Shouldn't they be starting soon?

[MarkBarbieri]

It's easy here. The PTO puts together packages and sells them at very reasonable costs. So getting school supplies is as easy as writing a check.

 

[kimblebee]

I have a question about school supplies. I will be travelling down to Fargo, ND on Sept 1-3 for a shopping trip. Gotta love the exchange rate

Will school supplies still be out then? They are so much cheaper that I plan on doing my daughters school supply shopping then but I have been reading the dreaded thread and it seems like the supplies will be gone by then. Will they still be out?

 

[LuvCuteBoys]

School supply shopping lists are a fabulous form of birth control.

 

[MaryAnnDVC]

After spending a fortune on dd's college textbooks for fall, I'm longing for the days of binders and notepaper and Kleenex.

I'm right there with you, along with all the other college expenses! One DD just graduated from college and one is a Junior, and boy, they are/were expensive. They both just got apartments, so I've got tons of PINK and PURPLE bedding, rugs, bath caddies, etc...and my youngest, a HS senior, is a boy. I wonder if I can bribe him to take pink/purple supplies to college. It would probably be cheaper than buying all new stuff.

Ok, can I just vent that I don't have to buy school supplies?

I am utterly in LOVE with school supplies...the smell of a new box of crayons can just curl my toes!

LOL Me too! And I get the urge for new shoes and undies too.

I just went out and found a nice carpet for my classroom for about $30 because my old one was getting a bit shabby.

This reminded me that years ago, when my kids were in elementary school, someone offered to donate carpeting for the library, and the school couldn't accept it without it technically going out to bid, because they needed to put out specs (ie, fireproof) for the carpet, and then have the donated carpet fit the specs. Or something like that. LOL

 

[C.Ann]

I think I saw one over on the BB yesterday - LOL..

Those days are long gone for me..

However, I do still stock up on notebooks, lined paper, pencils, and things like that for myself when the sales start..

 

[dawn1620]

I've spent about $70 so far on supplies for DD when she starts 4th grade this year. On her list was a 2GB flash drive and a clipboard?!

But that is great compared to the $300 supply fee that was mandatory at the small private school she attended from K5 to 3rd grade - she is in public school this year.

Compared to the $75 registration fee, $300 supply fee and the $400 per month tuition fee we were paying we are glad to pay the small list of fees they are asking this year which included things like field trips/class tshirts/ect. I would rather pay all that up front and be done with it. When she attended private school we were forever sending checks for stuff that I thought were covered by the small fortune we turned over at registration each year.

DD was excited to shop for school supplies this year since she has never had to do so. But they also gave the option of paying $75 for their supplies...I will so be paying that next year instead of hunting for 24 different color spiral notebooks needed and certain kinds of graph paper that does not exist. It has been an experience.

 

[tvguy]

It's got to be a false economy - 30 parents buying 30 sets of stationery has got to cost far more than the school bulk buying 300 sets of stationery in one go

Let us not forget that public agencies have a horrible tendency to overpay even when they bulk buy (remember the Air Force and the $500 toilet seats that retailed for $15 at the closest hardware store?)
The schools are in trouble now because the are requiring contracts to use a specific brand of roofing material....a brand that is more expensive but has a short life expectancy and warranty than other brands.

I'm 53 and I do recall our 6th grade year the school got some sort of Federal grant and we all got a pen, a protractor, and all the binder paper we needs. Other than that, I always bought my own.
My kids went to private school from K-12, and always had to buy all their own supplies, and from grade 9 on, their own books. (I envy the person who posted their private school tuition was only $400 a month. I pulled my records, and my son's lowest tuition was for Kindergarten back in 1992 and it was $600 a month.....DD graduated a year ago from High School and her tuition was $1140 a month.
As for school supplies with both kids in college now.....we did some deep cleaning of our walk in closet and kids rooms and I see now we have 8 never used binders, an unopened pack of 500 #2 pencils, 5 packages of 10 BIC pens, 1 ream of small box graph paper, 2 reams of large box graph paper, 4 reams of wide rule paper, 1 ream of college rule, 2 unopened boxes of crayons (THAT will come in handy in college!!).....countless binder subject dividers...etc.

