Where is the Back to School Thread?

[4kids4karen]

LOL.
My kids start back August 13th.

I have checked a few times and it doesn’t look like one has been started.

I recently returned from an overseas trip with my son we actually bought quite a few shirts while over there. In addition to what we bought pre-trip, he should be good until his next growth spurt. He is super selective over shoes so he usually tells me when he finds a pair online he likes.

Picked up DD some jeans online at Macy’s this past Sunday and for an additional 20% off for the Sunday sale. I am sure
She will want to hit the mall sometime soon. I told her we should go Thursday on my day off because I am not going tax free week with the crowds.

Ordered DD a Vera Bradley lunch box at 25% off a few days ago. She has gotten about three pairs of new shoes over the summer.

Just placed a years order of contacts for both kids. DD goes through contacts so technically ordered s two year supply but despite my efforts those will only last her a year.

School supplies I typically wait until last minute since they will not have their school schedule until then Tuesday before school starts. In high school, there is no school generic list and buying random supplies I have found to be a waste. So I wait until after the first day of school. They just take one notebook and a pen on the first day anyways. We usually buy from Office Depot since they have the best selection for late purchases.

Any good finds online or in stores?

 

[MomToOne]

DD starts college the end of August I swear there is NO WAY I am old enough to have a child in college! LOL

I miss the days of school supply shopping. DD has grabbed a pack of pens, a couple of binders and a few folders, and she'll pick up a bunch of reinforced notebook paper and index cards (she's a flashcard kid) once there is a decent sale. But that's all she figures she'll need to start with.

The university is just 5 miles from our house, so she's living at home (no student loans - yay!) so we haven't had to deal with all the dorm stuff.

We've picked up some clothes for her here and there over the last couple of weeks, but are waiting for the better sales to grab things like jeans. And honestly, I'm hoping to just give her some cash and send her to the mall with her friends for that. Clothes shopping with her can be a chore. Unfortunately she likes to drag me shopping with her, but more for the wallet aspect than togetherness - I think she thinks she gets more stuff when I am there to pay for it, than if I just gave her cash and sent her off.

Otherwise, I'm trying to stay out of the "college stuff" as much as I can and leave it to DD to manage most things. My general participation consists of writing checks or transferring funds from one place to another. But we did agree a good place for me to channel my control tendencies was in finding her books at decent prices. I got the books for her first 3 classes for only $115 - new they would be over $500. I know it can be a risk to pre-buy the books before DD has heard from the professors on what is REALLY needed, but we should be able to sell any of the books at the end of the semester for at least what I paid if DD doesn't want to keep them (at least 1 book from one of her major classes - the most expensive one of course - I expect her to want to keep). A couple of the books I could turn around right now and sell them to Amazon and make a profit - not sure why the sellers didn't do that and went the eBay route instead! But that's their issue. Now I'm just waiting for the books for her other 2 classes to be posted...then "back to school" for me is over!!

 

[barkley]

I am SO thankful dd is done w/college. i got so sick of helping her with textbooks. i know for a fact the profs. at her college were required to have at least 1 textbook listed for each class but it killed me dealing with the departments that had set book lists for individual classes that the profs would turn around the first day and tell the students they didn't need but DID need (within a short time span) another that wasn't available at the campus bookstore i mean we generally always got her books elsewhere (primarily amazon who beat the prices/delivery/return of all others) but even w/prime i can't get something within less than 2 days!

we've been pretty lucky so far w/ds's college classes, many did'nt require textbooks b/c they used on-line (free to use) class materials

 

[tvguy]

Here it's hard to tell WHEN back to school is anymore.

The largest district here is part year round, part traditional. Tracks B,C & D started their academic year July 19. Track A goes back August 20. Traditional goes back August 16.

The district I live in is the second largest and it goes back August 16 as they have for over a decade.

