What a Minimalist Homeschooler Needs | A homeschool supply list

But when we first started homeschooling in 2014 we actually lived in a three story town home and had a dedicated basement for all the homeschool toys, tables, books, and craft area but we have made some big life changes since then and are still dedicated homeschoolers.

What I have found over the years as we downsized again, and again, is that we really didn't need all the things you'd think you need to effectively homeschool your children and that you aren't any less of an amazing homeschooler if you don't have a dedicated homeschool room. Shake off that homeschool room guilt with me! 

We have a very eclectic style homeschooling. We love to pull from Unschooling, Charlotte Mason and Classical Homeschool to create what works for our family and the tools we use are quite minimal! We use may resources outside the home to enrich the bulk of our homeschool.
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What a Minimalist Homeschooler Needs | A Library Card

Our Library Card...

We don't just have a regular library card, we have an Educator's Card which allows up to borrow 150 books at a time for up to 6 weeks, not that we have room for all those books, but it means we can borrow the really good books for a longer period of time before we need to return them, rather than just purchasing them ourselves.

Our library card also gives us access to borrow audio books, ebooks, and even Rosetta Stone through the library's website. Also, we can go to the library to use their 3D printer, sewing machine and take advantage of many programs they hold every week and play one of their MANY board games rather than accumulating our own set at home!

Our Homeschool Community...

In this post with 6 lessons we learned from homeschooling our boys, I touched on how you will find your people when you become a homeschooler and we have the best people!

Our homeschooling community consists of around 120 families and there are a few parents that really support and help our community flourish by sharing their stories in the facebook group, planning homeschool field trips or guided tours and some even host science or heritage fairs. Often these homeschoolers will share their curriculum with each other as well!

Minimalist Homeschooler Supplies...

When we are gathered around our dining table working on Reading, Writing and Arithmetic, there are a few tools and supplies we keep on hand. This is usually where homeschoolers struggle because these homeschooling supplies can really get out of hand so we keep ours to a minimum and store them in jars right on our table where it will really become a bother if we accumulate too much! (See the above photo)

• An old set of Scrabble tiles (sits under our pencil crayons)
• Watercolour Paint Palette + Brushes
• Markers, Pencil Crayons, Pencil Sharpener, Eraser, Scissors
• Unifix Counting Blocks
• Legos, Skip-bo, Uno, and a regular deck of cards!
• iPad and a home printer

What a Minimalist Homeschooler Needs | Digital Curriculum

Digital Curriculum Resources...

One of our biggest space savers as a minimalist homeschooler is being able to find workbooks, worksheets, and activities online rather than having a bookshelf full of them at home.

I have a list of free or inexpensive homeschooling resources here but my favourite resource is the Chalkboard Publishing website because they have thousands or worksheets, activities and even full workbooks you can download and easily print off at home! Here is an in-depth review of Chalkboard Publishing and their digital library of educational materials.
If you enjoyed this post you may also like to know the 6 reasons why we chose to homeschool that have nothing to do with religion!

What a Minimalist Homeschooler Actually Needs! | A supply list!