Anyone else get annoyed.. (School Supplies)

[mom2taylorandemily]

I am a substitute school teacher and I go into all grades in the elementary school I teach in and I as the teacher hate community supplies. The students become so used to having the teacher dictate how to use their supplies that they learn no responsiblity. I purchase good supplies for my kids and I want my kids to use them. I have a DD with some learning and emotional issues, so sharing supplies tends to make her a little panic driven so, every year I have to go and explain to the teacher that it is important that she get to keep her own supplies.

 

[smidgy]

we've gotten a "mite" off topic, but, it happens...
God bless you home schoolers!! I know I could never have done it!
Private vs. public. : I was fortunate enough to go to a 4 room Lutheran school. it was great cause ungraded classrooms made individualized learning
possible. and those teachers were paid peanuts!
I couldn't afford to send my boys to private school, but I was fortunate enough (with many sacrifices) to stay home with them until the youngest was in school full time, and then work part time while they were in school.
so... back to the original topic... i was always jealous as a kid of those kids who had the 48 color or... OMG the 64 color!!! crayolas! I always swore my kids would never have those cheap wax crayons that never really worked. and when my kids wanted the "trapper" folders (remember in the 80s, do they still make them?) my boys had them. but if I spent a little out of my "personal clothing allowance" or served generic spaghetti sauce without meat as dinner so my boys could have these... by golly, my boys were going to use these for themselves. (and if the little girl down the street wished she could have it, gee I found a way to buy one for her, too)
but what I couldn't afford was to supply the whole classroom. but I DID have the TIME, so I was a room mom. and I drove those twins on my son's soccer team to every game, cause their parents didn't bother to even come to any games, and never even met me or said "thank you". and I baked extra goodies for the valentine's party, etc, to make up for the parents who couldn't be bothered.
my sons' teachers knew, if you needed something, ask Todd or Jeremy's mom, she'll do it. they loved me!
I always taught my boys to share, and now, at the ages of 26 and 29, they have shown me numerous times what sharing young men they have become.

and I STILL say, every child should only be REQUIRED to supply what THEY need, and use what THEIR parents bought for them. If there are any truly needy children in the school, ASK for donations. this is not a Socialist state. we get to pick and choose to which charities we donate. (I like Salvation Army and Disabled Veterans. ) and helping out anyone close to home I see in need.

 

[HeatherSue]

and I STILL say, every child should only be REQUIRED to supply what THEY need, and use what THEIR parents bought for them. If there are any truly needy children in the school, ASK for donations. this is not a Socialist state. we get to pick and choose to which charities we donate. (I like Salvation Army and Disabled Veterans. ) and helping out anyone close to home I see in need.

You couldn't have put it better. This is the true solution and how it was done when I was a kid. I don't remember anyone ever not having a pencil or paper! You sound like you were a great mother, too! I hope to be the go-to mom when my daughter starts school this Fall!

 

[luvsJack]

and I STILL say, every child should only be REQUIRED to supply what THEY need, and use what THEIR parents bought for them. If there are any truly needy children in the school, ASK for donations. this is not a Socialist state. we get to pick and choose to which charities we donate. (I like Salvation Army and Disabled Veterans. ) and helping out anyone close to home I see in need.

I agree with this too. I do not mind buying an extra set of supplies for a child who doesnt' have any. I just want to be asked not told I must.
Another way would be to tell the parents which things are going to be shared by the class. Like put "each child needs to bring the following items which will be shared by the class", that way the parent knows ahead of time and their child is not picking out something special that will be given to another child.

 

[Clio]

I don't post much, but until I came across this thread I'd never heard of such a thing as buying community supplies.
Here in NE Ohio, people only buy school supplies for their kids. I know of no school district around here that asks for communtiy supplies. This includes one that as alot of Mexican children. Our churches and other agencies help children whose parents can't affort supplies. I work in a large store and see supply lists for several near by school systems but public and private.
Liz

 

[iheartdisney]

We've had our list since registration, which was before the end of last school year. Again, this is my oldest starting Kinderarten, so its all new to me!
I like that it instructs us NOT to label that everything will be shared. And after reading some posts on here (12 sticks of glue!!!) I'm glad that ours is reasonable (no more than 2 of everything) but alot of it is the costly "washable crayola". But with only one 5 year old, I can see why a teacher wouldn't want 20 five year olds with permanent crayola markers!
So we can personalize with backpacks and and lunchboxes!

 

[MusiqChic99]

I would rather have another child use what I bought my son then to have another child be left out because they didn't have something.

I would have no problem with my son sharing this stuff with other children and I would encourage him to do so.

 

[noodleknitter]

I don't post much, but until I came across this thread I'd never heard of such a thing as buying community supplies.
Here in NE Ohio, people only buy school supplies for their kids. I know of no school district around here that asks for communtiy supplies. This includes one that as alot of Mexican children. Our churches and other agencies help children whose parents can't affort supplies. I work in a large store and see supply lists for several near by school systems but public and private.
Liz

LOL. Southern Ohio has plenty of schools that share. I guess we are just nicer...

