Why does my first grader need 20 LARGE glue sticks?

[LuluLovesDisney]

You would think paying between 8000-10,000 property taxes- with 80 percent of that going towards school taxes it would cover tissues wouldn't you???

Definitely not - less than 20% of that 80% ever makes it to the classrooms in most districts.

I have to bring it my own tissues, chalk, paper, pens, pencils, etc.

I get one pack of paper and 4 boxes of chalk, plus a classroom set of folders every year. Beyond that, it's all me.

One huge problem is that many things are funded by grants, so money cannot be used for what's needed but only for what the grant allows. To illustrate the stupidity of this let me tell you that there are fresh seasonal flowers outside my school, state of the art athletic equipment and beautifully carpeted and airconditioned admin offices. My classroom has a broken heater, broken outlet and we've already been told that not all freshmen will be able to have an English textbook next year since there's nothing left in the textbook budget. What?!

 

[Jenn Lynn]

DD's K list is similar with the glue sticks except I think hers have to be labeled.

 

[ElizaB39]

Hmmm, without reading any of the replies;

s/he needs to supply glue for the rest of the class, each student will be supplying every other classmate with one item on the list...

they will be eating it for their snack...

they will be sniffing it when they get bored?




I HAVE NO IDEA!!!

 

[Bethy Lou]

I remember being a kid and sitting next to boys who would untwist the glue stick all the way and then try to use it. Of course it would break off. I also know from the two young ladies in our house, that lids do not always get put back on things that truly require them! Even so, I would not be all about 20 glue sticks. At the school I taught, we sent a request sheet for items like glue and other craft items and the office would send them down within a day. It was definitely not a rich school district, but made me appreciate it when I was the list for third grade this year!

 

[Daxx]

That is ridiculous. No one needs that many glue sticks.

Seriously? Have you ever seen a Kdg. or 1st grader w/a glue stick!? I'm a teacher and currently teach Kdg. but have taught 1st grade in the past. OMG -- they could go through one entire jumbo glue stick just gluing 4 small (3x5") pictures onto a page. I kid you not!!! They have to cover every inch of surface w/glue ... even though I tell them a million times to trace around the edge and draw an X in the middle. They think NOTHING will stick unless it is entirely coated in glue. It amazes me the amount of glue sticks kids go through in a week, more or less a month!

 

[ElizaB39]

I remember being a kid and sitting next to boys who would untwist the glue stick all the way and then try to use it. Of course it would break off. I also know from the two young ladies in our house, that lids do not always get put back on things that truly require them! Even so, I would not be all about 20 glue sticks. At the school I taught, we sent a request sheet for items like glue and other craft items and the office would send them down within a day. It was definitely not a rich school district, but made me appreciate it when I was the list for third grade this year!

I am FREAKED OUT by your user name, Bethy Lou. That was the nickname my best friend's dad gave me when I was in jr. high and he still calls me that to this day and I am in my 40's!

 

[EthansMom]

Okay, you all are making me soooooo happy that the PTO has an overage and buys all of the school supplies (including a discretionary fund for each teacher to spend on miscellaneous items) for the whole grade school.

Last year, I spent about $25 on DS5's backpack and lunchbox, $10 in supplies for at home, and another $20-30 or so on items on the teacher's wishlist (colored pipe cleaners, cleaning wipes, brown paper lunch bags) throughout the year.

 

[torinsmom]

torinsmom- I can't believe you have to supply your own copy paper!!! That's just ridiculous!

Well, we are a charter school and I guess they try to cut costs in those areas. It does make you think before you copy. We are a Montessori charter, so we don't use as much paper as traditional schools.

Marsha

 

[Bethy Lou]

I am FREAKED OUT by your user name, Bethy Lou. That was the nickname my best friend's dad gave me when I was in jr. high and he still calls me that to this day and I am in my 40's!

