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Forum -> Chinuch, Education & Schooling
School Supplies rant
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dr. pepper




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Sep 03 2014, 10:12 pm
I am so frustrated.
How does it work for other schools? I'm super curious.
I have 2 main issues with supplies overall:

1) when do you receive the supplies list
Here, you have to have signed the tuition agreement form and only then will you get the welcome packet and supplies list. That's usually not until mid August!

how do they expect us to look for sales? And the obvious hole in this system is you only need the first parent to get the list and they can pass it around!

2) the list itself.
Here, it's almost as if they just resend the same list every year, despite new and changing teachers. Which leaves me in the quandary of: do I follow the list and risk buying things I don't need which may never make it back home (especially for the younger kids) vs. sending my kids with not enough supplies and waiting to get touch with the teacher regarding a specific list from them.

How do your schools handle these components?
Thanks....I"m just super frustrated.
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rosenbal




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Sep 03 2014, 10:26 pm
Sorry OP. Our school sends out the lists the first half of the summer. Also, the lists are teacher created so they are for that specific teacher. This I have no complaint about.

Some of the teachers have crazy lists with 80 gazillion pencils, 30 million glue sticks, 20 thousand erasers etc etc (do the kids eat them?!)
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amother


 

Post Wed, Sep 03 2014, 10:33 pm
When the school doesn't provide the supplies, they can ask for plenty of everything because it's the parents that are paying. Which is why a second grader around here needs 5 (!) composition notebooks. Chutzpah.
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Jeanette




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Sep 03 2014, 10:34 pm
My son in pre-1-A came home with the most absurd list yet. Not only do we have to buy the usual pencils and markers, we also have to supply construction paper, modeling clay and watercolor paint. I guess art supplies are not in the school's budget...
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momX4




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Sep 03 2014, 10:57 pm
Just wait until your DD needs loose leafs, yup 6 of them. Very specific sizes. And they are expensive.
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dr. pepper




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Sep 03 2014, 11:52 pm
Do we have any teachers on here that can shed some light from their perspective.

I really do want to understand it. It's just so outrageous sometimes. (although after reading about color paints and modeling clay, I don't know if I have any right to complain anymore. that does seem to take the cake).

The Binah just had a discussion in which a teacher/principal (can't remember) was saying that it's important to send the entire supply list with the student as it sends a message respect to the teacher.

Well maybe if I felt some respect toward me I wouldn't mind as much! As rosenbal said: are they eating the stuff!

I do recall one kindergarten explaining that they ask every parent to send in a certain amount of main supplies and they then hold everything in school and use them throughout the year. That made sense then to send 6 glue sticks at once.

And in the same Binah, there's a whole column devoted to dealing with crushing debt! How do you reconcile the two!

As you can see from my title and posts....it's a pet peeve Twisted Evil the whole thing.....
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Jeanette




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Sep 03 2014, 11:56 pm
Honestly I don't think buying school supplies has to put you into huge debt. Uniforms and shoes on the other hand....
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DrMom




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Sep 04 2014, 12:29 am
You can probably anticipate some of the basic supplies you will need. Pencils, paper, markers, crayons, etc. These are often offered as "loss leader" items at early summer sales.
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amother


 

Post Thu, Sep 04 2014, 12:35 am
rosenbal wrote:
Sorry OP. Our school sends out the lists the first half of the summer. Also, the lists are teacher created so they are for that specific teacher. This I have no complaint about.

Some of the teachers have crazy lists with 80 gazillion pencils, 30 million glue sticks, 20 thousand erasers etc etc (do the kids eat them?!)

......my son does.....two months into the school year last year, the teacher let me know that she was having a problem because her erasers for the room were disappearing....into my sons mouth :-(
But I agree, some things are really nuts. 4 boxes of sharpened pencils???? PLUS two boxes of pencils? If I send all of that to school, I will have to replace it in six weeks....but of course the teacher/rebbi won't let me know when my son is low, relying on him to do it....
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amother


 

Post Thu, Sep 04 2014, 1:33 am
My oldest is starting first grade tomorrow. The school said they sent out school lists by grade, but I never got it in the mail. I checked with a neighbor whose child will be in the same class and they hadn't received the list either. Luckily the mom works in the school, so she was able to get the list directly from the teacher and she shared it with me.

I'm just at the beginning of my second trimester and still feeling pretty lousy. For the first time ever I did all the school shopping online (thanks Amazon!) which ended up being really convenient and not any more expensive than going to the stores.

I was also annoyed by some of the quantities. My child does not need 8 glue sticks and 4 big erasers on the first day. Just the things that he does need ended up being so heavy that I'm worried about how he will manage to wear his backpack. I kept some of the extra stuff back to replenish as necessary.

What really got me was the request for $10 to be spent by the teacher on additional supplies. I've never heard of such a thing! If the teacher needs money for supplies, shouldn't the school supply that?! I'm also supposed to send in multiple boxes of tissues, wipes, and ziplock bags.

Ridiculous.
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DrMom




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Sep 04 2014, 2:12 am
amother wrote:
......my son does.....two months into the school year last year, the teacher let me know that she was having a problem because her erasers for the room were disappearing....into my sons mouth :-(
But I agree, some things are really nuts. 4 boxes of sharpened pencils???? PLUS two boxes of pencils? If I send all of that to school, I will have to replace it in six weeks....but of course the teacher/rebbi won't let me know when my son is low, relying on him to do it....

