Our Favorite Homeschool Finds for a Joyful School Year

Simple planning tips, hands-on learning, and a few homeschool treasures we're excited to use this year.

There's something about late summer that always gets me excited. Maybe it's the smell of fresh pencils. Maybe it's the stack of new books waiting to be cracked open. Maybe it's the promise of another year filled with rabbit trails, "Mom, did you know...?" moments, and watching a little mind discover that learning is actually fun. Or maybe it's just that I really enjoy buying school supplies. 🤭

Either way, a new homeschool year always feels like a fresh start.

If you're anything like me, you've probably spent at least a little time scrolling Amazon, saving ideas to Pinterest, and wondering if this is finally the year you'll have the perfectly organized homeschool room. (Spoiler alert: Mine still isn't.) And that's okay.

One of the biggest lessons homeschooling has taught me is that children don't need perfect classrooms. They need engaged parents. Everything else is just a tool.

So before we dive into some of our favorite homeschool finds this year, let's talk about something that often overwhelms new homeschool families.

"How Do I Even Plan a Homeschool Year?"

When you're first starting out, it's easy to think you need to have every lesson, field trip, craft, and science experiment mapped out before the first day of school. You don't.

In fact, I'd encourage you not to. Children aren't robots. Life happens. Grandma comes to visit. Someone gets sick. The weather is too beautiful not to spend the afternoon catching grasshoppers.

One of the greatest gifts homeschooling gives us is flexibility. Don't lose that by trying to recreate public school at your kitchen table.

Instead, I like to begin with three simple questions.

1. What are we learning?

Start with your big-picture subjects:

• Reading.

• Writing.

• Math.

• Bible.

• History.

• Science.

• Geography.

• Art.

• Music.

That's it. Unless your kids are in Highschool, you don't need to worry about more than what your basic state requirements are. Simply decide what broad areas you'll be exploring together this year. Decide one thing you want your children to learn in each subject, and then whatever they learn outside of that is bonus!

2. What experiences do I want my child to remember?

This is the fun question. Years from now, your child probably won't remember page 47 of their math workbook. But they'll remember baking colonial cornbread during American history. They'll remember finding constellations in the backyard. They'll remember tea parties with poetry, building a model heart out of play dough, learning their first song on the tin whistle, visiting a state park, reading The Hobbit together on the couch.

Those are the memories that stick.

3. What rhythms will help us stay consistent?

Homeschooling doesn't have to look the same every day. Maybe Mondays are library days, and Fridays are nature walks. Maybe every morning begins with Bible, read-aloud time, and memory work gathered around a "morning basket." Maybe your best lessons happen outside under a tree.

The goal isn't perfection. It's building simple rhythms that your family can actually enjoy and sustain.

Our Focus This Year

This year Whitney and I are diving into Cycle 3 with Classical Conversations, and I have to admit that I think this might be one of my favorite cycles yet.

We'll be exploring American history from the colonial period through modern times, studying the geography of the United States, and learning all fifty states along the way.

We're also excited to spend time exploring the human body—one of those subjects that naturally leads to dozens of wonderful rabbit trails: How does your heart actually work? Why do your lungs look like upside-down trees? What happens when you get a cut?

The more we learn about the incredible design of the human body, the more it reminds me of the creativity and wisdom of our Creator.

We'll also be learning the tin whistle this year, which is kinda new for us. I'm fully expecting a few squeaks, a few giggles, and eventually—hopefully—a recognizable melody.

One of my goals this year is to make learning feel less like checking boxes and more like exploring together. That means maps hanging on the wall. Games instead of worksheets. Hands-on activities whenever possible. Books that spark curiosity. And yes, probably a few Amazon packages arriving on the porch.

With that in mind, I thought I'd share a few of the resources that have caught my eye this year. Some we've already used and loved. Others are new discoveries I'm excited to try alongside Whitney.

Maybe you'll find a few new favorites for your own homeschool, too.

A Quick Note Before We Go Shopping

Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you purchase through them, at no additional cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. I only share things I genuinely like, use, or think would be a fun and helpful addition to your homeschool.

American History & Geography: Let's Explore!

Since we're working through Classical Conversations Cycle 3 this year, the United States is going to be showing up everywhere around our house.

I'm a big believer in giving children something they can touch while they're learning, so I'd start with a USA map puzzle. Instead of simply memorizing that Colorado exists, kids physically handle Colorado, figure out what states surround it, and slowly develop a mental picture of the country. A magnetic version is especially handy because it can live on the refrigerator and become something they fiddle with throughout the day.

I'd also grab a 50 States trivia or memory game. We already have a couple of fun options on my Amazon list, and these are exactly the kinds of things I love because they sneak learning into family game time. Capitals, state nicknames, landmarks, geography—suddenly we're reviewing school without anybody being handed a worksheet.

Make it more fun:

Pick a state every week and "visit" it. Find it on the map, learn something unusual about it, listen to music from the area, look up its state bird and flower, or make a food the region is known for.

