specific school supplies frustration

[Pigeon]

My all-time faves were:

1) the plastic rubbermaid (specified) container with SPECIFIC measurements they HAD to have, that I had to drive 40 miles to the nearestWalmart to find....all the kids showed up that day lugging the d*** things along with their ultra-heavy bookbags full of all the other stuff they had to buy....End of the first day? They all brought them home again and said they didn't need them!

OK, I hate that teacher and I don't even know them.

 

[TwinsinCA]

Then you only have 4 days to find it. Since it's just before school starts, most things are picked over and difficult to find or the sales are done so you are paying full price.

Ah yes. My yearly pet peeve.

In elementary school we would get a grade level supply list about 5 days before school started. Of course once school started the teacher had their own list that meant I had to take half the stuff back and buy new things. We'd get this teacher specific list no earlier than the night before school started at Back-to-school night (one year back to school night was a couple days into the school year so they brought the list home on the first day. Thanks!)

This year they start middle school (there are not enough of these ). They have orientation the day before school starts but will not get a list of supplies until that first day. So I get to scramble with everyone else in my district to get what they need for school.

I hated going back to school but I LOVED shopping for school supplies when I was a kid. To this day Staples makes me happy. But this last minute scramble EVERY YEAR has sucked out all the joy of school shopping with my kids.

Of course I have an assortment of general supplies on hand. But I am sure there will be something I didn't think of that I will have to buy last minute.

 

[Pigeon]

That's insane! I'd have to buy white folders and a set of markers to color them.

There are no heavy duty, plasticized white folders, either, so that's not going to help any.

 

[JVL1018]

I was informed by one teacher that they specify colours on notebooks etc so they can have everyone use the same colour for math, spelling etc...

Basically so they can say "Take out your red notebook/binder/whatever" instead of saying "Take out your spelling notebook/binder/whatever". It's supposed to be faster and easier.

Yup-that's what they do here. I think it's a great idea.
They should just ask for colors that are available.

 

[Mama Who]

It wasn't latex free erasers but rather latex free pencils.

As for the mechanical pencils, my daughter is going into 7th grade. I think she's beyond playing with them or arguing over them with others. In middle school the pace is too fast for that kind of nonsense. If it were a problem I'd expect a teacher to speak to her or contact me.

A friend of mine teaches middle school and his teacher website states that mechanical pencils are banned outright in his classroom. Apparently 7th graders are not too old to click them constantly and a couple years ago he'd just reached his limit.

I would guess the latex free is about an allergy.

 

[sssteele]

Mrs. Toad - I'll guarantee you that the crappy pencils are not American. And yes - lead and other heavy metals and other dangerous stuff is often found in Chinese products. It's why my wife is unhappy that Happy Meal toys are always Chinese made. C'mon Mc'Donald's - raise the price of a Happy Meal a few cents and put some Americans to work! OT, but important!!!

 

[Arkansan]

There are no heavy duty, plasticized white folders, either, so that's not going to help any.

I don't know if this counts to your school, but I found clear heavy duty pocket folders ( and orange for a PP) with prongs at Staples a week ago. They were on sale for 25 or 50 cents (limit 2) and .99 regular price. I only bought what I needed (DS needed 6 indifferent colors, one DD needed 5--but no specified colors). I just hope it doesn't get dirty looking. Should be fine as he's only in 4th gr.

 

[dandave]

Publix in my area has their school supplies on sale at extremely good prices. I got the 3 prong folders w/ pockets for 50 cents. Elmers glue and crayola crayon 24 packs are 2 or 3 for a dollar, etc. They have the composition books for a dollar.
The sale isn't shown in this week's circular, but it was on today.

 

[DisneyScraps]

You all and going to throw rocks at me for this but here is how I look like it.

I don't mind buying my child school supplies. Its education I consider that important

If there was something on the list that I didn't agree with I just would not buy it. These list are requests not hard core rules!

 

[richmond282]

My DD is going into 7th grade. Her list had latex free pencils .

Perhaps someone (teacher maybe) is allergic to latex.

 

[dandave]

Latex-free erasers are like those on Ticonderoga pencils. Those are my favorites. They don't cause those nasty smudges, when a child erases his work. They are much better than latex erasers. Especially when filling in a standardized test, clean erasures are important. Plus, it just looks neater!

