Homeschooling Materials...a few of our favorite things

I often get asked by mommas that are considering homeschooling about our curriculum. Where to buy, how to use, how to choose! Of course, I'm not an expert. We're not at any particular grade level yet, and my "curriculum" is cobbled together from Pinterest, random ideas I get, and favorite educational toys. So I thought, for this post, I would share some of our favorite learning materials. Our MVPs, if you will, that get the most use.

Bu loves anything alphabet related, so this matching game has gotten some love lately. I like a lot of the Match-It brand games for educational activities that don't feel like "work". We have the ENTIRE series of Preschool Prep DVDs (Bu's favorite) and we recently added the entire series of Signing Time DVDs and the entire series of Magic School Bus. Bu is a very visual kid and he loves music, so Preschool Prep and (most) Signing Time DVDs are right up his alley. MSB is still a bit over his head, but I love them and I like to incorporate the show into our themed lessons wherever appropriate. And of course, we have LOADS of puzzles and books. Bu doesn't particularly care for sitting still and being read to, but he loves "reading" on his own, which is a great foundation to build on as he gets older. Puzzles are his absolute favorite thing, so we play with them ALL THE TIME and always have a bunch scattered throughout the house. We like to use them not just for matching and coordination, but also for describing attributes and labeling to help with speech and vocabulary.

We also have a LOT of workbooks for a family that doesn't do much paper "work". I am notorious for picking up any workbook I find at the Dollar Tree or Target and trying to figure how I might use it "one day"...As a result, I have a bunch of preschool curriculum ready to go for when we decide to focus more on worksheets, and I also have some stuff ranging to third grade level just because I wanted a complete set and didn't want to risk not finding the books later when I'd need them. I probably need an intervention. In any case, you can see our collection of workbooks above. 

As I just mentioned, one of my favorite places to buy teaching materials is at Target. These items were available at the dollar section last week. I love going at least once a week to Target and checking out what's new, as their stock is constantly changing. Many of the activities I come up with are inspired by something I'll pick up here that I otherwise would never have thought of doing! Part of homeschooling is finding learning opportunities anywhere, sometimes without even trying ;)

I hope that was helpful to anyone starting out! Please let me know if you have specific questions, and I'll do my best to answer or direct you to the appropriate resource! :)