 

[powellrj]

The fee that gets me is the "textbook rental fee" that I think it's the schools in Indiana charge.

Yes, Indiana and our wonderful text book rental fees. Its funny, both of my boys went to the same high school and their book fees were always $250- $300. One graduated in 02 and the other in 09. DD started a new high school this year and hers are only $150. Same classes, just a big difference in price. So far I LOVE her new school.

We haven't gotten her supply list yet, but we have been picking up the basics. Unless they have some outlandish requests like the year I had to buy 7 packs of Swiffer refills, we should get out pretty cheap!

 

[cm8]

Ok, can I just vent that I don't have to buy school supplies?

I am utterly in LOVE with school supplies...the smell of a new box of crayons can just curl my toes!

I should be grateful that our school supplies all the needs for the kids, but I would LOVE a "needs" list. Just sayin'.

 

[MsDisney23]

I am so glad that all of that is behind me!

 

[golfgal]

I've spent about $70 so far on supplies for DD when she starts 4th grade this year. On her list was a 2GB flash drive and a clipboard?!

But that is great compared to the $300 supply fee that was mandatory at the small private school she attended from K5 to 3rd grade - she is in public school this year.

Compared to the $75 registration fee, $300 supply fee and the $400 per month tuition fee we were paying we are glad to pay the small list of fees they are asking this year which included things like field trips/class tshirts/ect. I would rather pay all that up front and be done with it. When she attended private school we were forever sending checks for stuff that I thought were covered by the small fortune we turned over at registration each year.

DD was excited to shop for school supplies this year since she has never had to do so. But they also gave the option of paying $75 for their supplies...I will so be paying that next year instead of hunting for 24 different color spiral notebooks needed and certain kinds of graph paper that does not exist. It has been an experience.

Flash drives are becoming pretty standard for older kids. I know our kids used to have to bring in a "floppy" disk. The flash drives are SO much easier. Our kids use the all the time in high school. They can start a paper in class and save it to their flash and bring it home to finish-or the other way around. They have had to do a lot of powerpoints over the years and used the flash drives for that. They were doing powerpoints in 3rd grade, before flashdrives so they had to do everything at school. Our school also has the option to save papers, etc. on the school hard drive remotely so the kids can type a paper at home, access their account on the school server, save it there, then the teacher can access that file and grade it right on the computer so they don't have to waste paper.

 

[PollyannaMom]

I can't vent about school supply lists because we don't even have them yet!! And school starts the end of this month. I just found out that we aren't even going to know who our kids' teachers are until 6 days before classes start. So by the time we get the lists from those individual teachers, all the best stuff will be gone. (Obviously I've got paper and pencils, etc. - I'm talking about one teacher wanting a binder vs. another wanting x type and color of folders...that sort of thing.)

 

[golfgal]

I can't vent about school supply lists because we don't even have them yet!! And school starts the end of this month. I just found out that we aren't even going to know who our kids' teachers are until 6 days before classes start. So by the time we get the lists from those individual teachers, all the best stuff will be gone. (Obviously I've got paper and pencils, etc. - I'm talking about one teacher wanting a binder vs. another wanting x type and color of folders...that sort of thing.)

Once the kids start high school this is quite common. The kids won't get a school supply list until the first or second day of school and you are right, NOTHING is left then. Actually, when I was in elementary school this is how it was done every year. Like you I picked up notebooks, etc. but I remember last year we had to get "School Glue", not the Glue-Al but real School Glue. We looked all over the place for it--they used it to make silly putty in science. We eventually found it at Walgreens.

