Am I the only one who is ticked about the "school supply" lists?

[supershopper1980]

Thank You Jesslyn.

I understand the PP frustrations and I agree with many of them. However in defense of good hearted teachers everywhere, it's not always the teacher's fault. If as a parent (and taxpayer)you feel the school is asking you to provide to much, the only way you can change this is to INFORM the people who are in charge of the district money. Go to the Principal or Superentendent and make your voice heard or write a letter to the school board.

Just my personal opinions about some of the things pps mentioned:

Brand specific items- I can only think of one item that I think you should worry about buying brand specific...Crayola crayons. The Rose Art and "store brands" tend to not last as long and smear when pressed to hard and bleed when the item colored gets laminated.

Glue sticks- Kids really do go through these like water. I will say that the bigger sticks tend to not get wasted the way the smaller ones do. Sometimes the smaller kids (like my first graders) roll up the smaller ones to far and ruin quite a bit by pushing too hard. Once it is squished out it is really hard to usefully make it work.

Coffee Filters- My first thought was something previously mentioned about using them as snack cups. This is a really easy way to pass out snacks to 20+ kids. My favorite use for these is as erasers for the dry erase boards. Kleenex works fine, but they leave these little crumbs of the dry marker, the coffee filters tend to picks this stuff up. Of course, there are so many craft uses.

Copy Paper- I personally find this extreme and would not provide it for my own classroom as a teacher, nor for my child's classroom. I feel this is the districts responsibility and would contact the district and tell them so.

Clorox Wipes, Lysol, GermX etc- I feel like this is a necessary item for the classroom. As a teacher I use the Clorox wipes each week to wipe down things that are shared like the dry erase markers in my writing station, the door knobs and even the desks during the winter months. I don't feel like the parents should have to provide these, but I don't think the teacher should have to either. These are not on the list at my school, so I provide them. I do it to keep my students (and myself) healthy, it is worth the money to me. I will continue to provide them as long as I can afford to.

I think if you see something on the list that you do not feel comfortable providing, don't buy it. When you have "Meet the Teacher Night" or "Open House" or whenever you get a chance, talk with your child's teacher about the supplies you feel uncomfortable about. I know for me an explaination goes along way.

Hope my perspective helped.

[qtkleee151]

I just have to say, that I just got out of middle school and I'm going into HS (yippee!).

When I was in elementary school a few years ago I think we had to bring in some kleenex and ziploc bags, but nothing other than that. I think the brand name is ridiculous, though I do like crayola better than the other brands, I've had teachers who use any brand and they work fine. As for older kids wanting fancier supplies, I think it is nice to have, but I also realize that as cool as the 25 cent mini staplers, poly binders, etc. why spend the money when I already have that stuff (maybe not as cute) and don't use them that much. After all, school supplies don't last forever, so why get the expensive stuff? I remember going through notebooks like crazy, so getting the $1.50 character ones really isn't ergonomical or practical! If your dd/ds wants something fancy, invest in a good, nice looking backpack and lunch box which will last longer, and is more noticeable anyways. Then just get the basic, "cheapo" normal stuff. Going into HS, I'm really over all the fancy crap that sits there, never getting used when I have to buy books, field trips, gifts for teachers, etc. Now that I'm in HS I think it's my responsibility to pay for most of the stuff I need, so I'm seeing how I should save the $$ for what I realllllly want/need such as field trips.

[MOMOF3]

I'm not happy about these supply lists. I don't mind providing the things I know my kids will use. Paper, pencils, crayons, etc. Specifying a brand is crazy. I got several pairs of scissors on clearance at Walmart last year so they will get what I got. I think what makes me mad is that they ask for all the other stuff and then charge a $20 classroom fee to each child! What does that go for? I will get what I can. If I can get something really cheap then I will provide it. I will have 2 in school this year and I don't know if we can even afford the $40. I really do understand the teachers problem but many churchs and other organizations are giving away free school supplies (at least around here). There really is no need for the teachers or other parents to supply for those that can't afford them at all.

[berlinsmommy]

I guess I'm one of the few who doesn't mind. My DD goes to a private school and they are pretty good at being frugal and not wasteful. For example, at the end of the year each child was sent home with a used 8 pk of paints, a pair of scissors, a ruler, and one glue stick, along with the next year's supply list to give you lots of time and a note letting you know that the non-consumable items (scissors, rulers, etc.) do not need to be new and can be resent from year to year. We do send copy paper, but we also don't have any of those fees that a few of you have posted about. Also, since it is not a district, the teachers make the list so all the supplies they request actually do get used. I was very greatful to get the list in May, so I've had plenty of time to pick things up on sale too.

For the most part, ours go directly to the classroom. The only exception is items that cannot be split up very effectively. For example, they've found that 1 box of kleenex per child isn't enough but two is too much, so most grades ask for one box and two of the grades ask for two boxes so all together there are enough kleenexes without asking everyone for two boxes.

Another thing they do with items that they cannot possibly use one per child on is each teacher has a "wishlist". It is a small bullitin board outside the classroom with little stars attached. Each star has an item name written on it. For example, last year the teacher had 4 stars with "hand lotion" on the board. I have quite the Suave stockpile so I took all 4 stars and brought back 4 bottles of lotion.