My name is Bethany Louise and since we live in Georgia my fiance likes to make my name sound as Southern as he can. We love to use our middle names down here! It is a huge thing that I accept it because I think Louise sounds like a 60+ year old woman's name! I have never known anyone else with that nickname though, that is absolutely awesome! Is your middle name Louise too?

 

[Daxx]

My dd is also going into first grade. She needs 8 marble notebooks. What is she going to write the Great American Novel.

Former first grade/current Kdg. teacher here. They might be used for homework! Sound crazy? Well, it's more difficult to lose a composition notebook w/homework glued into it than it is to lose a single loose piece of paper. The teacher might be gluing assignments into the comp. notebook and sending those home rather than loose pieces of paper. We do this in K, 1st and 2nd grade in my school. I'd guess 2 notebooks per subject to cover the year. We'd use them for Math and English/language arts and Spelling (writing spelling words and writing short sentences using those words).

The remaining 2 notebooks will prob. be used for journaling. Our students have a "Morning Message" that they copy into the journal and use the opposite page to illustrate the message. It might be something like "Today is the first day of school" and then they draw on the other page.

Don't know if this is the case. You could always call the school and ask!

 

[pigletz]

Definitely not - less than 20% of that 80% ever makes it to the classrooms in most districts.

I have to bring it my own tissues, chalk, paper, pens, pencils, etc.

I get one pack of paper and 4 boxes of chalk, plus a classroom set of folders every year. Beyond that, it's all me.

One huge problem is that many things are funded by grants, so money cannot be used for what's needed but only for what the grant allows. To illustrate the stupidity of this let me tell you that there are fresh seasonal flowers outside my school, state of the art athletic equipment and beautifully carpeted and airconditioned admin offices. My classroom has a broken heater, broken outlet and we've already been told that not all freshmen will be able to have an English textbook next year since there's nothing left in the textbook budget. What?!

Don't feel bad. You get more than I do. The school doesn't give us any supplies and we're not allowed to ask parents to send anything. In fact, we're not even allowed to require kids to bring a pen or pencil to class. Guess who gets to buy enough supplies for 200+ eighth graders each year. You would be amazed at how quickly some kids can lose pencils especially if it wasn't theirs to begin with.

20 glue sticks sounds like a lot but I've seen my eighth graders use an entire glue stick on one paper so I can only imagine what the younger kids might do.

 

[4greatboys]

Seriously? Have you ever seen a Kdg. or 1st grader w/a glue stick!? I'm a teacher and currently teach Kdg. but have taught 1st grade in the past. OMG -- they could go through one entire jumbo glue stick just gluing 4 small (3x5") pictures onto a page. I kid you not!!! They have to cover every inch of surface w/glue ... even though I tell them a million times to trace around the edge and draw an X in the middle. They think NOTHING will stick unless it is entirely coated in glue. It amazes me the amount of glue sticks kids go through in a week, more or less a month!

Yes I have seen a kid, or 4 with a glue stick. Those 4 boys in my user name are mine. I do know they are messy and they do use a lot but some of the requests on the list we rec are excessive.

 

[isyne4u]

20 sounds about right for what my ds had to bring in last year. Then in the middle of the year and towards the end of the year the teacher sent home sheets with requests for more glue sticks and pencils during the year.

I know the way my son uses glue sticks...one stick per project...lol!! He also ate erasers on pencils and brought home the pencils he didn't eat in his pockets at night...so i know he went through way more pencils than we planned for!

I teach middle school and with 20 kids and we did Interactive Notebooks for science and social studies...they would glue in one to two pages a day and after two days I was replacing standard sized every two to three days (that's with two kids using the glue stick each day!)

I also loaned pencils to my students when they didn't have pencils each day...I went through 50 pencils WITH my name on them in the first 6 weeks of school. After that they had to leave me a shoe if they were going to borrow a pencil and they were not allowed to take them out of the classroom for any reason....I still lost pencils but it was probably 50 for the remainder of the year versus in the next 6 weeks!!

Oh and I found glue sticks at wally world last year for 10cents a peice the month before school started! Good luck!!

