I haven’t done my back-to-school shopping but I’ve already made a list. I was actually waiting for my kid’s school and parent orientations so I can have a full grasp of what we need to buy this school year. I was actually waiting if there will be an actual list that will be given by my daughters’ teachers but apparently, this school year will be totally different.
First off, if I am not mistaken or I hope I just haven’t missed them from listening in the orientation, there will be no actual books that will be used. They are going to use modules. These learning modules can be printed out or can be downloaded online. The printed copies can be picked-up via local couriers such as Grab or LalaMove or if we parents can do it, we can go to the school to get the modules ourselves.
Basically, if the school distance learning mode will happen for the rest of the year, we are skipping buying on new backpacks, shoes, and school uniforms. So what remains to be prepared is limited. There are still a few and I made a list of them:
Binder Notebooks – I initially told my kids to use our spare notebooks or notebooks we have in stock since they will be only using them to write occasional notes and that they will be answering online or on the modules that we are getting. However, I realized that they must still need a set of notebooks per subject so their notes will be organized. I think a binder notebook will be perfect for this. It has different notebooks in one set and they can use one of each color for each subject.
Pens and highlighters – My kids use gel pens and Stabilo highlighters for their notes so I might stock on a few of them. What I don’t do anymore is to buy gel pen refills. I found out that some school supplies store stock so much of these refills that they tend to dry out before they are bought. So when I buy gel pens, I make sure to try each of them rather than buying refills that you won’t be able to open and try.
Ink for printers and bond papers – I’m sure that it will be inevitable for the kids to print so maybe having stock for three to four months (if you’ve got the storage) will be enough.
Folders and brown envelopes – I always have a dozen or so of these in case the kids use them for projects or for sending over documents to the teachers.
Small notepads – I keep these handy so that the kids won’t have to use a whole bond paper or a whole page of their notebook just to write random notes.
Tape erasers – Gone are the days that they use pencils so I don’t buy rubber erasers anymore. Tape erasers look cleaner as well as opposed to liquid erasers.
Mousepads, mouse, and batteries (if you use wireless mouse)
Extra earphones/headphones – These are the most overused during vacation and I don’t know how they do it but my kids have used a dozen more earphones than me and their dad.
Prepaid internet cards – We are dependent on our fiber connection at home but there are times when there may be power outages, especially when there are storms. Just to make sure that we still have some connection, it will be a good idea to stock up some prepaid internet cards in case we run out of cellphone loads ( we don’t have a postpaid cellphone plan).
Sanitizing alcohol spray, tissue, and wipes – to disinfect and wipe their hands and make sure that they are always clean. The kids tend to scratch often when they are bored or just randomly touch so many things when they are tense. Keeping some hygienic tools that are easy to reach for them will help lessen the chances of taking in germs.
These are just some of the school essentials that I can think of right now but I am still waiting if there will be more on this list that will be required by their teachers. How about you? Have you got a list and do you have anything that you can add to my list? I’d love to read about them.
Btw, National Book Store has an online shopping portal you can check out. If you are familiar with Lazada and Shopee, NBS had their own shops within these shopping portal giants which makes it more safe and convenient to shop for distance learning essentials.
