My nieces and nephews usually wait. The teacher will usually tell them what they're expected to have. On the first day I'd say he should have a backpack, binder with loose leaf paper, pencils and pens. That's it. They don't do much on the first day. I think my niece tried to buy all her supplies before school started one year and she had very picky teachers about what was exactly needed and she had to buy more stuff and other stuff didn't get used.