Post your crazy school supply item here.

[ceecee]

As others have said, it's a quality/consistancy issue.

The Ticonderoga are quality, they last, they're almost all number 2, so the teachers don't have to worry someone is using something that won't work on a scantron, and I'd wager even specifying yellow would invariably lead to the coated ones. Kids love them but they gunk up sharpeners and make a mess and kids peel them and etc.

Same with the Crayola. The cheapy crayons are not only inferior, break, don't write as well, there may be issues with what's in them and if you're talking about kids that young, someone is eating a crayon at some point. Easier to demand the ones you know will work and be non-toxic. Also there won't be any weird colours floating around for people to argue over or get upset over being stuck with or whatever.

Unfortunately some kids in Kindergarden and First don't write well at all and the parents would send in mechanical pencils, cute but not practical. There is a difference, especially for the ones still mastering their skills. Try coloring with a cheap brand, you CAN tell the difference.
My DD is a junior this year and we really miss buying school supplies! I will get some to donate, Kroger is having a school supply drive!!!

 

[KY*Figment]

So, after my poly-envelope thread, and a little venting about my kids' school wanting them to have Ticonderoga pencils, I figured some of you might like to vent a little about the crazy items on your child's school supply list. And it will make me feel better if I'm not the only parent having to shell out for Ticonderoga pencils for their kindergartner . So, vent away!! I'm eager to hear what other nutso things are on school supply lists this year. BTW-- Apparently, we don't have it as bad off as the other elementary school in our district-- my second grader needed 36 Ticonderoga pencils (costing me about $6)-- the other elementary school is asking for 96 Ticonderoga pencils for second grade-- and they want them sharpened!! That's like $15-$20 in pencils ALONE! --Katie

I went through the same thing but I learner over that year the Ticonderoga pencils last way longer bc the pencil sharpener doesn't eat them away. I buy them for home now. Our PTO does a supply package for each grade. Best $40 spent for me!

 

[RadioMom]

I'm amazed and frankly quite shocked at the school supply lists for you all! I don't know how you do it!
In my city, the only supplies my kids needed in elementary school was a pair of running shoes to keep indoors and a box of tissues if you could send them in and a math set. Secondary School (high school grade 9 - 12) they need more, gym uniforms, binders, paper, pencil crayons and markers, etc.
The elementary schools provide the crayons, workbooks, textbooks, etc. If students want to use pens, pencil crayons or markers they can bring in their own. Some teachers may want some specific things like a red pen or highlighters but it's never multiples of anything or specific name brands that I recall.
It must be very frustrating or disheartening to get a list an arms length long just to get your child an education that you've already paid for.

 

[nobellybutton]

I'm irritated because they want my 1st grader to walk in with 5 packs of crayons.
Five. For each kid. I said that sounded like communism - my husband corrected me to socialism - but whatever! 5 packs of unmarked crayons totally ticks me off. In spite I am thinking about labeling them anyway - that has me fuming.

I completely understand! I marked my children stuff anyway because what they will do with the supplies is its becomes "community supplies". My DS said the teacher had a closet of supplies & she collected everyone who did bring supplies in and put them in the closet and when the lesson called for one of the supplies ex, a notebook, crayons, markers, or clue...she would "provide" the other kids with the supplies brought in by a few. I understand parents not being able to afford everything, but crayons boxes are under $1 and markers most of the time are too. It gets me upset we shell out for 5 packs crayons, 6 packs of wipes, 10 3 subject notebooks when whe KNOW our children are not using it.
Why not just request an extra if possible?? A donation drive would be a better way than to force to buy so much stuff.

 

[FLmomof2]

Our crazy school item is both my kids need a pair of earbuds.

Now I actually am in favor of these as I always got grossed out about the headphones all the kids share because they NEVER got cleaned!

 

[Bell30012]

I'm waiting for the school supply list to come out like this:

• 5 gallons of diesel fuel for the buses
• 10 gallons of wax for the floors
• 20 lbs of chicken for the kitchen
• 1 bag of grass seed for the lawns
• 5 gallons of paint for the walls
• 1 flag for the pole (must be a neutral flag not of a nation)

Oh, and you can send in some pencils too.