Schools "demand" things of parent's all of the time. Getting all huffy about a teacher who's feels his/her class time is better spent on academics rather than admiring one's princess pencils is silly.

 

[TheRatPack]

Just a quick note on what happens to half the supplies you send in....well they get cleaned up out of the floors, cubbies, lockers...etc at the end of the year. I have 2 members of my family that work as custodians at local schools, one elementary and one middle. At the end of the year, they come across LandsEnd backpacks, whole packages of pencils and crayons that were never opened, packages of dry erase markers, end of the year gifts from students....etc that the teacher has put in the garbage or beside the garbage to be 'tossed'....I was AMAZED. They found HUGE displays of textbooks and workbooks that were not even used, binders with whole packs of paper in them...again, unused!!!

The post about teacher's houses having boxes of tissues with student's name on them though...that's just wrong if they took them but reminded me of all those items left behind at the end of the year....so maybe those teachers took them home if they changed schools, grades....etc?

 

[BeckyScott]

RatPack, not to veer o/t, but that reminds me very much of back in my youth when I worked as a counselor at a very snooty camp. Each session was 3 weeks long and most of the luggage was packed by nannies.

The kids, especially the teens, would leave stuff like crazy. Maybe they were told to by the parents, I don't know. They would bring a full-size bottle of shampoo, but I guess it was too much hassle to pack it to take home. After 3 weeks, at least half the bottle was left, and it was good-brand shampoo. Needless to say, none of the counselors had to buy shampoo, and I think I packed about a half dozen bottles to bring home at the end. And it was more than shampoo, they left a ton of stuff.

I haven't ever had a teacher here ask for community supplies, although there is an organization that takes donations and distributes them throughout the school district. However, every year sometime around February, a flier comes home asking for specific things the class has run short on. If I have the stuff, I'll send it. Lots of times I will have bought extra crayons or notebooks when they were 9 cents, to have at home, and haven't used yet.

The past couple of years I've also been a room mom, and it's hard to get donations for the parties. It's hard to get parents for the parties and other school activities. But I have the time, so I can do it, last year youngest DS's class had no one volunteer to room mom and the teacher called me. One of the parochial schools here requires the parent either chip in $x a year for parties and other activities, or commit to a certain number of hours. I think that covers everyone pretty well. You can do one or the other. And there are things you can do at home. But I think there is an assumption there that if you have the $ for tuition, you should be able to come up with the $ for school supplies or the class party.

 

[wdwmaw]

Just a quick note on what happens to half the supplies you send in....well they get cleaned up out of the floors, cubbies, lockers...etc at the end of the year. I have 2 members of my family that work as custodians at local schools, one elementary and one middle. At the end of the year, they come across LandsEnd backpacks, whole packages of pencils and crayons that were never opened, packages of dry erase markers, end of the year gifts from students....etc that the teacher has put in the garbage or beside the garbage to be 'tossed'....I was AMAZED. They found HUGE displays of textbooks and workbooks that were not even used, binders with whole packs of paper in them...again, unused!!!

This is true here also. Also true at the end of the school day. The janitors go from room to room and sweep everything in the hall. I pay my DD $1 everyday to walk down the hall and gather up all of the pencils, crayons, markers and stuff. Well it goes in my stash and is used for new students to my class or to replace broken or misplaced things. I have on a rare occasion ever had to ask parents for more supplies, they have spent enough.

 

[iheartdisney]

OK, here is my newest annoyance...
I was in Walmart yesterday and saw the beloved 22-cent 24 count crayons, so i grabbed 10 boxes.
So I get home and go to mark them off DDs list, and they need the 48 count- which are NOT in the sale bins...
Now since they are community supplies that no doubt will go in a large bin...
for you teachers, would 8 boxes of 24 count be the same as 4 boxes of 48 count?

 

[rt2dz]

OK, here is my newest annoyance...
I was in Walmart yesterday and saw the beloved 22-cent 24 count crayons, so i grabbed 10 boxes.
So I get home and go to mark them off DDs list, and they need the 48 count- which are NOT in the sale bins...
Now since they are community supplies that no doubt will go in a large bin...
for you teachers, would 8 boxes of 24 count be the same as 4 boxes of 48 count?

Not at our school because they don't have the same colors! Our school does that--not the sale stuff; grrrrrrrrrrrrr.

 

[Grendalynn]

That a gripe over sharing crayons and pencils would get 8,000+ views???

 

[TheRatPack]

This is true here also. Also true at the end of the school day. The janitors go from room to room and sweep everything in the hall. I pay my DD $1 everyday to walk down the hall and gather up all of the pencils, crayons, markers and stuff. Well it goes in my stash and is used for new students to my class or to replace broken or misplaced things. I have on a rare occasion ever had to ask parents for more supplies, they have spent enough.

