Post your crazy school supply item here.

[Pinnie]

As a now retired kindergarten and special ed teacher, I can speak for the teachers that pool resources. In my classroom, (1/2, day 25 kids each session) we had tables and not desks. There was no place in the room to put individual kids supplies. We used baskets for crayons and dumped a few boxes in each basket and put that on the tables. We also requested the "good pencils" for the same reasons other teachers have posted, they sharpen easier and are more durable.

A parent of a child with celiac disease pointed out to me that Rose Art crayons are wheat based and her child could not even handle them. We also requested Crayola because of their true colors and durability.

I wish I had had the storage space to house 50+ pencil boxes but that was not possible. We were not allowed to put anything on the heat registers along the windows, so that whole shelf was wasted space.

Best wishes to all the teachers on here this year! I must admit I am enjoying retirement so much!

pinnie

 

[reginaastralis]

I use post its for writing. Some kids can go through a whole pad in no time with the strategies I teach them for increasing the vocabulary level in writing, working on ideas or replacing sentence structure. As the national standards for education come into play this year, even kindergarten students will be using highlighters to find key words and phrases and learn how to transfer them into writing. All areas will be heavily dependent upon writing , if you think the supply lists are bad wait until you see what they have in store for them academically.

I wish we could "like" posts on here. I love this. The state of Florida got a shock when the FCAT results were so bad they had to change the standards back to the old ones. It's insane! My dd just took her first standardized test this year, and luckily did well ... but next year I think she takes both the Fcat and the ones the younger grades take. It might be the next year for the Fcat first ...

Like I said, I'd rather spend $50 (or more) on supplies and make sure my kid is well taken care of. If that means that some kids who aren't as lucky might use my child's supplies, I'm fine with that. My mom always bought her own hand soap, tissues and lysol wipes. (Plus there were years she bought every single supply for her class) I can't speak for your schools, but my mom would wipe down the kids desk at least once a week or more if there were a lot of kids out with the same sickness. She said the custodians used the same bucket and rag to "clean" every desk. She was also the teacher who bought kids shoes so they could participate in PE. I just know how much my mom gets paid, and technically since she's paying more for health insurance now, she's taken a pay cut in recent years. I agree with the teachers who've posted that Staples is doing a disservice for our teachers ... Teachers aren't doing this for the money! They are doing it because the love to teach!!

 

[MrsPete]

I am the mom with the fruit scented Expo markers and, yes, I did ask why. The teachers prefer them because they smell better. Simple as that, nothing nefarious. I posted because in all the years I have had a child in school, no one has ever asked for them before and all the clerks at the stores looked at me oddly when I asked if they carried them.

LOTS of people are bothered by the strong-smelling markers. More than one student has come to me quietly after class to say, "Will you please move me away from the front row? The markers bother me."

Also, you never want to get the cheap markers. They're gone in a day or two, whereas the better quality markers last and last.

You need to sit down with any superintendent and treasurer of any school district and see where the money goes. It isn't as much money as you think schools get. It doesn't go for a ton of supplies. Approximately 80% of the money is spent on staff salaries-teachers, principals, custodians, secretaries, etc. School are a service industry and 80% of the money is generally spent on staff in any service industry. Then you have to heat the buildings, provide water, and maintain the buildings along with the school grounds, athletic fields. Technology is also an expense along with supplies like paper, copiers, art supplies. Just how much money do you think is left for individual student supplies? I don't make a lot of money, in fact, I haven't had a raise in 3 years and my last raise was $750 for the year, and I only got that because I did more degree work at my own expense. I do my job because I love it and the kids I serve. I do spend my own money on classroom books, art supplies not provided by the school, gifts for Christmas for the students and gifts they can make and give their parents. There may be a few school districts out there mismanaging their money, but I can assure you that most do a great job on stretching your tax dollars.

This is true. One huge expense that you didn't mention is busses; busses cost a fortune. You're also right that technology is taking a huge bite from our budgets these days; we need to use more and more technology, and it constantly needs to be updated -- that comes at a cost. Except for xerox paper (which is rationed), teachers have very few supplies provided by the school. We can argue whether this is right or wrong, but in the meantime, the kids need materials.

As someone who is sending a child off to college in a very few weeks, I have to ask:

What are you going to do when you have to pay for college? You think pencils are expensive? Hooboy, you are in for a shock!

Isn't it the truth! Furthermore, you know what they say, When people whine that it's not the money, it's the principle of the thing . . . it's the money.

My DS is going into 7th. grade and they need a ton of glue stickers and 2 packs of colored pencils. I can't understand why they need to color and glue in 7th. grade. But in 6th. grade also they would glue everything in their composition notebooks and color pictures in them.

My kids colored lots of maps in 7th grade. It was a big geography year.

I never went crazy with the lists-- if they wanted 5 tissue boxes, they got 1.

