Headmaster's Communiqué

A-Back-to-School Supply List to Get Your Started

Shopping early for back-to-school supplies gives you a chance to look for bargains. Here's a basic list if you don't have one from your child's school yet.

Before you shop for back-to-school supplies, it's best to get a list of what's required from your child's school or new teacher. If the school list isn't available yet, you can still take advantage of back-to-school sales by sticking to the basics that you know your child will need. A number of states have "tax-free" days during back-to-school season, when state sales taxes are lifted. Check our 10 Tips for Smart Shopping for more advice to save your time, money and sanity. This list is meant as a general guide to get you started. Every teacher's list is a little different. Some recommend specific brands, such as Fiskars scissors for example, or sizes. Some recommend buying in larger quantities than we've listed here. Many will give you a shorter list.

 

Children in elementary school often need:

• Glue sticks (at least 3 for the year)
• Scissors (blunt end for younger kids, pointy for older ones)
• Ballpoint pens
• No. 2 pencils (Parents should stick to the basics here, advises Nicola Salvatico, Pennsylvania's 2005 Teacher of the Year. "When they get fancy pencils, it becomes a 'that's mine' event.")
• Colored pencils
• Pencil sharpener (hand held with a top to collect shavings)
• Large pink eraser ("These good old ones do the best erasing," says Salvatico "The fancy ones look good but don't erase well.")
• Box of crayons (16-pack for younger kids, more for older ones, says Salvatico. "Parents need to think how their child can organize and care for their supplies before buying them the mega box of things.")
• Water-based markers
• Water color paints
• 4-oz. bottle of white glue
• Highlighters
• Notebooks
• 3-ring binder
• Loose-leaf notebook paper (Note: Teachers can be picky about paper. Schools usually supply specially ruled handwriting paper to help younger children with letter formation. Older children use wide-ruled paper. High school — and some middle school — students will need the college-ruled variety.)
• Pocket folders
• Computer printer paper (if you have a home computer)
• Printer ink cartridges (if you have a home computer)
• Drawing paper
• Construction paper
• A ruler with English and metric measurements
• School box (for storing supplies)
• Scotch tape
• Stapler
• Kleenex
• Small bottle of hand sanitizer

Additional items middle-school students usually need:

• A calendar for time-management and for scheduling assignments
• 2 combination locks (one for the hall locker and one for the gym locker)
• Binder dividers (the kinds with pockets are good for loose papers)
• Several 3-ring binders (some teachers will require a binder to be used exclusively for their class)
• Folders to fit into binders
• A small notebook to record assignments
• Pencil case to fit into binder
• Pens (get a few red ink ones too, because some teachers have students do peer editing)
• Index cards, ruled and un-ruled
• Calculator (Check with the math teacher first before investing in an expensive calculator. Graphing calculators, for example, are required in some middle school and many high school math classes Math teachers advise parents not to buy a calculator with more functions than your student will use.)

Teachers' Most Wanted List

What's the most important item to buy for back to school? We asked some of the award-winning teachers on the GreatSchools panel of experts. Their response: tools to help kids get — and stay — organized. "If your school does not provide a folder for keeping organized, do it yourself," said Jane Ann Robertson, Arizona's 2004 Teacher of the Year. More ideas:

• A school box. Nicola Salvatico, a first-grade teacher who was Pennsylvania's 2005 Teacher of the Year, recommends a box that's 8 inches long by 5 inches wide by 2 inches deep to hold pencils, crayons, erasers and scissors.
• A folder. Robertson recommends a folder with two pockets, one marked "Keep at Home" and another marked "Bring Back to School" to help keep your child organized.

Other suggestions from Robertson:

• Primary grades: "In the lower primary grades, gluesticks go fast and furiously!"
• Upper grades: "Students often like to use mechanical pencils, which run out of lead constantly."

Don't Waste Your Money on These

• "Feather pencils, light-up pencil sharpeners, pretty erasers that don't work," says Salvatico.

Expensive folders "with many pockets and zippers are basically useless — especially in K-3 — and are often times too big to fit in desks," says Robertson.

By GreatSchools.net Staff
Updated June 2007

St. Margaret's Episcopal School consistently exceeds the expectations of parents and students. We invite you to visit our campus to discuss your child's education future or email us at school@stmargarets.org.