Back to School Essentials : Supplies

There’s less than a month left till school and I keep seeing all these supplies in flyers which makes me cringe. When you’re going back to school shopping for supplies, if you’re in high school you don’t really need as many things that you would need in middle school. I didn’t add kindergarten to grade 3  because usually my teachers would give me the folders and pencils I needed till about grade 4. There are 3 different categories so, beside each essential I’ll place the grade range so you’ll know if you need it or not. The grades follow what you were expected to have at a certain grades , but a few items follow the Canadian circulum so, it might be a little different for you depending on where you live in the world.

Grades:

• Elementary/Middle School : Grades 4-6
• Middle School Grade 7,8
• High School (9-12)

20 Pencils : (All Grades)

Regardless of your grade you’re going to need pencils. If you want you can buy mechanical ones , I personally don’t use them because I write the led breaks off easily, so I just prefer regular pencils.

20 Pens : Grades(7-12)

In grade 7 you should start writing in pen because it’s going to be expected that by high school you write in pen since most teachers only accept work written in pen opposed to pencil. The only class you should never use a pen is math. For the most part it’s easier to read compared to writing in pencil.
4 Erasers : All Grades

Obviously you’re going to need an eraser for your pencil since the ones on the backs of pencils use ply run out very quickly. Try to get 4 because I don’t know how many times I’ve lost an eraser. It’s probably like one of the easiest things to lose.

Rulers : All Grades

Rulers are needed for underlining titles and for drawing graphs in math or making title pages. (also good sword fightingagainst your siblings)

1-2 Whiteout : Grade 7-12

For things that need you need to hand in written in pen whiteout is the best tool to use because you’re probably going to make a writing error and it would be a pin to start over every time you made an error. For one of my schools we weren’t allowed to use whiteout for some reason I think it was because of vandalism or something.
1 Pencil Case : All Grades

The image above is an example of a pencil case you shouldn’t get. I had one once and it crack and I’m like super clumsy so I would drop it in class by accident then have to pick up everything over and over again. I would recommend just getting on that zips up. If you know
1 Calculator : Grade 6-12

For me it wasn’t until grade 8 till I needed a scientific calculator I was using a regular one before that. In high school, you really need a scientific one for math so that you can use cos , tan and all those other buttons that you never use to know what they were there for but just used to make words lik hello upside down.
1 Geometry Set : Grade 4-8

You’re going to need a protractor for math and also it’s greater to use for art if you want to draw things perfectly.
1 pack Markers: Grade 4-8

Need markers for bristole board presentations mainly and creating outlines on drawings.

Glue : All Grades

I always run out of glue and I always need glue whenever it involves projects where you create things.

Coloured Pencils + Sharpener  : Grades 4 – 10

Middle school to high school you will be asked to make title pages and have assignments that involve colouring so, just make sure you have some colours for that. I usually buy the set above since it comes with a sharpener since I’ve stopped colouring for class in grade 10. After that you don’t really need colours.

Paper :

• 2 packs of Lined Paper: Grade  6-12

Make sure you buy lots of lined paper if you don’t use notebooks. I go through about 250-300 pages per year. I also lend paper to people if they don’t have any so just buy lots and make sure you have a pack at home for when you run out.

• 1 pack of Graph Paper :Grade 9-12

For math you will need graph paper for well graphing pretty self explanatory.

1-4 Binders : Grade 7-12

Between Elementary and Middle School you can probably just use one huge binder to put all you’re subjects. If you’re in high school don’t get just one big binder, it’s just going to be too much plus your binder will most likely break. Have a couple separate binders for each class or for every 2 classes . It honestly depends on how much you have to write in that class because for some may require using one binder for that one subject.

1-8 Notebooks : All Grades

If you’re in middle school/elementary , get a bunch of notebooks it makes everything easy and light.By grade 6 then you should start using binders since that’s the grade where the work load increases.For exam time I recommend having a 3 or 5 subject all in one notebook since it will make it easier to write your exams notes and it’ll be easier to study opposed to going through your enter binder searching for things.

3 Folders : All Grades

You know those classes where you don’t write a lot like for health class, art or gym. When there’s not a lot of pages, instead of using a binder or shoving it with another subject, just get a folder it makes it easier. You could also have a homework folder I use to do that in middle school so, I wouldn’t have to take everything home all the time. It made it easier to find my homework and show my teacher when they came around to check it.

Backpack

You can get a new backpack every year if you’d like. I personally don’t buy a new backpack every year if I need one then I’ll buy one because I feel like it saves money. I have a Jansport and I’ve had it for about 3 years now it hasn’t ripped in any places yet so, it’s still in pretty good shape. In middle school doesn’t matter what backpack you use, most high school students use Jansport since one pocket is easier to find things opposed to a lot especially when your looking for things in your bag. Honestly just get whatever backpack you want doesn’t matter if everyone has a Jansport or whatever.

A Lock : Grade 7-12

If your school doesn’t have lockers than you don’t need a lock, for the most part in high school you will definitely need one. Don’t get a key lock because if you lose the key then your doomed and will probably have to get the janitor to cut it off. If your teacher asks for your locker combo tell them honestly because if you forgot your combo they’ll have it

Optional but Helpful

Dividers : Any Grade

I had one teacher that checked if we had dividers because she said we needed them so, she went around the class and she asked each student everyday until you brought one to class. They’re actually really helpful and easy way to organize units especially with science. Science is the only subject where I would use them since there’s so much content within it. If you do get a divider I recommend using it for science because it makes it a lot easier when you want to look back and review for exams.

Highlighters: Any Grade

I personally don’t use highlighters unless asked by the teacher since I’m to lazy too use it regularly  and I feel like it doesn’t help since I can’t highlight inside my textbook , but if you like them and find them helpful then use them.

Cue Cards : Any Grade

Whenever you’re having an oral presentation it’s always good to have cue cards opposed to a big sheet of paper since it makes you look more organized during your presentation. You can also use them to prepare for tests since it makes it easier for example you could have the question on one side and the answer on the other.
My tip for when  you’re packing your supplies in your backpack , is to make sure that you don’t pack everything pack a few things that you will need for the day. Like if you have 10 pencils put like 2 because if you put all of them and people ask you to borrow a pencil then by the time the years over you have any left to use. There’s also that one person that asks everyday so just keep that in mind.

Hopefully this helped you to create your back to school shopping list! Please comment down below any suggestions for the next back to school post.

~Blizz