Small (but useful) guide to school supplies

Text by Mara Coman.

 

Before the preparatory class started, I bought my girls pens, but - surprise! - they didn't need pens: in the first year they wrote with gel pens. Okay, it wasn't just pens, it was a lot of other things I bought because I wanted to be a model mother, who prepares everything in advance. Some were useful, but others weren't even on the "necessary-for-school" list. Which is why I thought a little guide to buying school supplies would be great. Or at least some advice from the experience of those who went through it. I start:

 

Rule number 1: patience

 

I say this because on the first or second day of school I received a list from the teacher with the necessary supplies for the little ones. So be patient: if you wait until you talk to the teacher, you will find out exactly what your child needs and you will be safe. But that means shopping in the first week of school - you know if time allows or not.

 

Rule number 2: silence

 

It means not telling the little ones that you are going to buy them pencils, watercolors and sharpeners. And it's a rule only if you want to go shopping quietly, choose what you need and not buy - giving in to requests - and monkey-shaped eraser, and feather pencils, and Elsa blankets, and pineapple-scented pens.

 

Of course, you can go shopping with the children if you are not on time and if you have relaxation for the above. I, when I'm against time and when I know exactly what I have to buy, I prefer to go alone and surprise my girls when I get home. They are always happy when I come back with something for them. I give them the bags and amuse myself when I see them so eager to rummage through them.

 

Rule number 3: intuition

 

She intervenes if you still want to buy some of the supplies before school starts. Then, here is a short list of essential things that every child needs. You can complete it, based on your intuition: colored pencils, black HB pencils, eraser, crayons, sharpeners, solid glue, small ruler, scissors with rounded tips and even plasticine (for the first years of school). Plus, a pen to fit the above. Don't forget to stick labels on all your notebooks and books.

 

The rest varies, but not much: as I said at the beginning, in the preparatory class, my children wrote with a gel pen (which has a kind of eraser on the end), not with a pen. My favorite brushes were those with a square tip. Watercolors, in jars. Pen, in our case, from class I - and I recommend that there be two, in order to get rid of the discussions about the lost pen, lost in the hand, with the crooked pen, etc. Necessary and little, to have something to wipe 😊.

 

As for notebooks and covers, in addition to the classic ones, dicatando and mate, I would buy them after school starts.

 

Two more secrets

The first refers to the vest for painting. I didn't even know it existed, but it saved us a lot of white T-shirts. You can find it in the area where there are also watercolors, brushes, etc. It's made of plastic and it's really useful, it protects the clothes of little artists.

 

The second secret is about quality versus quantity. Supplies you will buy throughout the school year, not just at the beginning. For this reason, it is better to choose small sets: for example, a box with only eight, ten colored pencils - it's inconvenient to go to school anyway with a set of 60 colors. Keep in mind that there is a good chance that some things will be lost, so do not invest in the most expensive pen for going to school. I think an average price is justified for any item in the backpack; the little ones can enjoy more valuable stationery when they do their homework at home.

 

You can also read Mara Coman on her blog, maracoman.ro.

 

VIVO! has prepared a lot of special offers for the beginning of school. We expect you to choose from a wide range of stationery products that will make the little one love school.