 

[MoniqueU]

We never get the lists til school actually starts which is annoying because you miss out on all the sales. I have learned over time not to stress about each and every item on the list. I no longer care if they want my kids to have 3 one inch binders, That doesn't work for ANY of my kids. We do one 3 inch binder with dividers and that works for them. If the school decides that isn't good enough let them get some for my kids!! Most of the stuff on sale is stuff my kids are too old for now anyway like crayons, markers and composition books. I did stock up on some pens and will probably get more but lord forbid they ask me for 3 green pens like they asked for last year. Honestly the stuff on the lists IMHO aren't even really needed because most of it is gone by winter break and my one OCD great student would of demanded I replenish the items if they were really needed. I am not cheap or looking for bargain basement items I just have learned that most stuff isn't even needed. Alot of times during the year something actually is needed like a poster board, index cards or a costume. The costume thing TICKED me off last year as they gave us 2 weeks notice on what country we had for world history day and so I had to pay full price from a costume store rather then risk not getting something in time off ebay.

I also have a son that is in private school so I have to pay his fees which are actually WAY down for football this year but the textbook list last year came about a week before school started. I used Half.com for as many as I could but they were still pricey but I am sure that is just a preview of college to come. Although I am hearing some colleges now have textbooks for e readers which I think is a great thing and would love to have that option.

 

[golfgal]

We never get the lists til school actually starts which is annoying because you miss out on all the sales. I have learned over time not to stress about each and every item on the list. I no longer care if they want my kids to have 3 one inch binders, That doesn't work for ANY of my kids. We do one 3 inch binder with dividers and that works for them. If the school decides that isn't good enough let them get some for my kids!! Most of the stuff on sale is stuff my kids are too old for now anyway like crayons, markers and composition books. I did stock up on some pens and will probably get more but lord forbid they ask me for 3 green pens like they asked for last year. Honestly the stuff on the lists IMHO aren't even really needed because most of it is gone by winter break and my one OCD great student would of demanded I replenish the items if they were really needed. I am not cheap or looking for bargain basement items I just have learned that most stuff isn't even needed. Alot of times during the year something actually is needed like a poster board, index cards or a costume. The costume thing TICKED me off last year as they gave us 2 weeks notice on what country we had for world history day and so I had to pay full price from a costume store rather then risk not getting something in time off ebay.

I also have a son that is in private school so I have to pay his fees which are actually WAY down for football this year but the textbook list last year came about a week before school started. I used Half.com for as many as I could but they were still pricey but I am sure that is just a preview of college to come. Although I am hearing some colleges now have textbooks for e readers which I think is a great thing and would love to have that option.

This is directly related to the snowflake mentality-many schools won't allow teachers to use red pens because it hurts kids' feelings by having red marks on their papers. TOTALLY serious.

 

[jen0610]

My complaint is when something is required, but then never used. In 2nd grade I had to pay $10 for a special planner. The teacher never used it, b/c she kept waiting for all the kids to buy one. Well, either their parents wouldn't buy it or couldn't afford it. So I wasted $10.

Fortunately in 3rd and 4th grade, they DID use the planners.

I don't mind spending the money if the item will be utilized, in most cases.

Starting in middle school (6th grade), the schools have their agenda/planner made every year. At registration, you have to buy the agenda. Once school starts, the kids have to write their assignments done and the agendas have to be signed on Fridays by the parents. The kids get points for having this done by the power teacher.

It sure is a nice tool to know what they are working on during the week. I always look at the kids each night to verify any upcoming project assignments. DS would wait until the last minute if left to his own scedule of needing to get it done.

 

[MoniqueU]

This is directly related to the snowflake mentality-many schools won't allow teachers to use red pens because it hurts kids' feelings by having red marks on their papers. TOTALLY serious.

Oh that makes me shake my head and LOL at the same time. My oldest every assignment is posted online and now he is a senior this year so if he screws anything up he has been told his life is over. My girls monitor their own grades and one of them gets driled if she so much as has a b on a test!! Her younger sister is just starting Jr High this year so I have my fingers crossed that she is as good of a student there as in all the classes. I don't give a rats behind if my kids feelings are hurt over a bad assignment, I would hope they woud write in big RED letters, hey you blew it!! I did actually buy some red pens already and will send those in if they ask for green just to test the theory!!

