In Homeschooling on the Go: An Overview, one of the things I suggested was that you carry with you—daily—a box containing the materials that you will need every day. Obviously, some days, those materials will be different from others. There are, however, several things that should remain in the box. Resist the urge to take things out of the box when you actually are at home; these materials are things that you will use on a regular basis, and you will regret taking things out of the box when you don’t have them while you’re out.
Pencils and pens. At least two packs of each is highly recommended—and check regularly to see if these need to be replenished. Despite your best efforts, they will tend to go wandering off and fail to return.
Two spiral notebooks and two packs of loose leaf paper. Yes, this will seem excessive at first. Yes, you will go through it faster than you ever thought possible.
Crayons, markers, and colored pencils. One pack of each is probably sufficient unless you have two or more younger children who tend to be working on art at the same time, but it never hurts to be prepared.
Scissors. Workbooks have pages that require cutting. Art projects often require cutting. Sometimes, you just need a pair of scissors to cut a piece of string or a tag off of a new garment.
Construction paper and a sketchbook. Having blank paper for artwork instead of lined notebook paper will mean much prettier drawings—not to mention less hassle for your child.
A basic first aid kid. Depending on where you are, this may or may not be necessary—but you will deeply regret not having band-aids on hand the first time your child gets a paper cut.
Any other supplies that you know your child will be using regularly. This may include a calculator, if your child needs to check their answers in math; a protractor or compass for older math students; or a dictionary and thesaurus. It might mean goggles for science experiments, or a certain reference book that they refer to frequently. Whatever you know your child will need regularly, it makes more sense to have a duplicate in the box than it does to constantly be getting to your new location and hearing, “Mom, I don’t have….”
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