High school math is a big step up from primary school maths and the difference will be noticeable in a student's life. Courses and programs change, maths teachers change, and even schools change in many cases.
Theorem, equation, probability, algebra, arithmetic, mental arithmetic, trigonometry, square roots, mathematical modelling, inequalities, complex numbers, fractions… to cope with this all-new mathematical program, students must start by acquiring a piece of new equipment.
How To Get Prepared For The Start Of The School Year
First, let's make sure to plan your list. While it’s more fun to go to the shops and grab everything that looks nice, cute, or useful, there are two major problems with that plan:
- You are going to forget something
- You are going to pay for things that you will never use
3 Point Plan
- Ask
- Ask your maths teacher (if you are able) what supplies and equipment you will need for their class. Many schools send out a supplies list well in advance of the year starting, but if you’re unsure, simply reach out to your teachers or school administrators.
- Plan
- Make a list of what supplies you need and cross-reference with what you have.
- Take a look at what you already have from previous years or as hand-me-downs from older siblings. If you can inherit a perfectly-functioning but old graphic calculator, make sure you jump on the opportunity! They can be quite costly, so being able to get one for free is a blessing. You also more than likely have tons of pens and pencils already, so unless you've got the budget for a fresh set of pens and pencils, use what you've already got.
- Obtain
- After you know what supplies you will need for the upcoming year, focus on getting only those things so you can avoid over-shopping.
- If you’re on a budget, take the time to look for used items that are free or significantly cheaper than new items.
- Shop around for the best price, for sales, and see if you can find coupons for school supplies online.
- You may even be able to get some supplies like pens, pencils, notebooks, backpacks, and rulers through your school or a local programme that helps kids succeed in their studies!
The Most Important Thing In The High School Mathematicians Toolkit?
The math curriculum requires you to buy some back-to-school supplies as it is a specialist subject. School maths needs you to invest in things like a scientific calculator, post-it, paper clips, a binder, rulers, pocket folders, markers, highlighters, a sharpener, an eraser, and not to mention the geometric tool kit. This excludes any real modern conveniences like laptops, tablets, voice recorders, or digital ebook readers which can all be extremely useful.
Being a student is a lot of fun but it also requires hard work. If you don’t work hard it won’t matter which equipment you have. It’s not the equipment that grants success. It’s the student’s work to understand and achieve in class that guarantees success.
The most important thing in the toolkit is YOU. You and your willingness to learn can take you all the way if you let it. Everything else is just a tool to support you.
The Best Calculator For High School
Casio calculators are probably the most popular school calculators as they are reasonably priced and have all of the settings required to excel in mathematics.
Of course, there are other brands that also release their models like Texas Instruments or HP. But by choosing a common calculator you have the added bonus of knowing that your teacher and classmates will be able to help you will it should you get stuck.
Going from the basic calculator to a scientific calculator can be overwhelming because it is full of buttons that you don’t know how to use yet.
Never fear, your maths teacher should teach you how to use the functions of your fancy calculator so you can succeed in your maths studies.
Benefits Of Calculators
In today's fast-paced world, calculators are a gift because they speed up calculations that would otherwise take a long time. For students these days to remain interested in mathematics a high percentage need fast feedback showing that they are making progress.
Calculators increase interest in mathematics because they remove the barrier that is strenuous and repetitive calculations. When you don’t need to languish under the weight of repeated and boring calculations, you are left to think about the bigger pictures and problems in the various maths subjects, which tend to be much more interesting.
Is Using A Calculator Cheating?
Like any tool, you have to know how to use it to be able to get the best out of it. With all calculators, if you don’t know what to dial in then you won't get the right answer out. Just like a fancy camera isn’t cheating for a photographer or a power tool for a carpenter, a calculator is not a crutch for lazy students. It's just a tool.
What can the calculator do at a glance:
- Basic math: Multiplication and division, addition and subtraction.
- Advanced numeracy: Geometry, arithmetic, probability, algebra, calculus trigonometry, inequalities, relative numbers, fraction mixes, equation mixes, fraction puzzles, memorise equations and formulas, and much more.
- Specific buttons for pi, parentheses, trigonometric functions, exponents and inverses of trigonometric functions.
Equipment For Young Students
Young mathematicians need different tools as they face a different curriculum.
The Abacus
Many teachers use this tool in class or in tutoring to help kindergarten and primary students learn how to work with numbers, adding, dividing, multiplying and subtracting. Children slide the beads along the bar, moving the necessary number of beads required for the calculation. This is great alone or accompanied by an adult, the child can really progress thanks to the abacus.
Maths Cubes
Children can build geometric and natural shapes with these cubes. Which allows them to work on their motor skills and especially their imagination. Young children build shapes that represent things that exist like animals, trees, buildings etc others build shapes straight out of their brains
You can imagine combining calculation games and construction games to awaken the imagination and combine it with some basic notions of mathematics. The focus for the younger student is to keep it hands-on, engaging and fun.
The Basic Back To School List For Math Students
A Calculator
- Simple calculators can do only addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. More scientific and graphic calculators can handle exponential calculations, square roots, hyperbolic functions and trigonometric equations.
Geometric Measuring Tools
- Rulers come in different styles and sizes but a regular ruler is fine for math.
- A compass is a metal v-shaped tool that draws circles. It works by placing the point at one side of the tool into the paper which anchors it at one point. The other edge where the pencil is slotted into then is free to rotate and draw a perfect circle. It is adjustable so it can draw shapes of different sizes.
- Protractor - This tool is a measuring tool to measure angles.
Paper
- Scratch paper – This is a low-quality paper that you can use to do all of your calculations.
- Graph paper –has lines that cross to create squares on the page, used in maths to write out equations and draw graphs.
Carriers
- A pencil case – The pencil case is a great tool to organize your smaller school tools and equipment.
- Backpacks and bags – You need the main one for your books then additional smaller bags for gym kits, swimwear and art supplies.
Other Basic Stationery
- Pens
- Pencils
- Coloured pencils
- Highlighters
- Notebook, planner
- Pocket folders or ring binders, per your preference
These supplies are typical, but make sure that there aren’t any that you are missing according to your school’s supply list. And ensure that you don’t purchase anything your school has disallowed, either!
Now that you have a good idea of what you need to buy, you need to consider how you are going to study.
An engaged learner + great tools + a proactive study plan = student achievement.
Take care to learn and retain as much maths as you can in secondary school to help you in your university studies and even in the real world.
It doesn’t happen often, but sometimes you really do need to know how to calculate the area of a triangle, and having that knowledge in your back pocket sure makes life a lot easier.
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