It’s back-to-school season again, and that means it’s time for the annual scavenger hunt for student supplies. Colored pencils, glue sticks, notebooks, erasers, you name it, it’s on a list that your child probably brought home on Day 1 of school. Thankfully, there are kits out there that have all the essentials in one collection. Here are the ones we recommend.
For younger students
This kit is designed for children in kindergarten through fifth grade. In addition to the items we mentioned, it also has No. 2 pencils, pencil top erasers, a rubber eraser, a pencil sharpener, one pair of blunt tip scissors, two pencil grips, a standard 12 inch ruler, one wide-rule spiral notebook, one wide-ruled composition book, and two pocket folders.
Buy Now: Back To School Supply Box Grades K-5
Anything you need
Wow, 52 pieces of supplies? That seems plenty enough to share between two children. The entire set comes inside a plastic, zippered bag that can slide easily into a backpack. Public education has an interesting history in the United States. The first public school – Boston Latin School – opened in 1635 and remains open today.
Buy Now: Moda West 52 Piece Back to School Supply Kit
Meets all needs
Though technically this kit is for students from kindergarten through 12th grade, it feels better suited toward younger children. To that end, the crayons are non-toxic, the highlighters are water-based and the pencil sharpener has a compartment to collect shavings. During the 18th century, most schools were either private or religious in nature. It was Thomas Jefferson who first proposed the idea of a national education system funded by taxpayer dollars.
Buy Now: Trail maker 45 Piece School Supply Kit
A different focus
This back-to-school kit from Bazic is more about the pens, pencils and markers. There are no notebooks, folders or paper in this collection, so you’ll need to purchase that separately. However, if your student needs a wider variety of writing instruments – tel pens, dry eraser markers, permanent markers, mechanical pencils – this set is ideal. In the 1800s, when public schools finally began as an institution, a back-to-school kit likely would have consisted merely of a slate and some chalk. Residents of the school’s surrounding community were expected to pitch in and provide lumber to build desks in the classroom and stables for the students’ horses.
Buy Now: BAZIC Back To School Kit 66 Pieces
No cutesy items here
This back-to-school set from HL Enterprise is intended for students from middle school through college. There are more than 70 items here – far too many for us to list – but we were glad to see it includes gel pens, composition books, sheet protectors and pocket folders. Did you know that in the early days of public schooling, females were taught to read but not to write? Likewise, in the South, public schools weren’t largely available until after the Civil War. Today, approximately 77 million people are enrolled in public schools.
Buy Now: Back to School Supply Bundle Kit
