School supply list

The reason you are sending in 4 dozen pencils is because three other parents did not send any and your child is supplying those children. Teachers assume that they will get about 25% response, so they ask for more than onechild will actually use to make up the difference. As for paper towels, hand sanitizer, etc. most schools do not supply it. In fact, in elementary schools in my state it is a safety hazard to have soap or towels in the restrooms. Reason: kids might drop/spill it on the floor and another child might slip and fall on the soap or paper. Teachers dole out one dollop of soap and one towel per child per visit.

crick - wiki sticks? what the heck are wiki sticks? Today when I was on the phone with my mother in law she said she would like to take my kids shopping for their school supplies! She said she "misses it". Up until two years ago my niece lived with her (well, most of the time so did my sister in law, except when sil lived next to us and niece still lived with grandparents so she wouldn't change schools... but that is a whole different story, I digress), and MIL would always take niece shopping for back to school supplies... and clothes. Well, works for me, I told her go for it. I did, however recommend that she take them one at a time, not try to take all three at once as that is SO not fun. Said she could possibly take both the boys at the same time, but no way she would want to take dd along with either of them, unless she is up for breaking up a fight in the middle of Walmart.

MamaS - soap & towels are a safety hazard? Interesting. I'd think the playground would be more of a safety hazard and yet they still have that I assume? lol. Sometimes the school's decisions just make me chuckle. Red - Wikki Sticks are basically long pieces of yarn dipped in wax to make them bendable "sticks". They typically use them in arts & crafts but apparently our school finds them to be a good learning tool in reading & for visual effect on the boards etc. My oldest boy said it distracted him to have to stop reading and cut a piece off to stick on the page to "underline" and would rather just use his highlighter. I agree that taking more than one child shopping is a total nightmare!! I try to split mine up but this year I ended up taking all 4 and went in with the notion of "just survive!" LOL! Of course we had to go to 3 different places. Our school does have the supply boxes you can buy through them to save the headache, but I added it all up and it would have cost me well over $100 to do it that way. I'll take the headache of shopping...at least the aspirin takes care of that within an hour.

I don't like the whole community supply thing either. For one thing, I can't recycle his unused supplies, which is frustrating.While I know some kids don't send in the supplies, why do I buy THAT much extra?

It bugs me to send in boxes of tissues too. My son's 1st grade teacher had it written into his IEP that he have a tissue box at his desk because he gets up to much. So, I have to supply the community and my son individually. I understand that some kids don't send stuff. I'm a single mom making $12 an hour. I can't afford to send in that crap either, but I generally do. They requested that each parent send in a snack every month at the beginning of the month - a bag of cookies, box of crackers. They stockpiled it and doled it out everyday. I sent in something for 3 months only to find out that my son NEVER got snack, because snack time was when he was in one of his therapies. The teacher was a little miffed at me when I stopped sending stuff in. I very politely told her that I don't have the extra $3 a month, my kid gets $.25 meals at school for heavens sake because I don't make enough money, I am certainly not going to feed someone else's kids when my son can't even participate. I told her to change snack time and I'll start sending again. She refused to change snack time, so too bad for them. Oh - and the bizzillion pencils is listed as 1 per week. I sent in a ton last year, didn't get any back. I sent in Fiskars for 3 years, never got any back. Crayons, never got any back and they requested I buy more in May - I don't think so!

We are asked to donate snacks too for "those who forget their snacks". That's fine..it happens and I'd rather there be something for a kid to eat then go without. However, last year there were a few kids who NEVER brought their own snack in and just used the community snack supply and that did bug me. I would rather those parents be called and reminded "hey..your child's snack is YOUR responsibility and the community supply is for those once in awhile times." This year our district had to do some budget cuts due to poor planning on their part. We were asked to "donate" copier paper to help supply the weekly notifications, newsletters etc. that go out. I've asked EACH year for them to quit sending me endless supplies of paper as I read everything they do online. The school has a site, and each teacher has their own page so all the necessary info needed is online. There is no reason to then send the same exact thing home to me FOUR times a week with each kid getting the same stuff in their weekly folders. I requested it again this year and 4 weeks in a row I'm still getting paper. I'm saving it all up and at the end of the year I'm going to turn it into the school and tell them that is my "donation" of copier paper for the year. Good grief!

I live in a district with a level of poverty. However, I'm barely over that line myself and being harrassed for a snack the my child isn't even invited to partake in was pretty nervy, I think. I went to a private Catholic elementary school. Everytime there was an announcement to go home, we were asked to raise our hand if we were the oldest or only child in our family. Those were the only one who got the notice. What money saving idea all those years ago.

Q - I can understand not providing snack when your child is never going to get it. I was just commenting on our snack thing.:) Funny about the announcements because I remember as a kid, it was set up that way too. The oldest child got the ppwk being sent home.