 

[carebee21]

Here are my biggest gripes.

1. We still don't have a supply list and we won't be getting one until somewhere between the beginning to middle of August. That won't leave us much time to shop sales or find the best deals. Heck, by that time, some of the products they want could very well be out of stock.

2. I also hate purchasing items for my son and then having the items pooled and him ending up with different stuff. I don't mind so much with things like pencils, paper and even crayons. But I don't understand why he can't keep and label the pencil box, scissors, folder and notebook I buy for him.

3. We've had to buy crayola twistables for the past 3 years. Those things are expensive and there's no reason plain crayons, which are also on the list, can't be used in lieu of these things. I would be fine with it if the supply list wasn't so large or if the school was so well funded that their weren't better things that the money could be spent on , but it isn't. As it stands now, there are hardly any balls for the kids to play with at recess and they rarely do in class arts and crafts because of the lack of supplies and money. And instead of asking parents to purchase paint, paint brushes, or even playground balls, we get asked to buy twistables when crayons are quite sufficient??? I'd rather spend the money for something useful, rather than frivilous.

 

[Jedana]

I teach in a school with many children living in poverty.We have over 80% free and reduced lunch at our school. We ask for very little because our students don't have much. I ask for 2 pencils and a pencil box and still have about 5 that don't bring that. I just usually get people that donate some supplies and of course, I buy the rest. It infuriates me when schools ask for so much...they act like every family can afford it. The whole problem lies with the funding we DON'T get. Teachers are always having to do without, or buy it themselves. With no raise in five years, I am done doing that. I just do the best I can. My advice to those with those expensive supply lists is to go to Target or Walmart and buy whatever pencils you can. I can assure you that in the end it won't really matter.

Last year, my daughter's teachers discovered this site, and it worked pretty well for them. Her AVID teacher requested (and received) books for the college bound classes.

http://www.donorschoose.org/

Put your needs up--things like basics get filled fairly quickly; people wanting electronics and expensive toys don't.

 

[alex9179]

My children's school also specified brands of pencils. Dixon or Ticonderoga and they want 60 for each child in 3rd grade. Now, I don't like those decorative pencils and buy plain #2 for them for school even though I have 100 of these others in a drawer. BUT, the brands are only specified for 3rd grade! All the other grades just say #2 and NONE of the 5 other elementary schools specify brands.

As a result, I'm ignoring the brand name stipulation. They'll live and I have 3 kids that need supplies.

They also specify Kleenex tissues, Germ-X gel, and Chlorox wipes. They will get whatever is on sale! I honestly don't think they'll expect those brands, anyway.

The new thing this year is that all grades are requesting a ream of copy paper. We had some budget cuts in our district, so I guess we're helping stock the copy room.

 

[littlebit0863]

I'm waiting for the school supply list to come out like this:

• 5 gallons of diesel fuel for the buses
• 10 gallons of wax for the floors
• 20 lbs of chicken for the kitchen
• 1 bag of grass seed for the lawns
• 5 gallons of paint for the walls
• 1 flag for the pole (must be a neutral flag not of a nation)

Oh, and you can send in some pencils too.

 

[Jedana]

My son's school has the base lists up--the ones per grade level. For example, this year, his 3rd grade list reads:

3 pks 24 crayons
2 pink erasers
2 box cap erasers
1 pack thin markers
2 composition notebooks
2 single sprial notebooks
4 large glue sticks
1 pair scissors (fiskar)
2 yellow highliters
2 dozen #2 pencils
1 pencil pouch (zippered)
2 pks wide lined notebook paper
4 plastic prong folders w/pockets--red, yellow, green, blue

Then I'll get the teacher specific one once he gets assigned to a class. Last year, it included gallon ziplock bags, Lysol or Clorax wipes, hand soap, hand sanitizer, small snack items or toys for prizes (bribery works at any age!), computer printer paper, and dry erase markers. Also, she asked if we were purchasing books from the Scholastic orders, to do so online with her code, because she would get a free book each time someone placed an order with that code. I was happy to do so, we'd order one book so she would get one free each month. Any other books, I'd buy through Amazon or at Barnes & Noble, and I hit the clearance sales for her as well.


