Can I gripe about School Supplies?

[Southernmiss]

Dd as of fifth grade already knew which brands of school supplies were better quality and named crayola and dixon and ticonderoga all without having seen the dis last year. I don't mind getting the name brand because they do last longer and work better.

 

[Kathi OD]

Welcome to Catholic School and their ripoffs!!!!

I can assure you, that list would have easily been bought at WalMart for $30 tops. (probably more like $25 with the school sales)

well since the 12 pack of washable Crayola markers is $5.88 at WalMart, and there are 4 in the supply box, I'm not sure how you would be able to buy everything on that list for less than $30.

Having said that, I do think that $90 is too much for everything that's included and see no reason to be purchasing such quantities for each child.

When I taught in a Catholic school, the only thing we required to be purchased at school were copybooks. We sold them for what we paid for them. Everything else on the list was purchase your own brand. If there was a special project, and I thought that the supplies the children had were inferior, I usually paid for that OOP.

 

[GadgetTheInventor]

Turning privately purchased school supplies into communal classroom supplies is just teaching kids to throw personal accountability out the window. I've worked in many schools without ever having my own classroom and just cringe at how neglectful students are these days with their school supplies. I don't understand why parents don't push back because aren't schools supposed to be modeling and encouraging skills that will help them get and keep a job in the future?

I did my own shopping when I was in school. My mother used the school supplies list as a tool to teach me budgeting. I had two pairs of scissors from 1st grade through college. Crayons? No more than a few boxes. I'd buy a pack of refillable mechanical pencils every 3 to 4 years. Teachers forbade students from using Trapper Keepers, but students pushed back and I ended up using three from third grade until I graduated. I covered my books in brown paper grocery sacks that kids these days seem to have no clue how to do and just buy expensive covers or worse, not cover their books at all. I felt horrible when I had to go to my parents and admit that I had broken my plastic protractor and would need to buy a new one...but it turned me into the frugal and responsible adult that I am today and am grateful for their parenting techniques and the teachers that supported it.

 

[Minnie_me]

Turning privately purchased school supplies into communal classroom supplies is just teaching kids to throw personal accountability out the window. I've worked in many schools without ever having my own classroom and just cringe at how neglectful students are these days with their school supplies. I don't understand why parents don't push back because aren't schools supposed to be modeling and encouraging skills that will help them get and keep a job in the future?

It's almost impossible to do in the early years. I taught Kindergarten for 20 years, and now teach pre-K. Communal supplies is the way to go. Otherwise, you are spending all of your time asking, "Whose crayon is this?" because they're always rolling on the floor or being left on a table. I agree that when children are older, they need to be taught responsibility, but the little ones aren't ready.

 

[lauradis]

Bought the supply box one year and it was junk...

Don't buy the box !!! Just grab the brand name stuff on sale. I store our school supply horde in the laundry room. Ask the teacher what supplies she really needs several times thru out year.

I would hate to have store 1512 pencils (72 per 21 kids in class)
252 glue sticks
63 boxes of tissue
etc etc

Last year I cleaned out all old art supplies from the house, I had no idea that I we had 5 gallon tote of used crayons hiding in our house, plus old wrapping paper etc gave it all to art teacher,,,, so don't forget the art teachers too

 

[torinsmom]

There are less problems with communal supplies, IME. We tried each child having a plastic box with their supplies in it one year and it lasted maybe 3 weeks. We always had to wait to start a lesson for several kids to sharpen pencils, or get a replacement. We'd start coloring a project and several kids would be missing a crayon they needed. It just did not work for us. My assistant or I sharpen all the pencils each morning and the kids get one when they need it. Baskets of crayons with multiples of each color are shared when we are doing project. Glue sticks are in a basket and replaced when they run dry. It just works for us and I have never had a parent complain.

 

[lauradis]

There are less problems with communal supplies, IME. We tried each child having a plastic box with their supplies in it one year and it lasted maybe 3 weeks. We always had to wait to start a lesson for several kids to sharpen pencils, or get a replacement. We'd start coloring a project and several kids would be missing a crayon they needed. It just did not work for us. My assistant or I sharpen all the pencils each morning and the kids get one when they need it. Baskets of crayons with multiples of each color are shared when we are doing project. Glue sticks are in a basket and replaced when they run dry. It just works for us and I have never had a parent complain.

I don't think most parents are complaining about communal supplies. its x brand of 72 sharpened pencils, 24 glue sticks, 2-4 boxes of markers and crayons, colored pencils. Orange plastic folder by five star, 3 in binders that never get used. 8 pack of expo dry eraser markers. 5 boxes of tissues and the list just goes on and on some years.

I understand teachers pad the numbers because some parents can't or wouldn't send in stuff, but really 1512 sharpened pencils on the first day of school.

