Homeschooling is a HUGE investment.
It is an emotional investment.
It is a time investment.
It is also quite a large financial investment, if you consider the commitment to living on one income (in most cases), purchasing of curriculum, and the myriad of other expenses that inevitably occur.
I will detail in this post what I consider to be the TEN best homeschool investments we have made in our five years of teaching our children at home.
*One quick note: I am advocate of debt free living. (My husband has been employed by a non profit debt relief agency for many years.) We make sacrifices in many areas so we can make these homeschool investments. It's WORTH every penny. I don't advocate going into debt so you can buy homeschool materials!
*This post contains affiliate links.
1. Math Curriculum
For our family, this is Saxon Math. I don't like to buy math curriculum used. I feel it's worth it to make this investment.
This year, we purchased the Saxon Teacher CDs for Saxon 8/7 and this has been SO WORTH THE MONEY!
2. Books
Money spent on books (preferably quality, living books) is never wasted! We also spend money on resource books that I know will get used frequently.
My daughter and I love to frequent consignment stores and thrift stores as well as library sales for used and rare books. I always tell her, "You know I never regret spending money on books!"
Here's a list of the 10 Best Books for Homeschooling Moms that you might find useful.
3. Snap Circuits
I cannot tell you the ENDLESS hours of play (and learning!) time our two sets of Snap Circuits have received. I promise you that if you purchase these for your homeschool you will LOVE them. There is no better way to teach your children about simple circuits and fuel their imagination and creativity at the same time!
My daughter and I made a video to show you one of the projects she recently completed - to demonstrate Reverse Polarity:
4. My Printer
We own the Canon Pixma MX922. I LOVE this printer. We've had it for a few months now and it's easy to use (the wireless setup was a SNAP) and I think it's pretty good on the ink usage.
Best news - it frequently goes on sale on Amazon (for much less than we paid for it at a local office supply store).
Talking about my printer naturally leads to the next item on my list...
5. Notebooking Pages
We use Notebooking Pages in every area of our homeschool.
This membership site is my go to resource when I need any type of notebooking page. You can even create your own pages with the Notebooking Publisher App.
6. LEGO, LEGO, LEGO
Need I say more?
LEGO bricks bring endless hours of learning and enjoyment for my son. From general LEGO sets to the wonderful homeschool sets from LEGO Education®, we love them all!
There are so many ways to make learning fun with LEGOS!
{It might be safe to say I'm a sucker for LEGOS}
Here's a video my son and I made demonstrating a Balloon Car and a set from LEGO Education®:
7. Water Bottles
You might think this is a strange investment, but I found that purchasing NICE water bottles and always keeping them available encouraged all of us to drink more water, and we feel better!
Our Classical Conversations community is also a water ony community, so we take our bottles to CC each Tuesday.
8. Classical Conversations
I recently blogged about why we love Classical Conversations so much.
My husband and I see this as an investment in our children's education, well worth any sacrifices we make to pay the tuition.
One commenter wanted to know the exact pricing of CC. I directed her to this link, which gives you all of the specifics. For what you get I consider this a BARGAIN!
9. Piano Lessons
Yes, piano lessons.
So many people wonder why I (a former music educator and piano teacher) send my children to take piano lessons from someone else.
The answer is simple. My children's teacher has a large studio of students. She holds multiple recitals each year and has her students participate in competitions and festivals. This is just something I could not give my children. It is important that my children know how to read music and play an instrument, and I believe piano is a wonderful foundation for wherever they want to go in the world of music.
When I sit back and listen to my daughter play (she's been taking lessons for almost 5 years now), I'm so proud of her and can see the LOVE she has for playing piano.
This is one investment I am HAPPY to make.
{You might want to read "What About Piano Lessons", which details my philosophy on piano lessons!}
10. Technology
I'm married to an IT professional. We have a lot of technology in our home.
We have strict limits on the technology, but we also believe in having the most current technology available so our children can keep up with the world around them.
In addition to our computers, we love our iPad.
We also use our ROKU and Apple TV on a daily basis. These make internet streaming on our television so easy. We can also air play anything from our computers to the television. Nice.
Is there a specific something you MUST HAVE in your homeschool? What is it?
This post is a part of the iHomeschool Network's link up: Our Must Haves for Homeschool. Visit other bloggers to see other "must haves" for homeschool!
