thinking of home edding what do i need?

[knat]

Just wondered what resources i needed ie lots of art/craft stuff etc and also how to store everything. My dd is 5 and is asd. I'm just trying to get my head round things at the moment.Any help?

[AMumInScotland]

Hi, if you're planning to HE autonomously, then there really isn't anything you particularly need to get, beyond what you've already got in the house with a preschooler - you've probably already got a mix of story books and books about things (animals, diggers, etc), objects you can sort and count, paints and crayons and paper. You've also got a kitchen which probably has scales and a measuring jug, and whole cupboards full of things to weigh and measure. You also have facilities for looking at the effect of heat and cold on things (commonly called a cooker and a fridge). If you've got a garden or a park nearby then you have lots of scope for botany and zoology.

I think the things I've most often seen listed are things like a child's dictionary and an atlas or globe, plus a library card!

[musicposy]

I would see what you need as you go along. I think lots of home edders have stories of buying masses of stuff at the beginning which sits in cupboards - we definitely went a bit overboard! Certainly if you have good supplies of pencils, paper, and good quality art materials, you have a good start. For most other things you probably have most of what you need around the house.

A 5 year old will get a brilliant education doing all the things they are interested in,. Especially if your dd has asd, I would let her follow her interests and buy what you need (if anything) for that as you go along.
We store work in box files under subject, but my girls are much older (13 and 9). I probably wouldn't be so formal with a 5 year old.

[ommmwardandupward]

agree with the other posters. Just the house full of junk that most of us have anyway, and then let your dd have at it however she wishes

we do online grocery shopping, and the man is usually in such a hurry to get away that we tend to have alittle heap of their delivery crates in the house at any one time. We haven't nicked them, you understand, we are just temporarily storing them they are good for storage. Also for use as climbing steps, the ends of bridges (with a plank of wood across them), beds for soft toys, footstools, very leaky boats... you get the picture.

More ethically, the organic veg delivery comes in strong stackable cardboard boxes and they are good for storage too. But less durable for some of those other uses.

As for craft materials, all of us know someone who works in an office, and people who work in offices almost always have piles of scrap paper around, with printing on just one side or whatever. Offer to assist with taking a heap off their hands every so often. We like the way the paper comes in all shapes and sizes, and sometimes there are already interesting things on one side to colour in or copy or trace over or whatever.

Worth thinking of HE life as normal life with knobs on. If you aren't already craft queen with junk modelling equipment stored away ready to make amazing blue peter items at the drop of a hat, don't beat yourself up about not turning into such a craft queen - no need to get all sorts of extra kit

[musicposy]

We do the scrap paper thing too. A friend of mine works in the probation office and a while back they changed their heading (firms do this now and then, as did NFU who we know someone from. All that paper would just be thrown away, so it makes good use of it, and, if you have prolific artists, saves a fortune.

It did raise a few eyebrows, though, when every drawing the girls did for anybody had "West Sussex Probation Service" emblazoned on the back

[ommmwardandupward]

oh - always fun to take £5 and spend it in a charity shop Those and car boots and jumble sales are the best sorts of places to get educational stuff because it costs hardly anything so you don't care if it never gets used. We've got quite a lot of very educational looking ELC type stuff in charity shops, some of which gets used. Even workbooks, for when we are going through one of those intense but short child-led workbook phases

[knat]

thanks everyone - i think i just need to stock up on a few crafty bits as she would love doing that sort of thing and we probably need a bit more variety so she can do something when she wants.

where do you store the boxes and stuff you put the stuff in?

she's very into maps etc and am intending to get a bit map to put up on the wall for her and are awaiting a make your own maps book at the momenet from school link which will keep us going.

Just unsure where to put everything! We also have a dog so can't leave too much lying around otherwise she'll chew it.

[julienoshoes]

here do you store the boxes and stuff you put the stuff in?

Anywhere I can cram it in!
By the time I find out where to put it all, I'm sure I'll be a great grandmother and maybe not even then!

Over the years we have added shelves everywhere we can put them.
The area above our heads as we come down the stairs now holds several deep shelves (IYSWIM) and holds now holds lots of stuff. We have shelves in every spare alcove.

Recent acquisition of a piano for dd2 (off Freecycle caused all sorts of reorganisation 'challenges', but was worth it as dd is now using it so much and step granddaughter is joining in.

I keep saying one day all too soon, they will all be gone and we'll have space again...............

[julienoshoes]

forgot to mention, if you like doing junk modelling and crafty stuff, then the local Scrapstore is worth a visit-NOT good if you are already struggling with space, but a place that dd and I find hard to resist!