Weekend Links ll August 21, 2026

 

Back to School Word Search Printable

How to Cultivate Wonder In Your Homeschool

Pirates Lap book

Essential Life Skills for Teens

Free State Flower Posters

Building 903 {Review}

 

Fourteen year old twins Tessa and Theo have lived their whole lives in a utopian society.  Individuals enjoy long lives of comfort, and dissenters are promptly punished.  Their tyrannical leader has garnered dislike from most of the population, but in a life of relative ease, he's tolerated.  Until one day when Theo goes missing, and the family's peace is shattered.  Vanished... he simply vanished.  Could their 135 year old neighbor Mariam hold the key to his disappearance?  

Written in true dystopian style, Lois Lowry takes her readers on a journey... what would life be like in a world without books... without imagination... without storytelling?  A world where only "facts" reign and story is another word for "lies?"  It's a timely book, reminding us that stories reveal the innermost parts of humanity.... what motivates us and makes us truly human.  Following along the same lines as Lowry's The Giver, Building 903 touches on many of the same themes of censorship, overreaching government, collectivism vs identity, and dictatorship, only in gentler tones.  This book also reminded me a lot of Orwell's 1984.  

Building 903 is labeled for middle grades, ages 8-12 years.  In my mind, it would take a very mature 8 -10 year to handle this material.  However, for an early teen, there's a lot to be discussed here.  When does "safety" trump individual freedoms?  How does individual responsibility factor in creating a healthy society? What's the line between political disagreement and government overreach?  Lowry provides a lot of themes to be wrestled with, and this would make an interesting read for a history or government class as well.

We read this book in our homeschool with my high school sophomore and we were both hooked from the beginning.  The story is well written, easy to follow, and kept us interested from cover to cover.  We both give it a resounding recommendation.

*Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this title from the publisher.  All opinions are my own.

Ultimate Back to School Shopping List for Homeschoolers

 

Getting started in homeschool can very overwhelming.

Finding the perfect curriculum is only the beginning.  

Then the Back to Schools sales start and you begin to wonder,

"What do I really need?"

Since you've already got decision fatigue from flipping through curriculum catalogues,

I'm sharing with you my Ultimate Back to School Shopping List.

This is the "everything you need that you didn't know you needed" list.

Think of it as your place to start.

Can't purchase it all at once?

No problem!

Take a look at this list and find what suits your style.

Then as your homeschool budget allows,

add in some of the books, globes, and larger items.

I've denoted the very beginning items with an asterisks (*) to get you started.

Please note: I'm pretty frugal in my homeschool and

only denote name brand when absolutely necessary.

Let's take a look at the list!

*Art Supplies-- We love chalk pastels.  I never knew how much we would enjoy them till we gave them a try.  Our favorite lessons come from Chalkpastel.com  But maybe you want to try water colors... or maybe your kids go through crayons by the box.  Find a medium you're excited about. 

Atlas--great for geography study.  We started using one more in middle school for our history studies.  You can hold off on an atlas, but in time, you will want to have one.

Backpacks/ Book bags-- perfect for field trips or co-op.  Ours also get used for travel schooling, hikes, visiting family in the hospital, camping, and more.

*Beads, erasers, math manipulatives--Dollar spot erasers at Target can mix up the seasons.  I especially use these if I have kiddos from K-4th grades.

*Bible, concordance, Bible atlas-- all three are excellent for Bible study.  It's nice for everyone to have their own Bible.  But in the younger years, the concordance and atlas are mostly for my own preparation.  But around the middle school years, it's nice for your students to have access to these as well.

Binders-- We use ours for keeping loose worksheets and math pages together.  They're also great for creating art collections or morning binders.  But if you don't do a lot of paperwork, these may not be necessary.

*Bookshelves-- we never have enough.  Yeah, these are definitely a necessity.

Calculator-- I allow my kids to use them around 5th grade, but my younger kids love just playing with numbers.

