If you ever wanted to talk, in real life, about homeschool, we could talk for hours. I love all the meaty stuff: every homeschool curricula on the market, the different pedagogical approaches, the challenges and wins, all of it. This is not that. This post is pure icing on the multilayered homemade cake that is homeschool. THIS IS A DECOR POST.

And yes, yes, I know there are many more important dimensions to homeschooling. But as I said, this is just icing. It’s just for fun!

When I realized I was going to have to educate my kids at home for at least another year, I wanted a dedicated space. Until then, we’d been mostly hanging out at the kitchen table. But since I had a room that was barely used, I figured… ehh, why not? I already had the desk and filing cabinet from CB2 and this Herman Miller Setu chair. The girls helped me pick the rug on RugsUSA. We wanted something that felt like a magic carpet because we’d just finished one of the Tales of the Alhambra. I splurged on the Grandin Road chair-and-a-half; we spend a lot of time reading in it.

I shopped at different places in outfitting this school room. However, a favorite place to shop for homeschool stuff is thrift stores. I have found amazing, unique items for great prices.

First: BOOKS. I’ve found children’s classics, even hard-to-find ones, toddler books for my youngest, curricula in new condition, poetry anthologies, picture books. We use the local library a lot but it’s nice to have a home library, especially when you can get books for $.50-$1 or a paper bag’s worth at a library book sale for $5. I really think books are the most important thing to add to your home.

 

You can find lots of wonderful things for your homeschool in thrift shops. Here are some ideas:

• Books (obviously!)
• Baskets of all sizes
• Kid furniture
• Dollhouses
• Games, toys, puzzles
• Seasonal/holiday decor
• Hatboxes and nesting boxes for storage
• Candles
• Office/desk supplies
• School supplies like bags of crayons, pencils, erasers etc.
• Abacus (handy for math and often found in the toy section)
• Globe
• Frames
• Vases, jars, containers
• Corkboards, white boards
• Wall hooks
• Art and handcrafted items
• Toy kitchens and play food
• Crafting items: yarn, stamps, paint sets

My sweet mother in law thrifted this beautiful dollhouse for my girls. I found a wooden dollhouse furniture set for it on Amazon. The 16-inch Replogle globe was a major thrift find. Can you believe I paid $19 for this beauty? It just needed a little tightening at the base. The girls love looking at it. I got four of these art displays and the cursive board from Etsy.

I find a lot of toys and puzzles at thrift stores. Since I’m often reading aloud, it’s important to have activities Sara can enjoy while we’re all together. Check out her production of Princess and the Frog! The frog is a Kiwico dissection toy (lol!) which she loves playing veterinarian with too. It was a Goodwill find. The play silks on the floor were thrifted too.

Isn’t this adorable?? I came across this sturdy, classroom-quality wood table and chairs that seemed perfect for our 4-year-old but I didn’t think I could fit them in my car. Well, the next morning my husband went and surprised me. I was so happy! The set was around $50 which is great considering these usually cost several hundred dollars at school-supply stores. The barn, soft counting book, expanding ball, and pencil holder were all thrifted too. I got the farm animals at the Lakeshore Learning store—highly recommend their toy sets for small hands. The wood pencil cup was just $1 and has an inscription on the bottom from a grandfather to a grandchild. Sometimes you find handmade things that were obviously made with a lot of care and I love the idea of extending their usefulness.

I think it’s fun to treasure hunt so I didn’t mind all the trips to little shops. Most of these items were compiled over the course of the last school year. My style is a mix of splurge and steal but after looking at thrift shops for a year, I’m confident I could find most stuff for a school room at thrift shops. The best advice I can give people new to thrifting: you have to go often and go with no plan. Sometimes I find nothing, sometimes just one thing. At busy thrift shops, you could go once a week and find an entirely new store. Get to know the extra discount days at your local thrift shops, e.g. two I go to regularly have 40%-50% off days. Scoop up any treasures and remember to be choosy. Don’t get anything that is just so-so or not priced well. Trust me: you will find something awesome eventually.