Number of boxes of Kleenex used in my classroom last year: 34, yes I keep track of these things because I deduct them from my taxes.
Number of boxes of Kleenex purchased by me, the teacher: 34

Could I afford to supply my daughter's entire class with the supplies? Probably. The point is that I am unwilling to do so. I purchase supplies for my child's use. In first grade my daughter had to bring in 10 folders. I let her pick all her supplies, most had Disney characters on them.

I am a very active parent. Often on Fridays, I have lunch with my daughter at school and then spend the afternoon there. One day, I noticed my daughter's "Friday Folder" was plain blue. Another girl at her table had a Princess Belle folder with my daughter's name blacked out. That teacher subscribed to the socialist share everything mentality.

That afternoon, I had a long conversation with my elected school board member and the principal of that school. I re-purchased my daughter the folders that she wanted, printed her name on each and sent to the classroom. The teacher had a different attitude toward me over the next few Fridays. I guess she was a bit upset with me.

In second and third grade, I made it clear with the teacher that these supplies are not for communal use. Since I gave each of these teachers a gift of a box of copy paper, they honored my wishes.

I hope you appreciate that the teacher is in a lose-lose situation here. If the teacher shares supplies, you're upset. If the teachers doesn't share supplies, some of her students go without or she opens her own wallet . . . yet again. I hope you spoke to the teacher personally before you went above her head.

 

[torinsmom]

I wish we could "like" posts on here. I love this. The state of Florida got a shock when the FCAT results were so bad they had to change the standards back to the old ones. It's insane! My dd just took her first standardized test this year, and luckily did well ... but next year I think she takes both the Fcat and the ones the younger grades take. It might be the next year for the Fcat first ...

Like I said, I'd rather spend $50 (or more) on supplies and make sure my kid is well taken care of. If that means that some kids who aren't as lucky might use my child's supplies, I'm fine with that. My mom always bought her own hand soap, tissues and lysol wipes. (Plus there were years she bought every single supply for her class) I can't speak for your schools, but my mom would wipe down the kids desk at least once a week or more if there were a lot of kids out with the same sickness. She said the custodians used the same bucket and rag to "clean" every desk. She was also the teacher who bought kids shoes so they could participate in PE. I just know how much my mom gets paid, and technically since she's paying more for health insurance now, she's taken a pay cut in recent years. I agree with the teachers who've posted that Staples is doing a disservice for our teachers ... Teachers aren't doing this for the money! They are doing it because the love to teach!!

We wash the tables with clorox wipes every afternoon. We also have the kids use hand sanitizer when they walk in the door in the morning. These things really cut down on sickness in the classroom. We insist on actual handwashing before lunch and I supply moisturizing hand soap, as the industrial stuff the school supplies makes my hands burn. And man, do we got through the kleenex!

 

[wgeo]

We wash the tables with clorox wipes every afternoon. We also have the kids use hand sanitizer when they walk in the door in the morning. These things really cut down on sickness in the classroom. We insist on actual handwashing before lunch and I supply moisturizing hand soap, as the industrial stuff the school supplies makes my hands burn. And man, do we got through the kleenex!

Don't know why I've never bothered to ask the teachers before. But I've seen my kids' teachers wipe down table/desks often enough that I could easily believe they do it every day. So the question is - the supply lists say a box of baby wipes, but I usually send in Lysol or Clorox wipes -- is one better than another should I do baby wipes instead?

Gina

 

[reginaastralis]

We wash the tables with clorox wipes every afternoon. We also have the kids use hand sanitizer when they walk in the door in the morning. These things really cut down on sickness in the classroom. We insist on actual handwashing before lunch and I supply moisturizing hand soap, as the industrial stuff the school supplies makes my hands burn. And man, do we got through the kleenex!

I have to say when my mom first started teaching, I don't even think Clorox wipes existed, lol. And she was the rare teacher cleaning their desks. Now as a media specialist, she was sick more last year than ever before.

And if my daughter ever moves out of Nana's school, I'll happily ship a box of clorox wipes and such to the media specialist ... think about the kids that go in there each week. My mom sees more than 450 kids a week ... it's a walking germ infestation ...

 

[LocaRoja]

Don't know why I've never bothered to ask the teachers before. But I've seen my kids' teachers wipe down table/desks often enough that I could easily believe they do it every day. So the question is - the supply lists say a box of baby wipes, but I usually send in Lysol or Clorox wipes -- is one better than another should I do baby wipes instead?

Gina

I have the exact same question about my kid's supply list: it just says "wipes"...while there are lots of cases of overly specific supply requests in this thread, I'd like just a touch more info this particular one.

 

[monsterkitty]

Don't know why I've never bothered to ask the teachers before. But I've seen my kids' teachers wipe down table/desks often enough that I could easily believe they do it every day. So the question is - the supply lists say a box of baby wipes, but I usually send in Lysol or Clorox wipes -- is one better than another should I do baby wipes instead?

