As the uncertainty of the imminent school year looms, some
you have decided to homeschool in order to protect your kids from possible
exposure to COVID-19. Others want to pre-empt the changeable plans by having a
solid homeschooling program in place. In either case, the launch into
homeschooling might appear daunting, but having a few useful gadgets on hand
will help smooth the transition.
On the blog CoolMomTech, Kate Etue describes devices she has found essential in
her family's first two years of homeschooling. She has used her $25 laminator
for preserving such reusable items as flash cards, chore charts, and handwriting
pages, which offer the versatility of re-use with dry erase markers. For her
preschooler, Etue has laminated activity cards, and for the older kids,
laminated recipes are ideal for learning to cook.
READ MORE: Five homeschooling do's and don'ts
You probably have a printer already, but when your kids are
printing out tests and reports, the paper and ink will run out far faster than
you expect. Etue says investing in a high-capacity printer is worthwhile,
especially one that photocopies and sends faxes, for submitting documentation
required by the school district. The printer is also great for printing out the
PDF curricula she buys and reuses for each of her kids, much cheaper to print
at home than at the local print shop.
A label printer has helped with organization, from
identifying computer cables to labeling shelves of supplies, so the kids can
find what they're looking for without asking. Then there's a heavy-duty
electric pencil sharpener. And a paper cutter, for those flashcards and other
materials that you've printed out.
If you live in a small house or an apartment and don't have
room for lots of textbooks, consider buying a Kindle. Your kids can access
library books, listen to audiobooks, and order ebooks online (no waiting for
delivery), all without the potential distraction of other programs resident on
an iPad or laptop.