The one odd thing on the list from last year were safety goggles for science. I could never find them, so my DD went without. I was told after the fact that you can get them at ace hardware or home depot or the like. My DD who is totally OCD about school never complained she didn't have them so either they weren't used or most of the kids didn't have them either.

My kids go to a good school but they only have 1 spanish teacher for half the kids that want in that class. But I guess some bond passed that allocated technology money to the schools so the school has a ton of plasma tvs and Dance Dance Revolution arcade games. These schools have some serious twisted priorities IMHO and I won't be voting yes on anymore school bond or tax issues but thats a whole other thread!!

 

[jen0610]

Yes, Indiana and our wonderful text book rental fees. Its funny, both of my boys went to the same high school and their book fees were always $250- $300. One graduated in 02 and the other in 09. DD started a new high school this year and hers are only $150. Same classes, just a big difference in price. So far I LOVE her new school.

We haven't gotten her supply list yet, but we have been picking up the basics. Unless they have some outlandish requests like the year I had to buy 7 packs of Swiffer refills, we should get out pretty cheap!

Don't even get me start on our book rental fees. It's a such a bunch of bunk that we are pay 100's of dollars for books that are 3-6 years old and if last year was any indication, worthless, as most of them are so trashed they aren't worth keeping.

DD only had 4 textbooks for 6th grade, but her rental fees were $122.00. Every single book she got no longer had it's original cover. The one had been so badly rebound, that a good 2 inches of the page towards the bound part, wasn't even readable. Pictures scribbled on, the edges drawn on, pages ripped nearly in half, but taped back together.

And lets not forget the workbook that you had to pay for that goes with the math book. That sucker was $36.00 bucks alone. I really should be able to sell it back to the school for a full refund, seeing as it's in prestine condition. THEY NEVER USED ONE PAGE OF IT!!!!!!

I'll stop now or thinking about it will ruin my lunch.

 

[NotUrsula]

I'm not sure it's as much more as most people on the DIS think it is, but either way, schools should provide the basic materials that their children need to gain an education. Like I said, buying in bulk would cost people so much less than having individuals go out and buy their own.

You are right, it is not. I've got family in both places and we talk about these things in actual dollars and pence terms, and we find that for the most part, at the same level of SES, people in the UK keep just about the same or a slightly larger percentage of their paychecks as Americans do, once you factor in the pre-tax private health care premiums we pay. (I won't go into any more detail than that, at the risk of having this stray into the political.)

Plus, how awful would it be if the teacher refused to spend their money paying for resources for their children? I'm guessing because of the very nature of the job, it rarely happens...kinda taking advantage of their good will.

It happens all the time in parts of my underfunded urban district. The teachers are underpaid as it is, and a lot of them just cannot swing the cost even if they want to. What happens is that the kids just do without. Even textbooks are an issue: the children are not allowed to take them home for homework, and they sometimes have to share one book between 3-4 kids whilst in the classroom. Quite a few teachers resort to selling emergency supplies to HS kids; $.5 for a pencil, $.1 for a sheet of paper, and the like.

There are at least 20 charity school supply drives being held in my community this month. One big one held last week gave away $130,000 worth of supplies and clothing items (mostly shoes) to 1000 carefully selected children.

 

[MM27]

This reminded me that years ago, when my kids were in elementary school, someone offered to donate carpeting for the library, and the school couldn't accept it without it technically going out to bid, because they needed to put out specs (ie, fireproof) for the carpet, and then have the donated carpet fit the specs. Or something like that. LOL

We are allowed to get our own rugs as long as they have a fireproof label on them. The sad thing is, if I asked my principal to order me one, we would have to go through one of the approved vendors and it would likely cost much, much more than what I paid, which is why it would probably be denied if I asked for it. For some things, it's easier to buy it myself.

This is directly related to the snowflake mentality-many schools won't allow teachers to use red pens because it hurts kids' feelings by having red marks on their papers. TOTALLY serious.

Yep, here we can use green or purple, but no red. Eventually though, those colors will also be associated with wrong answers.