Our boys go to Catholic School, and we do the "paperwork to oldest child only" routine...My friend is in the public school and gets 3 sets of everything, and she even has twins in the same class!!! This whole school supply thing is breaking us. I mean, I realize that we're not funded by the government, and truth be told, the tuition really isn't "too" outrageous...but I just finished buying uniforms for my oldest, clothes for my youngest, backpacks, supplies, shoes, gym shoes (we have a new gym floor, so they have to leave a pair of gym shoes at school that have not been worn outside) etc. etc... So far, we've spent $470.00 (and that doesn't even include the $90 in target gift cards that I put towards our supplies)...I still have to get a pair of dress shoes, 2 gym uniforms, and all of my preschooler's supplies... I have to admit that our lists seem pretty reasonable (lots of items, but limited numbers of each - 6 pencils, 1 eraser, 1 pack colored pencils, etc) but it drives me crazy to have to buy Clorox Clean up wipes, when I sometimes pause before buying them for our own house because we are trying to cut back on groceries. Aaahhh - now I feel better :arrow:

It was on the news here that some counties asked for toilet paper from the families to supply the bathrooms.We only buy our children's things and I send a note in the bag that I am happy to send in anything as they run low. I refuse to send in TP, we have the lottery here and that money goes to the schools. One county over is in danger of losing their accreditation.

T.P.????? Oh no, no no no! No way would I supply that. I'm sorry but if a school can't budget for t.p. then someone is getting paid way too much. Love...I too hesitated on the wipes and stuff like that since I have quit buying that for the household. I went back to vinegar & water spray for most of my cleaning stuff months ago so imagine my surprise at how much this stuff was now! I bought generic....I am not buying brand name (expensive) things for school. Just not going to do it.

Cleaning supplies have not been requested here . . . YET! We can't have sanitizer in the restrooms, because of the alchol content and the new reports of preschools getting 'drunk' and even dying by licking their hands. We do have it in the classrooms, teacher supervised. I only have 1 child. I cannot imagine how families with multiple kids can possible do it. I bought Q a really good back pack last year for Christmas. I got a really good deal on it too because it wasn't 'school time'. I'm thinking of not buying him a new one until November or December. And it finally sunk in with me - spend a little extra for a good one! I was buying at least 2 backpacks a year, this one is still going pretty strong. There are some thin spots, but it'll work until after 'back to school'. Our kids don't go back until after Labor Day, although Q is on 12 month programming. Spongebob, Spiderman, Batman will never again show up on a backpack in my home! Q's disability check comes on Friday. My folks bought him most of his supplies - they don't do backpacks. I'll look around for a decent one, but if I can't find one reasonably priced, it will wait. I already bought him new sneakers. He hasn't hit a growth spurt in awhile, so I am NOT buying any new clothes. I think we're pretty good. I may actually buy his tap shoes and jazz shoes early this year with his August check! He's moved up to the very expensive tap shoes this year!

I teach high school and I wish that I could require supplies. I spend about $3,000-4,000 a year on my classroom and the extracurricular clubs I run for supplies, videos, books, DVDs, INK CARTRIDGES, paper, food for volunteers, etc. because students come to school and "their printers didn't work", paper, etc. That's close to 10 percent of my take home pay. I do that so that I can have an outstanding classroom. It's really expensive to run a classroom. The plastic bags might be used for "manipulatives" which are cut up things or other things handed out in the classroom for a specific lesson. I have to give out extra credit for kleenex and paper. I may go through a box of kleenex a day or even more especially during cold season. I could easily see how things would run out that are mentioned. If you are really curious, then help out in the classroom and maybe see how things are used. I give boxes of paper to my daughter's (age 17) school, donated about $2,000 worth of books to the library, bring in extra furniture, etc. My mother volunteers several hours a week in the school library. I help out on committees and am the senior class parent. I work on fundraising committees because we really need money. Many private schools require that the children bring in extra supplies and that parents volunteer a certain number of hours a year. I wish that we could require this of public school because I feel that parents don't feel an "ownership" of a school because many parents (I'm not speaking to those of you who do volunteer) feel they don't have to volunteer, especially as children go into middle school and high school. We schools still need you! I think that schools would be a lot better if parents had to or would volunteer. Yes, I know parents are tired and work hard. I am a parent and I work really hard, and I still volunteer.

I take issue with providing tissues to the class, and then be requested to provide a separate box for my son's desk, because "he getss up to many times". So apparently, I must provide for everyone else's kid AND my own. I'm a single mom earning $12 an hour. I own my own home. I cannot afford to support the masses. But I do what I can. I cannot volunteer at school. I work full time. I don't work, I don't get paid. Again, single mom - one income. I speak to my son's teacher on a regular basis. I attended every CPSE/CSE meeting for my child and I have initiated a few extra on my own. I speak with my son's principal regularly. I have particpated in fundraisers, but I keep seeing that nothing comes from them, except a school t-shirt, why bother?

I would love to volunteer at my son's school, but I can't just yet. I can next year when little man is in K. This school does not allow you to take sibs in with you. I miss working in the school and seeing how things are going. I don't know any SAHMs in my area and even my MIL works, so I don't have anyone to watch my little guy. Before we moved, I could take him with me. He loved it when we worked book fairs or worked in the library. He liked going into the classroom for help, too. But, next year I'm sure with 2 in school I'll be very busy volunteering!