5 items your child needs for school.
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Educational norms have changed this past year since the beginning of Covid-19, but the need to prepare out r children for school hasn’t changed. For you parents with children learning remotely shopping for school supplies has become easier. Some of the usual must-have supplies such as a book bag can be removed from the list as it isn’t needed. However, what about the children that are returning to the school building? You parents who are sending your children to school, the school supply list has changed. For both the education and safety, of your child there are five main school supplies that are necessary for children of all grades.
Writing utensils
One thing that will never change is that no matter the grade all children going to school. Depending on the grade this can include pencils, mechanical pencils, lead, erasers, sharpeners, and pens. It’s essential that a child be able to have something to write with in school whether they are in kindergarten learning to write, or in high school taking notes to study later (School + Supplies, N.A.).
Notebooks and binders
Second, writing utensils, notebooks and binders are second on the list for your child to have in their bookbag when going to school. It’s important for children to have something to do their work in. It’s better than storing important work in a folder as notebooks are a great way to monitor younger student’s progress. As for sectional binders, they easily keep track of notes taken in class for children in higher grade levels (School + Supplies, N.A.).
Back-up mask
Due to Covid-19 a lot of parents are more conscious of the health of their children. One school supply every child should have, despite some schools supplying them when necessary, is an emergency face mask. All children should have a back-up face mask. Preferably students should carry more than one back-up mask. For the safety of your child, it shouldn’t be just any ordinary mask. The best mask to buy to prevent exposure to airborne germs, viruses, and heavy pollution is a 3-ply surgical facemasks. These masks are If your child is asthmatic then a non-woven surgical face mask can be more appropriate as it also protects from dust and several other respiratory irritants that can potentially trigger an asthma attack (CovCare, 2020).
Disinfecting wipes
Schools highly recommend wipes, and they have been added to the school supply list for children of all grades. Children are now taught to the social distance to ensure their safety, but there can be times where the ability to social distance can be limited, or worse. For older children who change rooms each school period disinfecting wipes are a necessity to wipe down a new area, they may be used to remove any germs the previous student left behind. For the safety of your child, and those around them, fragrance-free baby wipes are the preferred disinfecting wipes for children to use in school. The main reason for using only fragrance-free baby wipes is that they do not contain any smells or chemicals, that can trigger an asthma attack of another student, or teacher, that is in the room (Washington State Department of Health, 2017).
Hand sanitizer
More appropriate for children in middle and high school, hand sanitizer is now on the school supply list to prevent the spread of germs and viruses as much as possible in the school buildings. For those of you that are concerned about your child taking hand sanitizer to school, and using it safely, there are precautions that you can take. Since the pandemic started the Food and Drug Administration has allowed several companies to produce and sell sanitizer despite the fact that not all of these companies normally make hand sanitizer.
As a parent, you should always check the label buying only hand sanitizers that are denatured, or have the ingredients: denatonium benzoate (Bitrex); sucrose octaacetate, or butanol (tert-butyl alcohol). These ingredients are bitter thereby reducing the chances that your child will ingest them accidentally. Lastly, do not buy any hand sanitizer that contains isopropyl alcohol (isopropanol), as this ingredient is highly toxic (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2021).