The third biggest district here goes back August 30, which is the earliest ever. Until this year they have stuck with the traditional start of school the day after Labor day. Some parents are upset and say they won't sending their kids back until the day after Labor Day just the same.

And since my youngest has been out of school for 4 years, I've been out of school for 39 years, and I have no Grandkids, really doesn't matter other than I will know to avoid the schools at 2 pm when there are 100+ carloads of parents lined up to pick up their kids. Apparently kids don't walk or bike to school anymore, and parents don't have jobs so they can pick them up Buses are long gone

 

[kymom99]

DD starts college the end of August I swear there is NO WAY I am old enough to have a child in college! LOL

I miss the days of school supply shopping. DD has grabbed a pack of pens, a couple of binders and a few folders, and she'll pick up a bunch of reinforced notebook paper and index cards (she's a flashcard kid) once there is a decent sale. But that's all she figures she'll need to start with.

The university is just 5 miles from our house, so she's living at home (no student loans - yay!) so we haven't had to deal with all the dorm stuff.

We've picked up some clothes for her here and there over the last couple of weeks, but are waiting for the better sales to grab things like jeans. And honestly, I'm hoping to just give her some cash and send her to the mall with her friends for that. Clothes shopping with her can be a chore. Unfortunately she likes to drag me shopping with her, but more for the wallet aspect than togetherness - I think she thinks she gets more stuff when I am there to pay for it, than if I just gave her cash and sent her off.

Otherwise, I'm trying to stay out of the "college stuff" as much as I can and leave it to DD to manage most things. My general participation consists of writing checks or transferring funds from one place to another. But we did agree a good place for me to channel my control tendencies was in finding her books at decent prices. I got the books for her first 3 classes for only $115 - new they would be over $500. I know it can be a risk to pre-buy the books before DD has heard from the professors on what is REALLY needed, but we should be able to sell any of the books at the end of the semester for at least what I paid if DD doesn't want to keep them (at least 1 book from one of her major classes - the most expensive one of course - I expect her to want to keep). A couple of the books I could turn around right now and sell them to Amazon and make a profit - not sure why the sellers didn't do that and went the eBay route instead! But that's their issue. Now I'm just waiting for the books for her other 2 classes to be posted...then "back to school" for me is over!!

At my son's school textbook rental is the way to go. The first semester he rented from an off campus store but second semester the university bookstore was so good at price matching he got them all there.

 

[kymom99]

Here it's hard to tell WHEN back to school is anymore.

The largest district here is part year round, part traditional. Tracks B,C & D started their academic year July 19. Track A goes back August 20. Traditional goes back August 16.

The district I live in is the second largest and it goes back August 16 as they have for over a decade.

The third biggest district here goes back August 30, which is the earliest ever. Until this year they have stuck with the traditional start of school the day after Labor day. Some parents are upset and say they won't sending their kids back until the day after Labor Day just the same.

And since my youngest has been out of school for 4 years, I've been out of school for 39 years, and I have no Grandkids, really doesn't matter other than I will know to avoid the schools at 2 pm when there are 100+ carloads of parents lined up to pick up their kids. Apparently kids don't walk or bike to school anymore, and parents don't have jobs so they can pick them up Buses are long gone

My kid rode the bus till he was a junior in high school, but I know what you mean. So many people drive them. It's crazy.

 

[tvguy]

My kid rode the bus till he was a junior in high school, but I know what you mean. So many people drive them. It's crazy.

In the district I live in we have open enrollment. Almost nobody goes to their neighborhood schools. Pretty much makes bus service impossible which is why they eliminated it. Other than special needs students.

 

[pigletto]

I have one starting high school and one in college. Like others mentioned, I will pick up the generic things that I am sure will be needed like loose leaf paper, pens,highlighters etc. But we won't have lists for ds14 and I will just have to see what he needs after the first week. DD21 can pick up her own stuff but I'd like to help her out since I am going to be grabbing things for her brother. I imagine we will do a bigger shop on the first weekend after school starts.