 

[Daxx]

Yes I have seen a kid, or 4 with a glue stick. Those 4 boys in my user name are mine. I do know they are messy and they do use a lot but some of the requests on the list we rec are excessive.

First off, I have to say I did not pay any attention to your user name when I posted! It was a gut reaction b/c I've seen kids literally blow through an entire glue stick for one tiny project! As I said, I'm amazed at how much glue they go through for the smallest of things! I did not mean to offend.

What else is on your list? As a teacher, maybe I can help you all decipher why you need to send so much in!

 

[teacherforhi]

I just went and checked our supply list for my school. Since I teach the self-contained class, my students don't have to abide by these, but it's nowhere near as crazy as what some of you have to deal with.

6th Grade: Box of Pencils, Pens(Black or Blue), Erasers, Notebook Paper, Colored Pencils, Crayons, Markers, 3 X 5 Rulled Index Cards, Glue Sticks, Highlighters, Binder with Tab Dividers, Four (4) folders: (Red-Math, Blue-Social Studies,Green-Science, and Yellow-Reading.

Shirt: Navy Blue

7th Grade: Pencils, Notebook Paper, Colored Pencils, Pencil Puch, 3 Ring Binder (3 Inch is recommended), 2 Pocket (3 Hole folder to be put in 3 ring binder) (No Prongs) (3 yellow for ELA; 3 Green for Science; 3 Blue for Social Studies,3 Red for Math

Shirt Color: Hunter/Forest Green

8th Grade: Pencils, Pens (Black or Blue), Colored Pencils/Crayons, Highlighters, Notebook Paper, Steno Pad, 3 X 5 Ruled Index Cards, 3 Pocket Folders, Two (2) 5 Subject Noteooks, Two (2) 1 inch 3 Ring Binder, and Dividers for Notebooks

No CLoth zip up binders (Trapper Keepers)

Shirt: Red


All grade levels will need a one-inch three-ring notebook for the integrated Computer Class.

 

[cruisnfamily]

I also loaned pencils to my students when they didn't have pencils each day...I went through 50 pencils WITH my name on them in the first 6 weeks of school. After that they had to leave me a shoe if they were going to borrow a pencil and they were not allowed to take them out of the classroom for any reason....I still lost pencils but it was probably 50 for the remainder of the year versus in the next 6 weeks!!

Great idea!

 

[4greatboys]

First off, I have to say I did not pay any attention to your user name when I posted! It was a gut reaction b/c I've seen kids literally blow through an entire glue stick for one tiny project! As I said, I'm amazed at how much glue they go through for the smallest of things! I did not mean to offend.

What else is on your list? As a teacher, maybe I can help you all decipher why you need to send so much in!

No I wasnt offended, just wanted to point out that I do have several kids so I have some idea of what they do use and how they use it. I know kids are messy, thats pretty much a given.

Another item I thought was excessive was pencils. I have been asked to send 48 before.

 

[isyne4u]

Great idea!

Hehehehe at least I knew they wouldn't leave the class with my pencils!

 

[Annette_VA]

The remaining 2 notebooks will prob. be used for journaling. Our students have a "Morning Message" that they copy into the journal and use the opposite page to illustrate the message. It might be something like "Today is the first day of school" and then they draw on the other page...

That's what my DS used his composition books for in K. They had a "focus word" each day and had to write a sentence on one page and draw a picture to go along with it on the opposite page. Of course, the first few pages barely had anything on them, but the last pages were full of words and pictures.

I think they're a great memento for seeing how far he progressed over the year.

 

[Becky_Boop]

First off, I have to say I did not pay any attention to your user name when I posted! It was a gut reaction b/c I've seen kids literally blow through an entire glue stick for one tiny project! As I said, I'm amazed at how much glue they go through for the smallest of things! I did not mean to offend.

What else is on your list? As a teacher, maybe I can help you all decipher why you need to send so much in!

Wow, who woulda thunk this would turn into a debate?