Shopping for school supplies can be simpler than shopping for back-to-school clothes, since most teachers send home lists of classroom necessities. But when your child sits down to do her homework, she'll need these essentials on hand.
Basic Supplies: The items on this list will take care of most math assignments, book reports, and other written work.
- A box of No. 2 pencils
- Pencil sharpener
- 2 or 3 ballpoint pens with black or blue ink
- 3–4 large erasers
- White-out
- White paper
- Lined paper
- Safety scissors
- Transparent tape
- Stapler
- Staples
- Paper clips
- Ruler
- Calculator (with trig functions for middle-schoolers)
- 3 1/2 x 5-inch index cards (for oral presentations and homemade flash cards)
Arts & Crafts Supplies: You might think your 12 year old has outgrown crayons and markers, but older children still do science projects, skits, group research projects, and book reports that require visual presentations. Don't get caught with an empty supply shelf the night before a project's due!
- Washable markers
- Colored pencils
- Crayons
- Glue sticks
- Construction paper
- 2 or 3 large pieces of poster board
- Rubber bands
- Yarn
- A collection of old magazines and newspapers for collages