The school does a fund raiser every single month. I'm not sure where the money goes for all of these--the library does it's own fundraiser twice a year and there is a special one for playground equipment every few years.

 

[littlebit0863]

I never knew the combining supplies was for the kids that don't bring anything. I had heard of that before, but always assumed it was because many schools don't use lockers or desks with personal storage space and the teacher doesn't have the time or space to keep 30 kids' stuff separate. But then again, our district doesn't let elementary school kids bring outside supplies so I don't know.

I remember in middle school we didn't have lockers so we were required to have 8 different folders in 8 different colors. First period red, second period dark blue, etc. I used that system from 6th grade all the way through college. It really helped me to become organized.

I do remember having a teacher that required us to have 5 different colors of ink, and she wanted different things written in different ink colors. Ex: If we were doing vocabulary homework, she wanted the word in blue and the definition in purple. If we had something the wrong color we got a 0. THAT was ridiculous.

 

[torinsmom]

I teach PreK/K and I wish there was a way to give parents a list for our class before school. We have to come up with a list as a group of teachers, and there is always stuff I don't need. If anyone hasn't bought supplies when they come to open house, I give them the list of what we really need. I do always ask for Crayola crayons, colored pencils and markers; they just last longer. You can buy them on sale for just as cheap as the lower quality brands. We don't even use the Dollar tree stuff that comes in; the pencils break too easily and half the time, the markers are dried up when we open them. Typically, we ask for:

24 pencils
1 pk Crayola colored pencils
1 pk Crayola crayons(small)
1 pk Crayola crayons(big)
1 pk Crayola markers
1 pk sandwich ziplocs
1 pk gallon ziplocs
4 glue sticks
1 pair scissors
2 8 oz. hand sanitizer
2 packs clorox wipes
2 boxes kleenex
2 pocket folders


Combining supplies isn't about providing for those who don't have the means in our class. We find it cuts down on trouble with the kids keeping up with things. We have a pencil cup full of sharpened pencils for the kids to choose from. They are sharpened each morning, so we don't have to wait for kids to find and/or sharpen pencils. We also have colored pencil holders, one for each color, for the kids to use, and a shelf with baskets of markers and crayons for them to use. We just replace items from the store pile as they are needed. I don't put the cheap stuff out. When we are running low on something, we let the parents know and they are good about sending in what we need.

 

[java]

We got a letter that the school is taking care of supplies this year. I was very surprised.

I'll be even more surprised if we don't get a list requesting items to supply everyone! And I bet it comes home first day of school when all the stuff is gone and sales are over.

I will buy some stuff that we could use at home if not at school just in case during the big sales.

The one thing I really want back from last year is my son's headset. He was required to bring one in a ziploc bag- with his name. He did. Never used it once last year and never got it back. I'll be looking for it when school starts again.

 

[Boston Tea Party]

The thing that bothers a lot of teachers about this deal is - we aren't buying the supplies for US. I would buy spirals, paper, pens, pencils, and folders for the kids I knew could not afford school supplies. To a high school kid, coming in and trying to explain that their parents couldn't or didn't buy supplies is so embarrassing for them. I've had boys cry because they were so mortified that they didn't have anything....and being able to go in a cabinet and give them some basics supplies really means a lot to them. This happens more than you think...and without the good "deals" I can't personally afford to do this for them. I have between 100-120 students PER semester (so 200-240 a year).

Absolutely my situation as well. To have a stock of supplies to give to students who don't have them is invaluable. Staples has really done a disservice to teachers and consequently students and I have expressed that to them.