 

[mmbrad02]

My DD starts back on August 15. She is ready, and I admit I sort of like the structure it brings, but at the same time I dread the structure that it brings J I work full time so she’s had to go to a daycare/summer program all summer and I think she is just ready to see her school friends and get back into that routine. I finished our school supply list yesterday (DD is a rising second grader); our list came home with the kids on the last day of this past school so I’ve grabbed things here and there to spread the spending out. The biggest budget breaker for us was totally my fault but a good lesson learned. We like Pottery Barn Kids backpacks and I let her pick the print online that she wanted, and I ordered a matching lunchbox and backpack, monogramed. And when it arrived I realized I ordered one that was too small L Not a cheap item to mess up on, but you better bet I won’t make that mistake again. I ordered the correct size yesterday, and we have a little girl at our church with the same name that we are going to gift the original one too.

As for clothing, we always get new tennis shoes, new socks, and 3 new outfits (they start on a Wednesday) . After that, unless it’s just a huge need, we use what we had for spring/summer because by the end of September we will transition to pants and cooler weather clothing. I still need to get DD some socks, but otherwise clothing is covered (we ended up with 5 outfits). I haven’t even began to look through her winter clothes from last year, but I think some should still fit.

 

[wenrob]

Older DD is in college and takes care of all her stuff on her own. I’m not even sure when classes begin for her. End of August I think. Lives at home so no dorm supplies. When I shop for the younger kids I’ll pick stuff up for her if she asks.

Younger two will be in seventh grade this year and start back August 13th. I ordered them new backpacks (they’ll use for the next couple of years) last week and bought them new binders yesterday. Like a PP I will wait until we actually hear from the teachers before I do a real back to school shop. I have a stockpile from last year from the recommended list that never got used. As for clothes I shop seasonally. They got all new shorts and T-shirt’s at the beginning of summer and new shoes right before our vacation. We won’t even be thinking about jeans, long sleeves, jackets etc. for another three months at least. I’ll let them pick out a new outfit for the first day.

 

[MomToOne]

At my son's school textbook rental is the way to go. The first semester he rented from an off campus store but second semester the university bookstore was so good at price matching he got them all there.

I actually was able to buy all but one of the books used in like new/very good condition cheaper than they were to rent used copies! Plus DD is easily distracted by highlighting done by a previous owner/renter, so she requested I get her only clean copies. That would require renting new copies to ensure that, which would have meant even the cost to rent that one book would have been higher than I paid to own it.

I did pay slightly more for a "like new" hardcover version of a book where I could have gotten a digital copy a couple of dollars cheaper. But DD asked for the hardcopy after checking out the digital copy via a sample - said it was hard to read. I looked at it after she said that, and she was right - the text was a bit faded looking for some reason. I think it was the font they used.

 

[kymom99]

In the district I live in we have open enrollment. Almost nobody goes to their neighborhood schools. Pretty much makes bus service impossible which is why they eliminated it. Other than special needs students.

I can see that. Around here there are lots of busses running and lots of people use them, but still lots of parents that drive their kids. My dad's philosophy was there is a bus that stops at the end of the road so you will ride it. I learned from him.

 

[pigletto]

I forgot to mention ds will need shoes and clothes. DD21 has a summer job and buys things when she wants for the most part, and gets money for Christmas/Birthdays for shopping. If she needs a coat, or a new dress etc I do that as the need arises. Ds14 however is a rapidly growing 14 year old. His shoes from last year are an 11.5 Mens, and I can literally see the bump from his big toe on the front of his running shoes. Anyone with growing teenagers knows the ever revolving shoe replacement game. He will need at least two pairs of shoes (gym, casual) and new basketball shoes. Our basketball season doesn't start until October though so I can wait a little longer for those. The other shoes need to be soon. We don't go back until after Labour day but he needs them now.

