02 Jun Back to School Essentials Because School Opening is Coming
School opening for 2016 is coming soon on June 13. Unlike previous school openings in past years wherein the public school sector opening is earlier than the private school sector, this year all schools open at the same time because of the school year calendar changes from the dreadful K-12 school program that has parents scratching up extra income to make even more ends meet due to the additional years and requirements of the program. Since our government sees parents more as taxpayers and cannon fodder rather than real citizens, all the parents can do is to keep their head down and hope that their budget will be enough for the back to school essentials that are all important when the K-12 program finally kicks in, or begins kicking parents in the face.
Don’t end up rushing around in the last minute attempting to buy everything that your kid needs, and in the process getting squished around by the tight crowds. As early as now (emphasis on “now”) start doing your back to school shopping. Don’t attempt to finish everything in one day; try to spread out your shopping from 2 to 3 days, and try to avoid the weekends when half the population of the city will be out doing school shopping as well. We are hoping this helpful back to school essentials list and tips can aid you in finding what’s right for your kids.
Get some fun food containers
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Not every parent is a good food decorator (that overrated art attempting to convince parents to make art out of their kid’s lunch food), especially if your kid’s lunch “baon” consists of one or two viands only, with the complimentary rice. However, parents can buy fun food containers, especially for the preschool and elementary-age kids. Who says the kids can’t have fun while eating their bland lunches?
Backpacks
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If you decide to buy your elementary school kid a backpack, make sure he or she is at least in 4th grade so the children’s back is well developed to carry the weight of the backpack. Also, the pack’s height should never go beyond the kid’s neck, and never lower than the lower back. The back straps should be padded enough, and the joints of the straps on the pack itself must bear the ‘x’ stitching for extra strength. Zippers must be of the thick or bag variety, not the type used for slacks.
Pencil or crayon cases
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All preschool and elementary age school kids need at least one pencil/pen case and crayon case. The best cases for these kids are the tin type with a lid cover that opens and closes by hand. Zippered pencil and crayon cases are not advisable for kids of this age since the zippers tend to get stuck or easily broken as kids are ferocious in opening and closing zippers. Make sure the tin case can house enough pencils, pens, erasers, and other stuff kids may need for class. Same goes with the crayon case.
Notebooks
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Most parents love to buy those thick spring notebooks for their kids. In truth, kids two decades ago and in today’s decade don’t do that much writing. A notebook of around 50 to 100 leaves (pages) is more than enough for each subject, or you can buy a thick 200 leaf notebook and divide it for two subjects. Remember that it’s hard to recycle notebooks for the next school year if you’re planning to do so. It’s more advisable if parents keep the notebook’s unused leaves and sew up a notebook for their own adult usage.
Buy practical lunch bags and lunch boxes
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Today’s trend in lunch bags is both latent and practical since they can carry the kid’s lunch while looking trendy. However, while they may be trendy with your female kids, they may not go well with the male kids. Junior may end up disliking his lunch just because of the lunch bag. Never discount buying those colorful tin lunch boxes that have been trendy and useful since the 1970’s. With today’s designs using superheroes and other action themes, this may go better with your male kid during lunch.
Plastic drinking container
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Buy your kids those small plastic drinking containers with the flip top cover. These prevent spills even if the bottle topples over. It’s much better if the kids bring their own water or drinks from home rather than having them buy soft drinks and other unhealthy sweet drinks from the questionable school canteen.
Useful back to school essential tips:
- Packaged hand wipes – these can prove useful for kids to wipe their dirty hands before and after recess and lunch time.
- Packaged snacks – it’s most preferable if parents prepare their kid’s snacks and include them in the lunch box rather than having the kids buy from the usually questionable school canteen that may serve only junk foods and sweets. Good packaged snacks may include pretzels, nuts, dried fruit, etc.
- Pocket tissue packs – very useful for cleaning out any mess or, who knows, your kid might suddenly come down with the slight sniffles due to some dusty conditions.
- Slip-proof soles – when buying school shoes, make sure that that the soles of the shoes are slip-proof since your kids will be doing a lot of playing and running, and you don’t want them getting into accidents when they slip and fall.
- Elementary school supplies – for your kids beginning in the 4th grade and up, the school supplies are more or less standard for elementary school grade activities, compared to preschool up to 3rd grade when everything is somewhat dictated by the teacher. Make sure your kid’s crayon and pencil tin cases contains 1 box of 16 crayons, a small bottle of glue, 4 glue sticks, 1 or 2 erasers, 4 No. 2 pencils (Mongol is still considered the best brand), safety scissors, pencil sharpener, pens, ruler, mini-stapler, and loose-leaf pad paper.
If your kid is in high school, buying a binder divider notebook is much cheaper rather than buying separate notebooks for each subject. It also saves space in the backpack or bag since only one notebook needs to be toted around.
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