 

[alex9179]

I teach PreK/K and I wish there was a way to give parents a list for our class before school. We have to come up with a list as a group of teachers, and there is always stuff I don't need. If anyone hasn't bought supplies when they come to open house, I give them the list of what we really need. I do always ask for Crayola crayons, colored pencils and markers; they just last longer. You can buy them on sale for just as cheap as the lower quality brands. We don't even use the Dollar tree stuff that comes in; the pencils break too easily and half the time, the markers are dried up when we open them. Typically, we ask for:

24 pencils
1 pk Crayola colored pencils
1 pk Crayola crayons(small)
1 pk Crayola crayons(big)
1 pk Crayola markers
1 pk sandwich ziplocs
1 pk gallon ziplocs
4 glue sticks
1 pair scissors
2 8 oz. hand sanitizer
2 packs clorox wipes
2 boxes kleenex
2 pocket folders

Out of curiosity, why do teachers request different size boxes of crayons? You may be referring to the actual crayon size instead of count, but I thought you might have some insight

 

[teacherforhi]

I don't know how they could get away with that in a public school system. Public education is supposed to be open and free to all. If someone wanted to challenge that I'm sure that they could easily do so. Just because no one has challenged it doesn't mean that it is ok.

As for the quality issue, so what if the valentines pencils that my kids still use require sharpening twice a week instead of once. If people dont like these then quit giving so many of the darn things in the treat packs you insist on giving out for every darn holiday. NO crayons sold are toxic to children. Not everyone's blue has to be the exact same shade. So what if a crayon breaks - kids have been using broken crayons for over a hundred years! They still work. Everything doesn't have to be perfect for little Susie or Steven Snowflake or even their teacher! It is so wasteful to have to tell people they have to get new stuff every year! The focus on these kinds of issues in the schools is just another example of why our education system continues to fall further and further behind.

I know that these threads come up every year but I still say that these kind of requests are ridiculous.

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I want to know where to get the magic pencils that only need sharpening once o twice a week.

I don't allow pencils with plastic wrapping or glitter to be sharpened in my pencil sharpener, period. They gum up the sharpener and NEVER sharpen correctly. In the past, I've had students needing to sharpen those types of pencils four or five times a class period. If parents want to buy those types of pencils, then they need to buy a small handheld sharpener for their child to use.

 

[Leajess99]

My kindergartner needed 8 packs of crayola crayons, 1 large pencil bag w/zipper and 1 pair fiskars brand blunt tip scissors and $15 donation. I know this is a lot less than most school supply lists but we pay an addtional 1% sales tax in our city dedicated for school use only.
My crazy school supply is a clear or mesh backpack! My ds hates that he can't choose a character backpack because of this rule! And now I have to try and find a cute girlie one for my dd this year. I am sure it sound like our school is a scary place, but we chose this area to live because it is a good school district.

The Target here has some cute Disney ones. They are required by the schools on post here. The mesh ones had Mickey and Minnie ones and the Clear ones had Fairies and I'm not sure what other ones but I looked at some this morning. My kids don't need them but I was impressed that they actually have character ones now.

 

[Leajess99]

I am fine with buying 5, heck, I will even be fine with 10.

But last year, I was so irritated that my kindergartener's teacher wanted one pack of 12 crayons, one pack of 16 crayons, one pack of 24 crayons or some more. I was not able to find the 16 pack or 12 pack anywhere!!

I ended up buying all 24 pack. It didn't even matter. I think they pool everything and share.

We needed the 16 count one year when my middle one was in 1st grade. I ended up buying the 24 count and taking the 8 crayons out but still sent them to the teacher. In the end, it was not my daughter's teacher that wanted the 16 count and she was happier with the 24 count crayons. It is insane to want the smaller boxes as they are so much more expensive.

 

[alex9179]

The Target here has some cute Disney ones. They are required by the schools on post here. The mesh ones had Mickey and Minnie ones and the Clear ones had Fairies and I'm not sure what other ones but I looked at some this morning. My kids don't need them but I was impressed that they actually have character ones now.

Thanks for the tip, I'll have to check that out. My MIL works for Target and we're visiting in a week so I might even get a discount.
Our district has required clear or mesh for several years, but NONE of the stores in my area carried either one until last year. I found mesh ones at Kroger, of all places. The mesh started coming away from the shoulder straps halfway through the year. Nothing like sewing your kid's backpack together because the stores have stopped stocking the required kind!