 

[aprilgail2]

So, Costco has binders. 4 to a pack for about $9 for the 2" ones. I thought that was a good price. Teacher is being specific about the color of binders, red, blue. So what I'm going to do is put a piece of construction paper in the front plastic covering of the Costco binder. I hope teacher doesn't mind.

!

LOL--my daughter wanted folders with things on them not plain ones--like Kiss and aerosmith one years-- dogs another---so we got them and I put a sticker on the front of each one that said "red" "blue" "yellow" etc.... half the fun of back to school shopping is picking out things that are suited to your taste along with being the things you need for a good school year.

 

[tlbwriter]

That's really annoying. Here I see lists from schools for each grade actually AT the stores. Target and Office Max, at minimum, have special stands for them.

We have those, and they have the supply lists for all the schools in the smaller towns around my town (towns too small to have their own Walmart/Target/Staples etc.). But not for the schools in our town. It's very frustrating.

 

[rszdtrvl]

This thread is inspiring me to get a head start with supply shopping. I have been grabbing a few things here and there at Walmart.

However, today I decided to dig through the small storage bin to see what leftover supplies we have.

I am glad I did!!

I found (all new)

2- pks crayons (Crayola )
2- pks markers (one fine tip, one regular tip - also Crayola)
4- Composition Notebooks
8- pks College Ruled paper
8- cheap paper folders (glad I got 2 of the heavy duty plastic Meade folders this morning)
A BUNCH of loose notebook paper
1- Protractor/Compass set
2- packs graph paper

I think I am just going to grab more of the heavy duty plastic Meade folders and possibly a larger 3-ring binder for my son, and I am done!

 

[luvmy3]

You all and going to throw rocks at me for this but here is how I look like it.

I don't mind buying my child school supplies. Its education I consider that important

If there was something on the list that I didn't agree with I just would not buy it. These list are requests not hard core rules!

Not in my kid's school, last year my kid's had to have the exact items off their lists. I remember being royally POed because we had to get fabric book covers for my ds and we ended up getting the wrong size. He came home and said if he didn't have the right size tomorrow he was going to miss recess. I'm sorry but I fail to see how that type of education is important

 

[golfgal]

Not in my kid's school, last year my kid's had to have the exact items off their lists. I remember being royally POed because we had to get fabric book covers for my ds and we ended up getting the wrong size. He came home and said if he didn't have the right size tomorrow he was going to miss recess. I'm sorry but I fail to see how that type of education is important

Because with the severe budget cuts going through the nation and people's attitudes that the schools are out to get them, books cost a LOT of money and most kids just don't take very good care of them....

 

[luvmy3]

Because with the severe budget cuts going through the nation and people's attitudes that the schools are out to get them, books cost a LOT of money and most kids just don't take very good care of them....

Well I wasn't talking about the book covers themselves, although I fail to see how the $2 ones are any better than the free paper bags we used way back when I was in school
I was talking about punishing a child for not having exactly what was on the list because their parent made a mistake.

 

[golfgal]

Well I wasn't talking about the book covers themselves, although I fail to see how the $2 ones are any better than the free paper bags we used way back when I was in school
I was talking about punishing a child for not having exactly what was on the list because their parent made a mistake.

Because a lot of parents don't send in covers so they need to have a policy for not having them . They can't pick and chose-oh, I like your mom so you can just bring in the covers whenever.

 

[wellesleyprincess]

I didn't read all 11 pages of the thread but in my experience as elementary school teacher
The American made pencils is most likely to prevent the dollar tree China pencils, which half the time DO NOT SHARPEN! As previously mentioned Ticonderoga and Papermate are both American made as is Dixon and all of those can be found this time of year for roughly $1 a 12 pack.

Crayola crayons are often as cheap as off brand this time of year and last MUCH longer. (I still have some from junior high)

Also a note on the scissors. My last school always listed Wescott scissors on our supply list. Why? Because if you list it on the supply list Wescott will donate 5 pairs to each teacher in that grade. Most parents understood that we just meant not plastic safety scissors.

 

[luvmy3]

Because a lot of parents don't send in covers so they need to have a policy for not having them . They can't pick and chose-oh, I like your mom so you can just bring in the covers whenever.

Well like I said, I fail to see the educational value in punishing a kid because they don't have a very specific school supply. YMMV.