Baskets, Book Shelves, and School Supplies…Oh My!

Written By Ashlee Williams

When I began homeschooling back in 2015, I didn’t have a homeschool room and I, like many of you when you first began homeschooling, was more focused on wrapping my head around the idea of how to homeschool rather than what I might want to purchase for my homeschool space. I, of course, had chosen out curriculum I planned to use for each of my kiddos, but I’m not talking about the content I was going to teach. 

No, what I am talking about are the things I learned I needed to have to help my homeschool day run smoothly. Many of these items fall into the categories of organization and school supplies.

However, I have sprinkled in a few décor items as well. I wouldn’t consider them “needs”, but rather “wants” to help freshen up our space. I’ve shared these items below along with some of my YouTube videos highlighting tours of my homeschool rooms over the years. I also included links to some homeschool supply hauls videos so you can see how I have used these items in my homeschool space in years past as well as how I use them today. 

So let’s dive in!

As a disclaimer, these links are affiliate links, so if you use them, you are supporting my YouTube channel and my blog.

Organization

I love organization! It helps me in a lot of ways throughout my day to day life. In my homeschool, organization helps me keep on task during the homeschool day without having to search for the items I or my children need to complete our daily lessons. Over the years, I have homeschooled in many different types of spaces. In my early years, we did our school work around the dining room table. As I journeyed further into my homeschool years, we utilized space in our main living area by setting up desks and using a bookshelf…and a large one at that…to store our homeschool materials. Now, as a veteran homeschool mama and in a home we had built for our family, I have a loft area that serves as our homeschool room. It is here where the majority of our homeschool items are stored and completed, with the exception of our morning basket (or should I say cart) items which are housed on the main level. 

There are so many ways you can store your homeschool items, but for me, these are some of my favorite ways. All I can say is I love baskets!

Organizing our School Supplies

Organizing our Curriculum

Organizing our Morning Basket and Art Supplies

School & Art Supplies

Just because we homeschool doesn’t mean a homeschool mom can’t get excited about school supplies! My children and I have so much fun school supply shopping in stores, but occasionally it’s nice to be able to get something shipped to the house. In regards to art supplies, Arteza is our go to company and I typically purchase items from their website. However, they do have an Amazon storefront so if you have Prime shipping, that may be the way to go. Check out some of my favorite supplies down below.

Art Supplies

School Supplies

Homeschool Décor

These are probably not what you’d consider a must have, but they sure do look nice in our homeschool room. Some of these décor items I use to showcase my kid’s artwork, other times they are used to display things from different school subjects like science. These are only the décor items I’ve purchased on Amazon, however, there are more shown in the homeschool room tour videos down below. I typically purchase items from Target, Walmart, or Hobby Lobby.

Electronic Items or Accessories

If you homeschool…you NEED these items! This printer has seriously been one of my best purchases. It is so efficient and the ink lasts you FOREVER! I could sing the same high praises for the pencil sharpener. This is one heavy duty sharpener that has lasted in our family several years. Finally, headphones are a must. When you are teaching four kiddos, some of whom complete assignments online, you need to prevent distractions for everyone. We use these headphones in our homeschool to help everyone stay focused.

Homeschool Room Tours

As I shared earlier, we have had some different types of homeschool rooms over the years. We’ve homeschooled in dining rooms. We’ve homeschooled in small spaces. And now we get to enjoy our homeschool in a designated space. In all these spaces I had different solutions for organization and decorated using different homeschool décor.

Homeschool Organization

Sometimes I have special ways I organize curriculum, art and school supplies, or my students' independent subjects work. These videos showcase different ways I organized items in my homeschool.

Homeschool Supply Hauls

I get so excited shopping for homeschool supplies and as I mentioned earlier, my kids and I really like going and shopping for them in person when we can. Here are some videos showcasing some supply hauls over the years. Enjoy!

DITL|HOMESCHOOL SUPPLY HAUL+SHOP WITH ME|TGATB

SHOP WITH ME + BACK TO HOMESCHOOL SUPPLY HAUL||TARGET & HOBBY LOBBY

BACK TO SCHOOL SUPPLY HAUL||HOMESCHOOL MOM X4

HUGE* HOMESCHOOL SUPPLY HAUL||NEW SCHOOL YEAR PREP

HUGE HOMESCHOOL SUPPLY HAUL||PREP FOR THE NEW SCHOOL YEAR

No matter the space you have as a homeschooler, what makes it special is the teaching and learning that takes place. The hope and joy of homeschooling is learning with your kiddos and sharing in each of those precious moments as they grow. All the items I’ve shown are not needed to make your homeschool thrive, but they are nice to have. Ultimately, YOU are what is MOST important in your homeschool. Because if it wasn’t for you, there wouldn’t be a homeschool. So keep on going mom! You’ve got this!

Love,

Ashlee

Ashlee Williams
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