool.
👉 We use the Brother MFC-L3720CDW Wireless Color Laser Printer — wireless, auto duplex printing, scanner and copier built in, and a 250-sheet capacity so you're not refilling paper constantly. It has genuinely been one of the best purchases we've made for our homeschool.
If you want to compare a few options before deciding, I put together a full breakdown here: The 5 Best Homeschool Printers.
You've Got Everything You Need
That's the full list. It's not flashy, and none of it is complicated. But stock these small essentials, add one solid printer, and you genuinely cannot go wrong. Everything else you'll figure out as you go; homeschooling has a way of teaching you exactly what you need, exactly when you need it.
Have fun setting it up. There's a real, quiet joy in organizing the pencils, lining up the notebooks, and looking at a shelf that's finally ready for the year. Enjoy that part. You've earned it.
Quick Reference: Full Supply List
Writing & Drawing Essentials
Product | Why You Need It in Your Homeschool |
Bulk, pre-sharpened pencils so a broken point never stalls a lesson | |
Hands-free, 3-second sharpening — no more jammed manual sharpeners | |
Holds pigment and tip strength far better than budget sets | |
The reliable classic every art shelf needs | |
Erases cleanly without tearing paper, great for young hands | |
Smooth writing pens that last the whole school year |
Paper, Notebooks & Sketchbooks
Product | Why You Need It in Your Homeschool |
The everyday paper stock behind every worksheet and printout | |
Keeps all drawings and art together in one place instead of loose sheets | |
Dedicated notebooks per subject keep work organized | |
Bright, durable, easy for kids to tell apart by subject | |
The go-to paper for crafts and hands-on projects | |
Heavier paper that won't buckle under watercolor paint |
Art & Craft Supplies
Product | Why You Need It in Your Homeschool |
Vibrant, washable paint that makes art time low-stress | |
Covers everything beyond basic watercolor projects | |
Makes art time feel special instead of "just a worksheet" | |
No-run formula means far less mess from little hands | |
Kids feel like "real students" with their own clipboard | |
Protects the table and wipes clean instantly after messy projects |
Organization & Everyday Tools
Product | Why You Need It in Your Homeschool |
Extra pairs mean a missing pair never derails cutting activities | |
Simple, durable measuring tool every subject eventually needs | |
Keeps multi-page work and projects bound together neatly | |
Makes any worksheet binder-ready in seconds | |
Color-coded binders help even young kids find their own subjects | |
Protects artwork and makes worksheets reusable with dry-erase markers | |
Kid-safe, no-mess tape for everyday project needs | |
Endless hands-on uses — floor games, measuring, sorting activities | |
Turns measuring lessons into a full household tool, math everywhere! | |
Great for tabbing curriculum, journaling, and flagging pages | |
Turns charts and flashcards into reusable, dry-erase-ready tools | |
Keeps Mom or Teacher's own supplies organized and portable | |
Builds independence by giving your child their own supply space |
Learning Boosters
Product | Why You Need It in Your Homeschool |
Lets you explain spontaneous questions the instant they come up | |
Simple, effective motivation for finished work and good effort | |
A fun alternative reward system when stickers get old |
Planning & Reading Joys
Product | Why You Need It in Your Homeschool |
Keeps weekly planning, review notes, and new ideas all in one place | |
A small, joyful ritual that makes a new book feel like an event |
The One Big Purchase
Product | Why You Need It in Your Homeschool |
Fast, reliable, high-capacity printing so worksheets and materials are never the bottleneck in your day |
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