As far as fall/winter clothing he will need pants/jeans for sure. He's probably good for sweaters/sweatshirts. We got by on what he had shorts/t-shirt wise this year but we will need some new shirts too. It's so expensive to outfit a teenager. At least with dd she was in uniform. It was $600 at the outset but that mostly lasted all of high school.

 

[wenrob]

Here it's hard to tell WHEN back to school is anymore.

The largest district here is part year round, part traditional. Tracks B,C & D started their academic year July 19. Track A goes back August 20. Traditional goes back August 16.

The district I live in is the second largest and it goes back August 16 as they have for over a decade.

The third biggest district here goes back August 30, which is the earliest ever. Until this year they have stuck with the traditional start of school the day after Labor day. Some parents are upset and say they won't sending their kids back until the day after Labor Day just the same.

And since my youngest has been out of school for 4 years, I've been out of school for 39 years, and I have no Grandkids, really doesn't matter other than I will know to avoid the schools at 2 pm when there are 100+ carloads of parents lined up to pick up their kids. Apparently kids don't walk or bike to school anymore, and parents don't have jobs so they can pick them up Buses are long gone

My kids walk. When there is a school event the whole family walks. It is pointless to drive 1.5 miles down the road and then spend 15 mins fighting for a parking spot when we can be inside the building seven minutes from the time we locked our front door. The only time I drive to the school is if someone is sick or has a dentist/doctor appointment. I think that was twice last year. We do have buses for over two miles. I get what you’re saying though. Our bus stop was less than a block away when my kids were in grade school, it took just a couple minutes to cut through the neighborhood to get there but all my neighbors drove their kids.

My DD starts back on August 15. She is ready, and I admit I sort of like the structure it brings, but at the same time I dread the structure that it brings J I work full time so she’s had to go to a daycare/summer program all summer and I think she is just ready to see her school friends and get back into that routine. I finished our school supply list yesterday (DD is a rising second grader); our list came home with the kids on the last day of this past school so I’ve grabbed things here and there to spread the spending out. The biggest budget breaker for us was totally my fault but a good lesson learned. We like Pottery Barn Kids backpacks and I let her pick the print online that she wanted, and I ordered a matching lunchbox and backpack, monogramed. And when it arrived I realized I ordered one that was too small L Not a cheap item to mess up on, but you better bet I won’t make that mistake again. I ordered the correct size yesterday, and we have a little girl at our church with the same name that we are going to gift the original one too.

As for clothing, we always get new tennis shoes, new socks, and 3 new outfits (they start on a Wednesday) . After that, unless it’s just a huge need, we use what we had for spring/summer because by the end of September we will transition to pants and cooler weather clothing. I still need to get DD some socks, but otherwise clothing is covered (we ended up with 5 outfits). I haven’t even began to look through her winter clothes from last year, but I think some should still fit.

I almost did that! Luckily DS caught if before I hit “submit.” I’m glad you found somebody to pass it down to. My oldest DD and my niece (5 years younger) have the same initials so we always had someone to pass hers down to when she got a new one. My niece still uses the last one we bought a good 6-7 years ago.

 

[Shanna-like-Banana]

DD is heading off to University this fall. I am envious of you that your student lives close enough to home for no dorms, DD dorm costs seems kinda high to me, for such a tiny room. We did a good bit of shopping for her this spring/summer, and with it being college, she'll actually be able to wear more of her wardrobe. She will need some things when she starts her labs, but we can easily pick those up anywhere.
When we did her orientation week, we stopped by the bookstore, and they do not have the book selection finalized yet. I really wish they could publish it, so we can start looking for books. We are def looking on Amazon, ebay, MarketPlace, etc. The bookstores shelves were pretty bare, and I did see some sections for used books, but even them, I did not see even 1 used book for less than $100. I don't want to get stuck in a situation where we are down to the last few days before class and are essentially forced to purchase brand new text books from the school bookstore.
Going back to printed text books will be an adjustment for DD. Her school district has been print free for 7 years, everything is on IPads, Podcasts, etc.

