While shopping today, I was amazed at the variety of school supplies that are on sale.
When I was a kid, we only needed pencils, a ruler, some crayons and (once we hit fifth grade) notebook paper. Today, schools issue long lists of supplies that include enough inventory to start your own school.
Those of us who do have our own school, at home, find that there are certain supplies we want our kids to have. For instance, I always made sure to keep a stash of notebook paper, pencils and crayons on hand, plus a wide assortment of art supplies.
We homeschooling parents vary in the supplies we think our kids need to have. But we spend less time, I would guess, thinking about the supplies we need to have in order to homeschool our kids.
If I had to pick five school supplies every homeschooling parent should have, I would start the list by saying that a homeschooling parent has to have a good supply of patience.
It takes patience to wait for children to absorb concepts. It takes patience to answer the same question over and over. It takes patience to wait for signs of readiness before introducing a concept or skill you’re dying to see your child master (a good example of this is reading.)
Of course, you don’t start out homeschooling with all the patience you need. It’s something you develop over the years (although after raising a child from infancy, you’ve probably got a good head start.) But the saying “patience is a virtue” was never truer than in the case of homeschooling.
Barbara,
Not what I was expecting for this post, but eagerly awaiting the rest of the list
So true! I am trying to cultivate more patience; it’s definitely a process. Looking forward to the rest of the posts!
Glad it caught your attention, Carol
Amy, thanks for stopping by. You’ll find more about developing patience here: http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/articles/021009.htm
I love to shop for school supplies. I remember the excitment, still, when I was little and we went school shopping. Picking out the lunch box was a big thrill!!
You caught my attention, too. Thanks for the reminder about patience. I like what you have to say.
Thanks, Jeri
[...] Five Must-Have School Supplies for Homeschooling Parents posted at Barbara Frank Online. [...]
Joy & Fun! Buy things that you will have fun teaching your kids with. We love an array of wipe board markers in all colors. It helps brighten our day whether it’s for assignments or real art work fun!
I wish they sold patience at Wal-mart!
We wish, Alisha
They don’t sell patience, but I certainly develop it while standing in line with 6 kids at Walmart’s Back to School sale with 10 boxes of crayons ($0.25 each), 15 boxes of markers ($1 each), 5 packs of mechanical pencils ($1 each), and 20 single subject notebooks (0.15 each)that are our essential school supplies.
Wow….the reward for your patience was a lot of good deals! Way to go, Kat!