*Clipboards-- great for travel, parks, or homeschooling around the house.  Clipboards are a nice surface for getting outdoors, or taking notes on the run.  I pick up several at the Dollar Tree.

Construction paper-- great for pockets, art, etc.  We use it for history and literature books, and creating our own books.  It's also great for our chalk pastel paintings.

Crafting supplies-- beads, poster paint, etc.  There's really never enough crafting supplies.  Incorporating art in to book projects, history projects, and science experiments is a great way to break up the day and show learning in a new way.

*Crayons/ Colored Pencils-- My kids have grown past the crayon stage, but they love colored pencils.  But having some sort of coloring instrument is great for posters, reports, or comic books.

*Dictionary-- my kids use them all the time.  We've invested in several over the years including Children's Dictionaries and a couple of really heavy duty extensive dictionaries.

Drawing paper-- great for sketching.  My youngest processes through drawing and I find pages of science notes, comic books about stories he's read, and silly stories about historical figures.  Having free drawing paper is a huge asset.

Dry-erase board and markers-- Dollar tree has personal size boards for spelling, math practice, and more!  Writing with a marker is a nice break from always working out math problems on scratch paper.

Flash cards-- sight words, trivia cards, math functions, etc.  I find a lot of our flash cards at Dollar Tree, but you can make your own as well.  They have some great trivia cards in the style of Professor Noggins in all types of subjects.

Games-- we have an extensive game collection and love it!  Besides books, this is where I blow my budget.  Gift educational games for birthdays, holidays, and Back to School.  Also be on the lookout of those trivia cards or make your own.

Globes and maps--great for literature and geography.  I think having a firm grasp on geography is great for placing events in history and literature.  

*Glue sticks--needed for projects, reports, etc.  Trust me, your kids will use them a lot, especially in the younger years.

Graph paper-- very needed in middle school, but also good for handwriting, and aligning math practice.  Graphing equations will become necessary in those upper elementary/ middle school years.  But graph paper is great for putting numbers in columns for all types of mathematical operations.

*Handwriting charts-- Handwriting books are great, but if you can't get one, look for a handwriting border (again, find them at the Dollar Tree).  Having that handwriting example is a great visual for learning to form letters.  We still keep our cursive chart in our learning space.

Highlighters-- Even if you chose not to highlight in your books (we don't), highlighters are great for notes and studying... especially in the later years.

Index cards-- We keep index cards in the house for studying and Scripture memory.  As my kids have grown into the middle school and high school years, I've learned how invaluable index cards really are.  

Journal or composition notebook-- This is another supply that we've started using more recently.  Some homeschoolers will start journaling at a young age and we did like the primary composition notebooks for Pre-K and Kindergarten.  Somehow we got away from them until recently.  Now we love making our own common place books and including passages that speak to us.

Lesson planner-- My lesson planner really is my brain.  I use it to not only keep up on track in our core subjects, but also to schedule some of those small subjects like geography and daily reading.  Using a lesson plan gives me a space to organize around appointments and plan special events like teatime or holiday parties.

Markers-- Markers are so much fun for drawing book or movie posters, creating brochures, coloring Story of the World pages, or just enjoying during free time.  My kids typically go through a marker phase between grades 2-5 and we just can't get enough of them.

Notebook paper-- Some people like notebooks.  I like having loose leaf notebook paper for filling binders.  Then we can add, subtract, or arrange pages and assignments as needed.  I especially stock up on notebook paper for our math curriculum.  Starting in third grade, my kiddos transfer their math problems to lined paper and we have a specific binder just for math.  

Outdoor sports equipment-- This one is probably something you already have around the house... jump ropes, kickballs, hula hoops... any kind of outdoor sports equipment to help your kids get their wiggles out and develop their gross motor skills.

Paints/ brushes-- Again, we try to incorporate art across subjects so the kids will often create posters for books, historical events, lab reports, etc.  They also like making menus and advertisements for playing restaurant, dr's office, theater, etc which is all learning.