Gina

I use the Clorox wipes (not allowed to use Lysol because the Fire Marshall said so) for desks and the baby wipes for dirty hands. Some kids even wash their faces with them.

 

[chicagodisneyfan]

I am a very active parent. Often on Fridays, I have lunch with my daughter at school and then spend the afternoon there. One day, I noticed my daughter's "Friday Folder" was plain blue. Another girl at her table had a Princess Belle folder with my daughter's name blacked out. That teacher subscribed to the socialist share everything mentality.

In second and third grade, I made it clear with the teacher that these supplies are not for communal use. Since I gave each of these teachers a gift of a box of copy paper, they honored my wishes.

Hopefully you child is getting a better education - that is what it is all about right? You used the word socialism incorrectly. In the instance above, communism is correct. From the Latin communis - which means shared or belonging to all.

It is a great thing to teach children - the power of sharing.

 

[rszdtrvl]

When it comes to supplies, don't rule out thrift stores!

I found my son an excellent condition Reebok Mead ZIPPERED 3-Ring binder (1 1/2" or 2" size) for only $1 today! I was super excited, as this is a circa 1997 binder, and it is very cool looking. The binder barely looks used!

My son is in high school, so other than the "basic" stuff, he may need an expensive calculator. But I am hoping the TI-83 Plus that I found for $3 at a yard sale last year will work. If not, then I already plan on spending $100+ on a calculator for him.

 

[eksb327]

I have the exact same question about my kid's supply list: it just says "wipes"...while there are lots of cases of overly specific supply requests in this thread, I'd like just a touch more info this particular one.

I have used the baby wipes to clean little faces and the whiteboards. The clorox wipes were used to clean the desks of the classroom.

The students may be using the index/recipe file for vocabulary words or for procedural writing.

 

[Marionnette]

Don't know why I've never bothered to ask the teachers before. But I've seen my kids' teachers wipe down table/desks often enough that I could easily believe they do it every day. So the question is - the supply lists say a box of baby wipes, but I usually send in Lysol or Clorox wipes -- is one better than another should I do baby wipes instead?

Gina

The baby wipes are for cleaning the dry erase boards, not the desk tops. They baby wipes work as well or even better than the cleaning spray that the manufacturer of the markers sells but at a fraction of the cost.

 

[alex9179]

I use the Clorox wipes (not allowed to use Lysol because the Fire Marshall said so) for desks and the baby wipes for dirty hands. Some kids even wash their faces with them.

Does anyone know why Lysol brand wouldn't work? I know I've brought both because that's what I had in my stash. I assumed it was just a way to say disinfectant cloths like Kleenex is used for facial tissue.

 

[ceecee]

.
Number of boxes of Kleenex used in my classroom last year: 34, yes I keep track of these things because I deduct them from my taxes.
Number of boxes of Kleenex purchased by me, the teacher: 34QUOTE]

DD's world history teacher gave 5 points extra credit for up to 3 boxes of tissues...she was on that!

 

[mad madam mim78]

Everybody is on the subject of money but this was just an odd request. An old tube sock was one of the supplies. I'm assuming this was so they could wipe the dry erase boards but I couldn't imagine sending my son to school with an old used tube sock. I had the darndest time trying to find a tube sock that looked ok enough that I was willing to part with.

On the other hand maybe I could have donated the other to one of the less fortunate kids in the class. Lol. Some other kid using my DH old socks hahaha!

 

[eksb327]

Everybody is on the subject of money but this was just an odd request. An old tube sock was one of the supplies. I'm assuming this was so they could wipe the dry erase boards but I couldn't imagine sending my son to school with an old used tube sock.

Yep, you're right. Old socks work wonderfully as erasers.

 

[littlered]

I have a Kinder for the first time and they have to bring 24 gluesticks each!!!

Also, 16 count crayons and of course the 24 ones are the ones that go on sale...

 

[torinsmom]

I have a Kinder for the first time and they have to bring 24 gluesticks each!!!

Also, 16 count crayons and of course the 24 ones are the ones that go on sale...

Just send the 24 pack. As a PreK/K teacher, I can assure you, they won't care.

 

[Leajess99]

I have a Kinder for the first time and they have to bring 24 gluesticks each!!!

Also, 16 count crayons and of course the 24 ones are the ones that go on sale...

Buy the 24 count and send them in. If you want you could always pull the 8 extra crayons out but I'd just let the teacher deal with it. Most teachers won't give you problems over the extra crayons.

 

[21yankees]

I have a Kinder for the first time and they have to bring 24 gluesticks each!!!

Also, 16 count crayons and of course the 24 ones are the ones that go on sale...

In Kinder they will use all of them and possibly more. In K they do a lot of art/creative stuff.