10 Back to School Shopping
One of the annual “rituals” of schooling involves the sending home of school supply lists in June to parents and/or guardians, so that they will know what classroom supplies their children will require in September as they enter a new classroom. Expectations around what constitutes “essential” classroom supplies can vary widely from teacher to teacher and certainly from school to school.
In this exercise, we have provided back-to-school classroom supply lists from six elementary schools located within Nova Scotia’s largest school district. All of the supply lists are for students entering Grade 5. Three of the lists are for students attending “priority schools”: schools that fall short of provincial standards in literacy and numeracy.
Three of the lists are for students attending grade 5 in non-priority schools in upper middle class neighbourhoods in the Halifax Region.
In this exercise, we would like you calculate the relative costs of purchasing the items on the back-to-school supply lists for an incoming Grade 5 student in two of the schools listed below. Choose one from the Priority Schools list and one from the Non-Priority Schools located in more affluent communities. As a way to ensure consistency in purchasing costs, use either staples.ca or walmart.ca as the supplier for each of the two schools you select:
Priority School A:
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Must Haves: Notebook (hardcover) 2 package of lined paper (200-250 pages) Scissors Glue Stick White Glue Few packs of pencils Coloured Pencils Pencil Case Earphone (available at Dollar stores) 4 pack Hilroy exercise books
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8 pocket folders Erasers Ruler Pack of white board markers Pack of post-its Clipboard Indoor Shoes (for gym) Pencil sharpener 2 Black Sharpies Optional: 2 boxes of facial tissues Markers
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Priority School B:
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1 – 1 inch binder 5 pkg. HB pencils 2 pkg. 24 coloured pencils 1 pair of scissors 1 – 30 cm. metric ruler (clear) 3 white vinyl erasers 3 glue sticks (large ones) 1 pencil case 1 protractor 1 composition book (Dollarama)
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2 Highlighters (different colours) 1 pencil sharpener 1 pkg. dividers 2 twin pocket portfolios 3 pkg. loose-leaf 1 pkg. – 4 lined scribblers 7 duo tangs (one each of black, yellow, orange, blue, green, red, purple)
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Priority School C:
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1 school sized backpack (please label) lunch bag (please label) 5 duo tangs (blue, red, green, yellow, orange) 1 package of crayons 1 package of markers 1 package of colour pencils 3 packages of pencils 1 pair scissors 2 glue sticks |
5 white erasers 1 pencil tool kit 2 black Sharpies 3 highlighters 1 package of graph paper 1 pocket Folder 1 package of Hilroy scribblers 1 pair of headphones water bottle 1 composition book |
Non-Priority School A:
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3 – 1” binders (no larger please, as they will not fit in the desk) 1 package of dividers to divide up binders 3 packages of good quality pencils (10 per package) already sharpened or a few mechanical pencils with a supply of lead 1 good quality pencil sharpener that has a closed container to catch the pencil shavings 1 large glue stick 1pair children’s scissors 1 clear ruler (metric – with centimetres) 1 pencil case (not too large)
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3 white erasers 1 package coloured pencils (sharpened) 1 package of coloured markers (unscented) 1 package of loose leaf (200 sheet package) 1 pocket folder 1 pair of inside sneakers for Phys. Ed. to be left at school 1 pair of headphones that are durable. Ear buds are the best option since they will fit in the desk. Optional: 2 boxes of tissues
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Non-Priority School B:
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2 blue duo tangs with inside pockets 3 white erasers 3 large white glue sticks package of coloured markers package of coloured pencils basic calculator 4 packages of HB pencils (please send a few already sharpened) covered pencil sharpener 30 cm metric only ruler pair of pointed tip scissors 4 packages of 200 sheets of loose leaf (leave 2 at home until needed) 1” binders packages of dividers plastic pencil case/container package of graph paper highlighters |
package of fine tip Sharpies pair of ear buds/ear phones (not expensive) in a labeled Ziploc sketch book roll of scotch tape Agenda $4.75 to be sent to classroom teacher on first day of school in an envelope labeled “agenda” and your child’s name. French Class: pocket folder (labeled) pencils (labeled with your child’s name) eraser Optional: pair of indoor sneakers (to be kept at school) large boxes of tissue
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Non-Priority School C:
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pack HB Pencils (NO Staples, Simply, or yellow Papermate) white erasers large glue sticks handheld pencil sharpener pair scissors pack 24 crayons pack original colour broad tip markers pack 24 coloured pencils pack 200 page loose-leaf pack 1-cm grid paper permanent marker (black Sharpie brand fine point) extra-large sturdy pencil box or case to hold all colouring tools highlighters (yellow) 30cm transparent ruler – (non-bendy) 7 – 3-pronged duo tangs (1 red, 1 yellow, 1 green, 1 blue, 1 orange, 1 black, 1 purple) “Composition Notebook” (lined 180 pages -24.7cm X 19 cm) (Dollarama) unlined notebook for sketching/ drawing (Dollarama) plastic 3-pronged duo tangs with DOUBLE POCKET FOLDERS 1.5” binder with pockets in the covers vinyl legal sized courier zipper bag (Dollarama) |
large coiled 30 page scrapbook (30 cm x 25 cm) lined Scribblers/ Exercise Books, 32 pages each pair indoor sneakers for gym (non-skid, non-marking) backpack, lunch bag, water bottle pair of headphones (not ear bud style) in a zippered case French Supplies: Hilroy exercise book (scribbler) two-pocket folder Pocket folder ** Good quality name brand items are suggested, as they tend to last longer and work well. ** Please put all supplies in a large sturdy reusable shopping bag. Clearly label the bag and all supplies with the student’s printed first name. ** Any supplies that are not used will be returned in the reusable bag at year end. Some items may need to be replaced throughout the year. We are asking for 1 or 2 boxes of Kleenex.
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| Full-size copy available in Appendix II. | |
What has your price checking revealed? Remember that these lists are for students entering grade 5 within the same school district. They will be taught the same curriculum, be expected to meet the same learning outcomes, and yet the quantity and quality of the school supplies that they are expected to have on the first day of school in September vary significantly from one type of school to another. Why is that?
Is there any correlation between the quality of school supplies purchased and a student’s ability to meet learning outcomes?
A 2018 survey conducted by Angus Reid and Associates found that Canadian parents can expect to spend an average of $883 on supplies and clothes for students heading back to class in September (Hennig, 2018). How then might the costs associated with purchasing all of the items on these school supply lists impact a family’s household budget, particularly if there is more than one child in the family who attends school?
As educators, we must always be cognizant of the ways in which schooling practices and expectations privilege some students and their families over others. When these taken-for-granted assumptions about schooling go unnoticed and/or unchallenged, we are contributing to an environment in which active and inveterate harm is a real and probable consequence for many of our students.
It seems to us that one of the most important messages we can instill in our pre-service teachers is the importance of their commitment to develop and nurture a climate conducive to the promotion of equity education and social justice within our schools. By this, we mean drawing on the knowledge and experience of students, respecting native languages, cultures, and communities; devising a variety of instructional methods to stimulate multiple ways of learning and to ensure the academic and social success of every student. Weighty expectations, certainly, but matters of absolute necessity if we genuinely desire a schooling system that empowers all of our students, regardless of social and/or economic circumstances.
schools requiring more attention, resources, and extra support programs to close the student achievement gap
are statements that describe the knowledge or skills students should acquire by the end of a particular assignment, class, course, or program, and help students understand why that knowledge and those skills will be useful to them. They focus on the context and potential applications of knowledge and skills, help students connect learning in various contexts, and help guide assessment and evaluation.
to be aware of