*Pencil boxes-- Pencil boxes are great for keeping track of everyone's pencils and erasers, as well as more specialty type items like compasses, protractors, and scientific calculators.  My kids also keep timers in there for keeping track of online learning and reading.  Plus, they're easy to grab off the shelf and toss in a backpack for nature hikes, the park, the library, etc.

*Pencils & Pencil Sharpener-- Yep, we need pencils, but make sure you splurge on the Ticonderoga ones. In this case, name brand does make a HUGE difference.  And invest in an electric pencil sharpener as soon as possible.  It will save you from all the little pencil shaving mess.

Post-its-- This one might be more for me than the kids.  I keep notes everywhere: in my planner, in books I'm reading with the kids, in their school books.  This helps me keep track of my thoughts when I need to purchase items for our homeschool, or have a special discussion question I want to remember.

*Scissors-- A small pair of scissors is great for school projects and can easily be tucked into each child's pencil box.  Then we're not all fighting to use the same pair of family scissors at  once.

Stapler & staples-- I used to try to get by on the dollar store stapler, but found after awhile it just wasn't worth it.  A nice desk stapler is great for keeping sample paper work together, keeping reports together with projects, and returning items for all the kids' activities.  It's saved me a ton of time looking for things.

Thesaurus-- A thesaurus is especially useful from the middle school years on.  When my kids get tired of using the same word over and over, and are developing their writing, it's nice to have a thesaurus handy to expand their vocabulary.

Three hole punch-- This one is great for keeping any handouts, workbook pages, or pictures organized in the kid's binders.

Timeline charts/books-- This year, we're each keeping our own Book of Centuries which is like a timeline notebook.  I've been wanting to try these for a few years and this fall we made a basic notebook version to help us organize our thoughts.  I definitely wish I'd tried them sooner.

Wrap-ups-- These are a great hands-on way to practice basic math facts from addition to division.  They even have a states and capitals version.  Bonus: they don't require mom to be available for practice and they're self-correcting.

And if all else fails, stock up on pencils, paper, and a library card.  It's amazing what you and your kiddos can learn just by taking a weekly library trip.  I firmly believe so much can be learned with just a few simple tools and a thirsty mind.

Whether you're a new homeschooler this year or a veteran of 20 years, what homeschool supply can you absolutely not live without?  Leave us a comment below and let's share together.

Weekend Links ll August 14, 2026

 

Wild Weather Notebook Printable

Back to School Homeschool Interviews

Top 5 Christian Elementary Math

Life Skills through Volunteering

7 Favorite Caldecott Books Your Children Will Love

Embracing Free Time In Your Homeschool

 Remember the days when we were growing up where free afternoons were a given?  School would let out and we'd rush home for a snack, only to be shooed outside to play.  Some how free times seems to have been swallowed up the rush to a sports practice or the hum of a gaming system.  And if we're not carefully, the same can happen even for those of us that homeschool.  In our race to raise well-rounded children, we can easily find ourselves caught up in an over scheduled life.

But what if we took a minute to just breathe?

What if we took a minute for our brains to truly hit the point of boredom?

Real boredom?

This is the sweet spot where creativity and imagination can blossom.  Where problems become possibilities and children can wonder.  Where life is puzzled out and genius can emerge.

How many high school graduates reach the finish line only to wonder, "Now what?"  So they jump into a degree program that fulfills the need for purpose in the moment, but find themselves asking the same question in midlife.  

What if we embraced free time NOW... while minds are still full of possibility and life is young.  What if we left our kids to wrestle with boredom and discover that there's so much potential ... potential that can only be noticed in the stillness?

What if we stepped away from an over full life and gave ourselves the same gift... time to play, time to experiment, time to wonder, time to build relationships.... TIME!

Just some thoughts from an overly busy mom trying to recapture free time in her homeschool.