Must-Have Gear for Heading Back to School
by Jennifer Thayer
It’s that time of year again to dust off those alarm clocks, start shopping for school clothes and get your kids ready for another exciting academic year. It doesn’t matter if your child is in kindergarten or in college, there are some must-have pieces of gear he or she will need to make it through another grade.
Lightening the Backpack Load
It’s no secret that backpacks filled with textbooks, binders and paper are a heavy burden for young students to bear. It’s also a pain that can lead to more recurring or long-term issues. The solution is rolling backpacks.
While some schools ban these types of bags because the wheels are a tripping hazard and there isn’t enough room to store them because of their bulky size, many parents believe this is the best type of pack for their growing children.
L.L. Bean’s Rolling Deluxe Book Pack is a convenient alternative to the traditional backpack. Besides being lightweight, it has a retractable handle and smooth-rolling inline skate wheels to alleviate some of the bulkiness.
Going Green at Lunchtime
Picky eaters come in all shapes and sizes. However, moms of elementary students who are easily bored with traditional lunches can rest assured their young ones are eating and enjoying their noontime meals in their Go Green Lunch Boxes. Besides being eco-friendly, these multi-compartment, leak proof containers allow parents to create Bento-style meals for their little ones giving them not only nutritious food choices, but fun ones too.
Another way of being environmentally conscious is by packing a Brita Sport Bottle as a way to keep a student hydrated with filtered water throughout the school day. This is a great alternative to costly bottled water.
Flashy Way to Store Schoolwork
Every year, schools work hard to integrate technology into teaching and learning. Since many middle schools typically don’t allow the use of mobile devices in the classroom, using USB flash drives are a convenient and simple solution to transporting data from the classroom to home and back. There are many types of these drives available, but some of the more popular ones for middle schoolers are the Mimobot designer USB flash drives. These drives are fun and show off a bit of their personality.
Smart Tablets for Smart High Schoolers
While most high-schoolers continue to use laptops as their main tool in which to do schoolwork, they are also utilizing tablets more frequently, especially as they continue to become more versatile. Besides their excellent mobility, tablets can help high schoolers take notes, study and surf the Web.
If your student attends a school that embraces technology then you should definitely look into supplying them with a tablet. These devices are outfitted with the latest mobile technology like Snapdragon processors, which provide high-quality processing cores, increased battery life, built-in security and smooth connectivity. One of the best tablets for a student is the Lenovo YOGA Tablet 10 HD+. This 10-inch multimode HD tablet, comes with Android 4.3 operating system, quad-core processing, a revolutionary design, and up to 18 hours of battery life. Its optional wireless keyboard makes note-taking easy and has an adaptive display that automatically optimizes screen brightness, contrast and background colors.
Don’t Miss a Word
It’s one thing to take notes on a laptop or tablet during a college lecture, but it’s another to record the class and play it back word-for-word. One of the best digital voice recorders is the Olympus LS 100, which allows users to record up to eight tracks at one time and has up to 4GB of internal storage. Battery life is about 12 1/2 hours, and it comes with a built-in 23-mm round dynamic speaker. Its wireless remote control makes it easier to control the device during class.
Whether your child is gearing up for another year at grade school or heading off to college, make sure your student is armed with the best tools for a successful school year.
About the Author: Jennifer Thayer is a technology writer from Southern California. She is passionate about exploring new ways technology can be used to make day-to-day tasks easier. Follow her on Twitter.
