As a child, some of the most memorable times in my life were walking into a store to pick out my school supplies. From clothes to tissues, scissors, notebooks, glue, and paper, the supply list seemed endless, and to me, back-to-school meant my favorite shopping trip of the year.
For my mom, the decisions were easy: plain, boring, and cheap. I, on the other hand, agonized over each decision. Which was going to better serve me this year, the red, blue, or yellow pencil box? The necessity of making sure I had the right number (and color) of notebooks and, of course, trying to convince my mother into purchasing as many trendy supplies as possible was a fun experience each year.
Because of my positive experiences with back-to-school shopping, I want to challenge you this year to involve your children in the purchase of school supplies and the set up of their learning space. To get started, here are a few basic school supplies I recommend:
• One notebook for each class. I suggest composition notebooks because the tendency to rip pages from them is not as great.
• Pens, pencils, and highlighters for note-taking.
• 3 x 5 cards for flashcards to study terms, formulas, important people, dates, and events.
• A basket or a backpack to keep school supplies together and portable.
I also encourage you to provide your children with their own desk or study area. By doing so, you can give them a sense of ownership in their education. Here are a few additional ideas to make their study area more personal:
• A wall or desk calendar. Encourage them to create daily goals and mark them off on their calendar as they accomplish them.
• A new mouse or mouse pad
• A bright cushion for their desk chair
• A trendy pencil holder
• A framed daily schedule can look great and may keep your child focused during school hours.
Although school supplies cannot guarantee a great education, they may serve as motivation to get your child moving on the right path to a successful year. May your happy shopping prepare your child for a year of happy studying!