I'm excited for DS 10&12 are both going to be in middle school this year ! They are going to ride the bus TO & From school. The school is only 3 miles away, but takes upwards of 30-40mins depending on traffic. We've progressively done some shopping for them over the summer when we went to some outlets. They have a standard middle school boy attire of soccer shorts and tops every single day. It's the same thing nearly year round. In the winter they will wear joggers and soccer tops.

For supplies, whenever Target has their end of season clearance, I stock up. School supplies 50-70% off, so I grab standard items and put them away to replenish throughout the year. Once we get the supply lists, I'll look through what we already have and go from there.

 

[HHMcG]

We don't start until after labor Day here, Sept 6. We will have 7th, 5th & 2nd -graders. We should have lots of time for back to school shopping, however we have vacation mid-Aug to Labor Day so I do need to get most things done before then.

I have supply lists for 2 of 3 kids (and won't get the last until we are on vacation) but I think I can wing it on the missing list. I plan on hitting Target as soon as they have a coupon or gift card deal if we spend so much on school supplies.

I don't buy much back to school clothes. They will be wearing their summer shorts and tees for at least the first two months. I should buy them something new for the first day, but if I don't get to it, I'll be the only one who minds. And they usually get new sneakers to start off the school year too. (Can their hiking shoes we just spent a fortune on count as that?)

5th grader was due for a new backpack and lunch box and 7th-grader a new lunch box. (We order new every other year unless they pick something special as a Christmas/birthday present) Already got those at Lands End / Vera Bradley so everyone is happy with that.

 

[Minniefan2296]

If you're looking for textbooks, don't forget Chegg is another option.

 

[Minniefan2296]

If you have kids that wear Hollister, select jeans are on sale today for $25.

 

[Karenj2]

I'm amazed at all the schools that start in early/mid August (and July!!!). I'm annoyed that our school system starts before Labor Day. (Back in MY day, we didn't start until after Labor Day - it was nice.) As it is, we decided to book our trip August 19-26th, thinking that school would start the Wednesday after we got back (like they did last year). However, due to all the snow days we had this past year, I think they got scared, so they're starting on the 27th (the day after we get back.

I've got a kid going into 3rd grade, and twins that are starting kindergarten! I just bought the twins their bookbags/lunch bags this week, and need to find out what supplies I need to get for them (the local Walmart didn't have the Kindergarten list on display.)

I'll probably also get them a "first day of school" outfit, but otherwise it's warm enough that they'll want to wear their summer clothes. I'm still trying to figure out the timing - if I buy it too early, they'll want to wear it to daycare/camp/WDW instead of waiting until school.

 

[wenrob]

I'm amazed at all the schools that start in early/mid August (and July!!!). I'm annoyed that our school system starts before Labor Day. (Back in MY day, we didn't start until after Labor Day - it was nice.) As it is, we decided to book our trip August 19-26th, thinking that school would start the Wednesday after we got back (like they did last year). However, due to all the snow days we had this past year, I think they got scared, so they're starting on the 27th (the day after we get back.

I've got a kid going into 3rd grade, and twins that are starting kindergarten! I just bought the twins their bookbags/lunch bags this week, and need to find out what supplies I need to get for them (the local Walmart didn't have the Kindergarten list on display.)

I'll probably also get them a "first day of school" outfit, but otherwise it's warm enough that they'll want to wear their summer clothes. I'm still trying to figure out the timing - if I buy it too early, they'll want to wear it to daycare/camp/WDW instead of waiting until school.

This is our first year that school starts that early. They lengthened fall/winter breaks to accommodate testing. Rather than taking two weeks off and then having to take tests when they get back, they take them before the break. My oldest assures me it’s a better system. It still feels like a short summer but it really isn’t, they just rearranged it. I don’t remember going back to school until the beginning of September when I was a kid.