Human Anatomy: What's Inside This Thing?!

Human anatomy is practically begging for hands-on learning.

One of the items already on my list is the Human Anatomy Squishy Body Model. Kids can actually remove the organs and put them back where they belong, which is much more memorable than simply pointing at a diagram and saying, "There's your liver."

Another option I'd look for is a large magnetic human body or anatomy puzzle. Some sets let children layer the skeleton, organs, muscles, and other body systems. There are also life-size or three-foot magnetic sets available, which could turn a wall or magnetic board into an ongoing anatomy lesson.

Math: Please Don't Make Me Do Another Worksheet

Math is one of my favorite subjects to turn into play because I personally stink at math, and children need to see numbers working.

For younger kids, magnetic fraction tiles and circles are fantastic. Fractions make considerably more sense when a child can physically see that two halves cover the same space as one whole.

I'd also use play money and a money game. Learning to count coins is useful. Running a pretend store, making change, staying under a budget, and discovering that Mom will absolutely charge you sales tax at her imaginary grocery store is even better.

For multiplication, the wooden multiplication board already on my list would also make a great hands-on alternative to endless flashcards.

Reading & Language Arts: Make the Words Interesting

For early reading, Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons is one of those long-standing homeschool resources worth looking into, especially for a parent who feels completely lost about how to teach a child to read.

For something more playful, I love the idea of wooden CVC word-building games where children physically manipulate letters to make words.

And then there's my favorite... Cursive Handwriting Practice for Hobbits by Robyn Joyner.

Because if your child has to practice handwriting anyway, why shouldn't hobbits be involved?

This is exactly the kind of slightly geeky homeschool resource I adore. Literature doesn't have to stay confined to "reading class." Let it wander into handwriting, art, history, geography, and wherever else it wants to go.

Music: Everybody Grab a Tin Whistle

This year we're learning the tin whistle. Pray for us.

Actually, I'm really excited about this one because musical instruments give children such an immediate connection between practice and improvement. You make terrible squeaky noises. You practice. You make slightly less terrible squeaky noises. Eventually, music happens!

I've added the Feadóg Irish Tin Whistle in D beginner set to my list because it comes with beginner instruction and a fingering chart.

I'd also recommend a folding music stand. They're inexpensive, don't take up much space when folded, and save everyone from trying to prop sheet music against a stack of books while playing.

Bible & Character: Wisdom Counts as School

Faith isn't another subject we check off and put away. It's woven through everything else we're learning.

One inexpensive resource that caught my eye is 77 Wise Words From Proverbs Every Kid Should Know. I love the idea of taking one word or concept at a time and talking about what biblical wisdom actually looks like in everyday life.

I also added The Bible Made Easy—for Kids, which can help children begin understanding how all those individual Bible stories fit into the larger story of Scripture.

Life Skills: Because Eventually They Have to Buy Their Own Groceries

Please teach life skills. Seriously. We can teach our children the capitals of all fifty states and the parts of a cell, but eventually these little people are going to become adults who need to know how much money is in their bank account.

That's why I love educational toys and games involving money and telling time for younger children.

As they get older, let them help plan meals, compare grocery prices, calculate tips, make purchases, follow recipes, budget their spending money, and figure out how long they need to leave themselves to get somewhere on time. Real life is one gigantic interdisciplinary curriculum. Use it.

Art & Creativity: Give Them Somewhere to Make a Mess

I would absolutely include a portable art-supply organizer here. The clear Citylife craft organizer already on my list would work beautifully because markers, crayons, scissors, glue sticks, stickers, watercolor supplies, and all those mysterious tiny homeschool objects can have somewhere to live.

I'd pair it with a simple mixed-media sketchbook or nature journal. Then don't tell them exactly what to make all the time. Give them good supplies. Give them ideas. And let them create.

One of Our FAVORITE Homeschool Tools: Yoto

Okay, this one deserves its own section because our whole family LOVES my daughter's Yoto Mini.

If you haven't seen one before, Yoto is a little screen-free audio player that uses physical cards. Kids pop in a card and can listen to audiobooks, music, educational content, stories, and more without needing to stare at another screen.

And I have found SO many ways to work ours into homeschooling. We use math songs to help facts stick. We listen to audiobooks that go along with what we're learning—or sometimes just because they're wonderful stories.

It can be playing while we're coloring, building something, eating lunch, riding in the car, or doing another hands-on activity.

And one of my favorite features is the ability to create Make Your Own cards. You can record your own audio and use them for things like memory work, Scripture, spelling words, stories from grandparents, or whatever else your homeschool brain dreams up.

That's the kind of technology I like: something that gives us another way to learn without demanding that my child sit in front of a screen.

👉 Check out Yoto here: https://refer.yotoplay.com/brukiblue3!8fa92e58bc!a?locale=en

If your child loves stories and music—or you're looking for ways to sneak a little more learning into car rides, quiet time, and everyday life—this is one homeschool splurge I'd absolutely put on the wish list.