I'm also pretty pleased that her school collects Boxtops, soup labels, milk caps, newspapers, aluminum, and pretty much everything else they can to raise money that way. They seem to be pretty good about maximizing every dollar.

The schools here never send "supply lists", I only heard of these by listening to other Moms on the net. I've never bought more than some paper and a few pencils for my kids. They supply paper but not for taking notes so even the paper wasn't needed until junior high school. My son is graduated and my girl is going into 10th grade and I never had this school supply list burden from any school.

If this were placed on me, I would send in what I deemed needful and appropriate and let the teachers buy their own coffee filters. NO WAY would I supply that type of item.

Some people will tell you that things are required but really they are VERY optional, like answering your phone. Hehe

[map332]

I was wondering the same thing too when I saw my daughter list last year. I had to ask her if she was using these things or did the teachers take them home (sorry teachers). The list was kind of crazy. Paper towels and baby wipes. I spoke to the teacher and she told me they use the wipes to cleanup after art. What she said about the other stuff made sense also. But I still think that most of the items should be provided by the school. At least me pay pennies for most of the stuff I feel sorry for the parents who don't use qs. to shop. This year I am going to send some extras because my daughter said some of the kids don't bring some of the things.

[TheWoman]

I really don't mind them specifying a brand name if there is a reason. For example, my daughter's list specifies crayola crayons. This is because some kids would be bringing in dollar store crayons. If you have ever tried to color with dollar store crayons you know why this isn't a good idea. However, it says a 16 pack and my daughter will be bringing 24 because I will not pay extra to have 8 fewer crayons in the box.

I have also seen lists specifying fiskars scissors. Again, have you ever tried to cut stuff with the dollar store scissors? They would rather each kid have a decent pair of scissors that will actually work and not fall apart should they try to cut something heavier than tissue paper. However, if I found some good quality scissors cheaper, I wouldn't hesitate to send them instead.

My 1st grader's list asks for 24 glue sticks. While this seems excessive, it is not like they are expensive right now, so I will send them. However, it asks that they not be blue or purple. The only kind I could find (without paying $1 each) were the kind that start out purple and dry clear. I have decided to interpret that request to mean that they don't want the kind that STAY blue or purple. If the teacher has a problem with that AND comes up with a REALLY good reason why the purple won't work, I may send in the clear kind, but they will be sent 1 or 2 at a time to keep them from getting wasted as easily.

[inthelooneybin]

Lysol wipes are most certainly for the protection of students health. Germs are everywhere. Imagine a student sneezing on a table (center/station), next student comes for his turn at that table (center/station) and voila, disease is spread. Hmmmm. 20 kids, 180 days, how many sneezes is that? Okay, maybe excessive on the explaining, but just trying to give one scenerio.

As for the tennis balls, placed on the bottom of chair legs to stop the scraping on the floor, because as we all know, not all students pick up the chairs when putting them in or taking them out. I believe they prefer the loud screeching noise that startles everyone that was quietly working. You should visit the cafeteria during lunch time. YIKES!

On the dry erase markers, if each student has his/her own, maybe they would be more careful about not leaving the cap off instead of "sharing" from the same bin and getting one that does work and leaving the ones that don't work for the other students (which may be your child).

On the coffee filters, people please. Do you really think that they are for making coffee for the students! As if the teacher is buying coffee (which is actually MORE expensive) for all of those students. If that were the case, I would buy the filters and ask the students to send the coffee.

Yes, I am a teacher. That is why I have this wacky insight. And yes, I do agree that some of the supplies on the list (copy paper, name brand, etc.) are ridiculous cuz I take what I can get.


I just want to thank you for making me laugh. You really made my day.

BTW, I'm a teacher who has to children that have school supply lists! How ironic is that!

[darkwing932]

These list are my biggest pet peeve! First, we don't even get these lists sent home until school starts and by then half the stuff they are asking for isn't even available anymore.

Like Heidi I started bucking the system years ago. I have told many a teacher that if they want a $100 calculator, index cards with holes in their own mini-binder ($5+), clear plastic binder dividers with pocket pages, etc they can feel free to go and buy them for my kids. I however, will not be buying them.

I have asked a teacher friend of mine why some of my kids need certain supplies and the others do not. I have been told that it is the choice of the teacher as to what supplies they request. While some prefer marble notebooks others want 1 1/2in 3-ring binders with wide-ruled paper and 8 clear page dividers with pockets in each one, each section should have at minimum 20 pieces of paper, plus 3 extra packages of loose leaf paper to keep in the classroom, (yes, I really had that request come home).

Here is my biggest question ~ what does the type of notebook my child has have to do with the education she is receiving? Will a 3-ring binder make her smarter than her little sister using a marble notebook?

I also refuse to send in cleaning supplies, tissues, copy paper, or anything else like that. I know people here are talking about germs and stuff but we had germs back when I was in school too and no lysol wipes... miracle I survived this long, huh?

[momo4]

I would like to mention that the teacher my son last year had told me to ignore the school supply list that is given by the school. She said she didn't need to have us all bring her seven glue sticks each when she had a whole 5 gallon bucket full! She gave us a new list that made so much more sense so I went by that. This year (except for very cheap basics) I'm waiting untill orientation before shopping for supplies. Sometimes if you talk to the teacher (especially ones with lots of experience) they can give you advice.