Homeschool Tools for 2020-2021

With the world being in limbo in nearly every arena, I have never been more thankful to homeschool.

We are headed into our seventh year of homeschooling and have started to hit a stride in many ways. Yet, as you can imagine, juggling three kids in three different grade levels plus a busy 3-year old is a challenge.

With the impact of the COVID pandemic and the resulting protocols at public and private schools, I know many families are choosing to homeschool this year. Whether you are in it for a semester or the year or even for the rest of your children’s school career, you will find an OVERWHELMING amount of resources and tools available.

I wrote a post back in March outlining some of our “must-haves” here at Meadows Homeschool. In that post I shared the various curriculum we use for math, history, and language arts. While those will remain relatively the same for this coming year, the purpose of this post is to highlight some supplemental things that we are doing in addition to our core curriculum, plus some fun tools that make learning a little more exciting.

First: Organization!
Oklahoma does not require homeschoolers to keep a portfolio of work but many states do (be sure to research your particular state’s guidelines). That said, my kids often draw, write, or create crafts that they want to keep…and we all know how school papers and projects can create a mountain of clutter! This year (for my own sanity!), I am getting each of my kids one of these portfolio dividers to organize their favorite papers.

Second: Motor Skills!
Kids of all ages benefit from motor skill work, so we make sure to have a variety of puzzles (like this ABC one, this dinosaur one, and this solar system one) available as well as things like lacing cards (we’re due for new laces after several kids!) and tape books.

Third: Old School, New Tools!
Sometimes all a kid needs to get excited about spelling practice is a new tool! We have tried sidewalk chalk, Magna-Doodle screens, rubber stamps, letter tiles, and good old-fashioned spiral notebooks to practice spelling. This year we are adding a Boogie Board tablet to our arsenal. Very excited to surprise the kids with this one! Another fun option for writing spelling words? Gel pens!

Do you want your kids to make art, but the thought of turning them loose with paint makes you break out in hives?! These tempera sticks are the perfect solution! Bright pigments in a wide range of colors, non-toxic, easy for small hands to use, and FAST-DRYING. You can paint on anything from paper to popsicle sticks to rocks, all with great results.

Another low-mess solution is air-dry clay. I mentioned it in my previous post, but we’ve found that we are often in need of more primary colors and black and white long before the bright neon colors run out. So I’m adding this bucket of clay to our stash.

Flashcards are often a staple for learning. Our trip to Mount Rushmore this summer got all of our kids interested in past presidents and U.S. Geography, so we’ll be adding these President flashcards as a choice in our activity box.

Fourth: Learning Subscriptions
We have done several lines from Kiwi Co over the past few years (Kiwi Crates, Koala Crates, Doodle Crates, Tinker Crates, and currently—Atlas Crates), and those have all been enjoyable, especially for my oldest daughter who is particularly interested and gifted in art. As my kids get older (they are currently 10, 7, 5, and 3), their unique passions come alive more and more. That said, we are exploring a couple new subscription services this year.

TalkBox.Mom is a foreign language program that involves the entire family by teaching you how to replace phrases you say every day (“Are you hungry?”, “Wash your hands!”, “It’s time for bed.”) with the equivalent in the language of your choice. We have chosen to learn Spanish, but there are nearly a dozen languages available. The companion app is easy to use and utilizes native speakers so you know your pronunciation is just right! You can use the code REFX44BTLVSSZ to save $15 when you order your first box and the corresponding phrase book. We are two boxes in so far, and it’s been so fun to watch all my kids learn and incorporate Spanish into our daily conversations.

My middle daughter is particularly interested in cooking, so she’ll be trying the Raddish Kids cooking club this year as part of her Kindergarten coursework. She was SO excited just from seeing the website, and I’m excited to see all the new foods my kids will be introduced to as she whips up new recipes!

Fifth: Personal Interests and Projects
My oldest continues to be fascinated by LEGO, and is very pumped about this new encyclopedia coming out in October. I love how well he retains and relays the information he learns in books like these…those skills will serve him well in the future as he works on research projects.

My daughter loves ANYTHING crafty, and I believe it’s important to trust kids with grown-up tools after showing them how to use them safely. Elmer’s glue can be such a mess and takes forever to dry. Not only that, but the adhesion isn’t always the best. For a few years now, I have allowed my kids to use a low-temp glue gun like this one. And what’s more fun than glitter glue sticks?! Maybe technicolor Sharpies…

By choosing a curriculum you like for the core subjects and then adding extras based on your children’s individual interests (but not so many you feel like you’re drowning!), you’ll wind up with a homeschool experience that is enriching and exciting for all!

Cheers to a great school year!