READY, SET,

M I D D L E

SCHOOL! GRADES 6-8

Junior High Edition

Get Educated about Middle School Supply Essentials

Elementary School VS Middle School

• Unlike elementary school, where students are asked to creatively integrate material, middle school demands that students learn, memorize, and repeat back information

• The ability for your child to do work well is within him/her- he/she is responsible for making use of his/her study habits. It is in middle school that your child will realize that it is his/her responsibility to perform well in school

• Homework assignments are much more common in middle school than they are in elementary school– Transporting homework materials and textbooks back and

forth is a challenge alone!• “One of the real challenges of getting homework done

is making sure that each of the books, handouts, and assignment lists are home when they're needed. ”

Middle School is T O U G H !

• Transitioning into Junior High means buckling down! It is not the easiest transition for all children, but it’s your child’s first major transition into adulthood

• Subjects like math, science, history, and language arts become more challenging– Make sure your children stay organized, keeping stress at bay!

Academic PlannerIt is of UTMOST importance that your child

maintain his/her academic planner– academic planners teach students time management skills that will help him/her out when he/she enters

high school.

Three to Five Star Notebook• Each “subject” should be reserved

for a specific class your child is taking.

• Encourage diligent note taking– Students who take good notes do a

better job at listening during class– Good notes give students a better

starting point for studying– Read over the note you took everyday

before class

Colored Pens and HighlightersColor-coding, hi-lighting, and underlining are important habits for your child to acquire when reading important school-related material-Benefits of color-coding:

-Improves study morale-Studies show that students who

study color coded material using color ball pens or highlighters score higher than students who study conventional black and white formats

-Color coded material means fewer eye fixations, which means that studying becomes a much more fluid and enjoyable process

-So encourage your kids to hi-light and color code their notes!

Pocket Folders

• To transport all of your middle schooler’s homework, creative writing brilliance, and everything in between!

• It’s useful to color code your child’s pocket folders according to a specific subject –For instance:•Green= Earth Science; Yellow= Algebra; Etc.

A Calculator• We can’t tell you which EXACT

type of calculator to purchase for your middle schooler, but he/she probably won’t need a graphing calculator until High School –Safe bet: Your middle schooler will

do well with a basic intelligent calculator, like this one.

Graph Paper and Loose Leaf Paper• Middle schoolers eventually learn

how to plot a graph in their math classes. They will be asked to draw graphs on their own graph paper and hand it as homework. Graph paper is a necessity!

• Loose-leaf paper is essential to handing in assignments too! If your child doesn’t want to rip pages of his/her notebooks, extra loose leaf paper will always come in handy

Flash Drive• Flash drives are a crucial item for your child to own.

Flash drives enable students to work on the same project both at home and at junior high.

• While online software systems, like Dropbox, provide services that are similar to that of a flash drive, flash drives provide extra assurance to your middle schooler, since it guarantees that all of his/her assignments will be in on time.

A Sturdy Backpack

• Pick a backpack that has – Chest and/or hip straps and a padded

back, to decrease stress on the back and enhance comfort

– Has reflective material on the back, so that it can be seen at night

– Has many individual pockets, to distribute weight evenly

In the United States, 92% of kids carry backpacks that hold 10-22% of their body weight

Never Forget #2 Pencils & Big

Pink Erasers!Standardized testing usually requires the use of a #2 pencil. Do NOT have your middle schooler be without one!

Hand Sanitizer

• Nearly 22 million days of school are missed annually due to the common cold

• A case control study of 6,080 schools reported that those who enforced classroom-dispensed instant hand sanitizer at specific times throughout the day experienced 20% fewer absences due to illness

A Reusable Water Bottle• Keep our pre-teens loving the planet! Especially during hot

months, a reusable water bottle makes all the difference. Keep these facts in mind:– In response to public concern, manufacturers have

developed BPA-free reusable water bottles.–When you use a reusable water bottle, you help reduce

the production of bottled beverages and therefore, the landfill and recycling burden of the bottles. –Buying and using a reusable water instead of bottled

water saves you money over the long term. • In fact, Greeniacs.com reports that bottled water can cost up to 10,000 times as much per gallon as tap water.

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SOURCES

• http://www.itsasnap.org/snap/statistics.asp• http://eyetrackingupdate.com/2009/11/10/p

upil-tracking-reveals-why-color-coding-study-materials-is-a-good-idea/

• http://home-school-online.blogspot.com/2013/06/tips-note-taking-exercises-for-middle.html

• http://www.edudemic.com/2011/10/heavy-backpacks/

• http://www.dosomething.org/tipsandtools/11-facts-about-arts-education

• http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/thinking-about-kids/201201/keep-your-middle-schooler-organized