At the end of the school year we get a load of things that came from the school. The principal's/teacher's....etc throw so much stuff away, and tell the custodians that if they want it, take it. My family members that work in the schools remember that I homeschool and bring it to me We've gotten tons of workbooks, a whole storage bin of crayons/pens/whiteboard markers/pencils/colored pencils/textbooks....etc And the strangest find....a breadmaker LOL The school safety officer (police officer) brought it in and said his wife didn't like making bread, I'm loving it LOL Oh and a punch bowl....odd LOL

Oh and the amount of those really expensive calculators left behind...WOWZERS. And half used spiral bound paper, 3 ring binders that didn't have anything in them except maybe a name, Lands End backpacks.....truly we're amazed every year what gets left behind. Lots of gifts that students give to the teacher's are thrown away too , that made me sad....as my kids used to go to public school and we always gave gifts to their teacher's.

 

[matthew&haleysmom]

OK, here is my newest annoyance...
I was in Walmart yesterday and saw the beloved 22-cent 24 count crayons, so i grabbed 10 boxes.
So I get home and go to mark them off DDs list, and they need the 48 count- which are NOT in the sale bins...
Now since they are community supplies that no doubt will go in a large bin...
for you teachers, would 8 boxes of 24 count be the same as 4 boxes of 48 count?

This is the one thing about the my child's list that annoys me. Her school request 32 count crayons. Not 24 or even 48. Do you know how hard it is to find 32? I know lomger even try.

 

[fraggie]

As a teacher of little ones, I would instruct parents to label certain things and not others. Things like glue, pencils, construction paper, ... would not be labeled. It is easier to not have names on glue because they take too long to find their "own" glue in a bucket of bottles. Other things are labeled because I think if the parents buy it the child should use it.

I also spend several hundred dollars over the course of the year to buy things that the parents can't afford. I knew this going in as a teacher. I also have great parents who will volunteer to bring things in extra when needed.

We have a entering First grader. Last year we bought snacks for the first week of school so his teach would not have to worry about getting one more thing. Because of this we were not placed on the snack list for a couple of months. She said we had already done too much. I would sneak into her room when the class was at lunch and check out her snack supply. If it was low, we would just show up with snacks. hehehehe She would get soo mad at us because we were doing too much as she called it. We are just not going to let our child suffer because not all parents can afford to bring in a class snack.

We will do the same this year for first grade.

 

[Irelfan]

I agree- I spend a fortune in supplies every year but my child gets a wonderful education in return!

 

[scjo68]

This is the one thing about the my child's list that annoys me. Her school request 32 count crayons. Not 24 or even 48. Do you know how hard it is to find 32? I know lomger even try.

Yes!

I have no problem buying supplies, or sharing with others.

I am getting annoyed by how incredibly picky the lists are.

Six file folders, with each color specifically required. One must be black. I Cannot find a plain, simple black pocket folder- dd will have to make due with navy blue.

Supply lists now require "Non- Purple" glue sticks. Of course every store has bins and bins of the purple ones, and the clear ones are way more expensive-and hard to find.

My favorite is this: 1 pack of 100 yellow index cards. I can find packs of rainbow colored, 25 of which are yellow; or a pack of 100 white. No one sells a pack of all yellow.

I will add that when I taught, we were not allowed to be so specific.

We could ask for glue, crayons, etc., that was it.

 

[gaelic grace]

Since I work pt in education and my husband is a former teacher turned administrator I will admit my bias right now but I can't believe what I'm reading. School supply lists are requests not demands as some people have stated. I don't know of one public school that pats little Johnny down before he enters the school building and demands his supplies before he can attend. If anyone has ever had that happen contact the ACLU you have a lawsuit.

As for communal vs individual there are good reasons for both as have been stated here. Individual does foster responsibility but there is a wide range of maturity in lower elementary. For those of you upset that crayons are being shared I bet some of you would think it was harsh if the teacher wouldn't accept your childs paper because they lost, broke or smashed their red crayon. I would too! I also don't want teachers having to spend the time to go through 22 or more supply boxes each day and then write notes home as to which supplies might be lost. Communal has it's issues as well. It may not be as sanitary, responsibility might set in a few grades later, etc., Look at all the varying opinions on this subject and just think -is it possible a teacher could ever make an entire classroom of parents happy? Just as students have individual learning styles teachers have different teaching styles. Maybe they will teach responsibility in other areas or sharing in other areas.

There may be a few teachers who are taking supplies home, selling, stockpiling etc., but they are few and far between. For every "I knew a teacher who..." story you can tell who wasted, or didn't use something I can tell you 100 stories of the generosity of spirit shown by the rest. (BTW how do you feel about medical staff who make alot more than teachers stockpiling samples at their homes)

If the worst thing that happens to my child is that they bring home the "crappy" colored pencils- color me happy. If a teacher might get to re-use an overhead marker or only use 365 of the 500 sheets of paper I send in so be it. I consider it a slight offset to the hundreds of dollars of personal money I know are spent in most classrooms not to mention an advance on all the free hugs, kind words, nudges in the right direction, and firm correction they give all year.
I come from a family of teachers and I hope none of them see this post. Teaching is a job that is hard enough without having to worry about boxing up half used pencils and kleenex to send home in May.