 

[torinsmom]

I don't think most parents are complaining about communal supplies. its x brand of 72 sharpened pencils, 24 glue sticks, 2-4 boxes of markers and crayons, colored pencils. Orange plastic folder by five star, 3 in binders that never get used. 8 pack of expo dry eraser markers. 5 boxes of tissues and the list just goes on and on some years.

I understand teachers pad the numbers because some parents can't or wouldn't send in stuff, but really 1512 sharpened pencils on the first day of school.

That IS a lot. I believe we ask for 24 pencils, 4 glue sticks, a pack of markers, a pack of crayons, a pack of colored pencils, 2 dry erase markers, 2 packs of ziplocs and 2 boxes of kleenex. We tend to send a wish list home later in the year if we find we're running short on something.

 

[Colleen27]

well since the 12 pack of washable Crayola markers is $5.88 at WalMart, and there are 4 in the supply box, I'm not sure how you would be able to buy everything on that list for less than $30.

Wow! My girls both needed the 10 pack of fine-tipped Crayola markers and those ran me 98¢ on sale at Meijer. $5 is a big price jump for two extra colors!

I'm doing school shopping one child at a time to spread out the expense. My 5yo's list cost about $13, including two boxes of Kleenex and two tubs of Lysol wipes. My 12yo's list cost $8, but she had scissors, highlighters, marking pencils, etc. leftover from last year.

I still don't have my 15yo's supply list - the public schools here like to make us wait until after the school supply sales and aisles are long gone before they tell us what we need (he'll get this list on the first day of school, after Labor Day), and while I guess at basics like notebooks and pencils I inevitably end up making the 30min drive to Staples to overpay for some random thing that CVS doesn't keep in stock year-round.

Turning privately purchased school supplies into communal classroom supplies is just teaching kids to throw personal accountability out the window. I've worked in many schools without ever having my own classroom and just cringe at how neglectful students are these days with their school supplies. I don't understand why parents don't push back because aren't schools supposed to be modeling and encouraging skills that will help them get and keep a job in the future?

I can understand that argument for older kids, but around here communal supplies tends to be something that is only done in early elem. I don't think a typical 5yo is learning to throw personal accountability out the window because he grabs a black crayon from the tub in the middle of the table instead of having to re-sharpen his own mid-assignment.

 

[MomofIndigo]

wow, I am glad DD will be in private school. We give them a fee but they will never ask for another amount again throughout the year. No fundraisers, no field trip $, nothing. It covers all costs including books/workbook/supplies, etc..

 

[delilah]

I sent my son to a Catholic elementary school, and he is now in 10th grade at a Catholic high school, and he may well attend a Catholic university. Who knows?

I speak as a member of the parish council/school commission at my school for many years that the amount of tuition that a family pays doesn't begin to pay for the expenses associated with educating their children. Raising the tuition by $100 per year wouldn't begin to cover it. A large percentage of the Sunday collection at parishes that have schools goes to paying for the schools, just every day expenses, like teacher salaries, heating the school, repairing the roof, and so on and so forth. As a parent and as a leader of the parish community, I would love to see all of my fellow parishioners able to afford to send their children to our parish school Different Catholic schools have different models for charging tuition. One parish in the area used to not charge active parishioners any tuition. Over time, they needed to switch to charging tuition, because there were people who weren't paying a fair amount into the collection to cover their share, since, technically, the parish can't put a dollar amount on what contribution constitutes an "active" parishioner for tax purposes. Contributions to the church are deductible; tuition is not. Childcare after school is deductible, school day expenses are not. At our parish, parishioners were charged one level of tuition, and non parishioners were charged more, but, not even the higher amount covered the expenses, which are thousands more than the tuition. So, parishioners, in effect, who don't have children in the school are subsidizing the education of those who aren't parishioners.

My schools parent organization would sell supply bags for each grade, and I know that we paid a fair price, even if we bought crayons and markers when they were on sale at Target for $1. I thought it was a great convenience to me as a parent, in much the same way the Disney Dining plan is a convenience, and doesn't necessarily save me money, but, I am never far from breaking even.

But, people who are parishioners who support the school do so much more than give money to the fundraisers. We paint the school rooms during the summer. Parishioners who are electricians and roofers donate their time to do those repairs. We have an silent auction, and I donate my DVC points to earn money for the school. My husband and I judge the science fair.

I respect the teachers at my school, and I think they deserve fair pay for the work that they do, and shouldn't have to spend their own money for supplies for the classroom. I would personally be mortified if I knew this to be the case in my son's classroom. I have donated tissues, tylenol, bandaids, etc to the school, way beyond what my son might have used. Yes, some parents may not have sent in their share, but, at least the kids and teachers have what they need.