*Each child* has to bring *6 boxes* of pencils? Does the school supplement its income by selling them on e-bay?

Or do they divide up the school supplies among the student body (one person brings all the pencils, one brings all the glue, one person brings all the paper, etc.)?

And why will you have to replace that in 6 weeks? You child uses 1 box (~12 pencils) each week (2 each day)? Is he eating those too???
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DrMom




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Sep 04 2014, 2:17 am
We get the supplies list for each schoolyear on the last day of the previous schoolyear. It's on the same list as the booklist. I try and buy everything before the first week in July.

Last year our employer offered a very nice service whereby you could hand them the list and they would go out and get your books & supplies and deliver them to you at work. It's nice in principle if you buy all he books new and aren't picky about supplies. But I buy some books second-hand, and am picky about certain supplies (pencils, erasers, etc.).

OP: I agree it is inconsiderate to make parents scramble at the last minute to buy supplies. I also don't understand the logic. Is the list super-secret so only paying members should see it?
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amother


 

Post Thu, Sep 04 2014, 2:44 am
Im a teacher Smile
Not including the schoolbag I try to compose a list, that will last the entire school year (no need to replace unless kids eat erasers etc.) which costs between 29 and 40 Euro (depending if they buy on sale on choose high end products...). The school offers construction paper and some art supplies but by far not enough, so I let the parents sign a document, which says they agree to contribute to art supplies as the school year proceeds (which could be another 10 euro or so). Also they have to buy bustickets for fieldtrips (whicha are about 1 euro per kid and trip). I believe it makes more sense to craft useful objetcs (and pay for wood and supplies) than to always cut out the same borong things from construction paper.
3 Gluesticks make perfect sense: one in the pencil case (for the regular languae or maths class), one in the craftbox (in the craft room- kids dont shlep their bag and pencils from one classroom to another in our school), and one backup (if the kids need more, I try to get money from the headmaster to supply them with it, so that parents dont have to buy more). Same with scicssors. Some kids have the same two pairs of scissors for six years and thats fine. SOme lose them every month, dont put them away (despite the fact that we teach them where they belong etc.) - in such cases I write parents notes to warn them that there might come up another expense. I dont think its the schools respinsibility to buy new supplies if the kid neglects his / her own stuff, breaks it purposly or doesnt take care of it. Which is really difficult for adhs kids, who simply can be overwhemlmed by keeping stuff in order. Of course I make sure they get support and I remind them of it but their parents have to buy the stuff when it disappears. Believe it or not I had a student last year who had to replace his crayons 7 times throughout the schoolyear, he simply lost them, hid them, some I found broken in the bin-can...

Parents recieve the list (together witht he school uniform info and schedule, general info by mail first week of summer holiday.
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FranticFrummie




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Sep 04 2014, 2:48 am
The school supplies lists are always insane.

One year DD had to bring in 3 boxes of kleenex. All the kids did. Do kids really go through 3 boxes each in one year? If my kid is that sick, I keep her home!

This year, we got the list ONE WEEK before school started, when of course all the stores were completely picked over. I ended up not getting any sales, and having to pay full price online plus rush delivery.

Can someone explain to me why a 6th grader still needs to bring round tipped safety scissors? shock If kids are really in danger of stabbing each other to death, I'm going to have to rethink sending to that school. Rolling Eyes
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amother


 

Post Thu, Sep 04 2014, 3:28 am
at least you guys got a list. Im sending my 2 older kids to a new school and everyday they come home telling me that they need this or that. So everyday instead of cleaning up the house I have to go running around town buying stuff.

They also want a photo, so now I have to go with them friday or sunday to do that.

Im gonna call her up and ask her to pls give me a list of everything that they need. cause it ruins my whole day running back and forward.
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amother


 

Post Thu, Sep 04 2014, 7:59 am
DrMom wrote:
*Each child* has to bring *6 boxes* of pencils? Does the school supplement its income by selling them on e-bay?

Or do they divide up the school supplies among the student body (one person brings all the pencils, one brings all the glue, one person brings all the paper, etc.)?

And why will you have to replace that in 6 weeks? You child uses 1 box (~12 pencils) each week (2 each day)? Is he eating those too???

EACH CHILD has to bring everything on the supplies list. There is no splitting.
I will need to send more soon (maybe not six weeks exactly, but so sometime soon) because my child is very scatterbrained and can't keep track.
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Ema of 5




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Sep 04 2014, 8:16 am
amother wrote:
at least you guys got a list. Im sending my 2 older kids to a new school and everyday they come home telling me that they need this or that. So everyday instead of cleaning up the house I have to go running around town buying stuff.

They also want a photo, so now I have to go with them friday or sunday to do that.

Im gonna call her up and ask her to pls give me a list of everything that they need. cause it ruins my whole day running back and forward.

I would just write down everything they say they need and get it all on Sunday.
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DrMom




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Sep 04 2014, 8:17 am
amother wrote:
EACH CHILD has to bring everything on the supplies list. There is no splitting.
I will need to send more soon (maybe not six weeks exactly, but so sometime soon) because my child is very scatterbrained and can't keep track.

How old is your son?

Are you sure he isn't trading them to a friend for snacks or something? 2 pencils a day is a **LOT** of pencils to lose. Where can all these pencils possibly go? Do their desks have storage compartments/a drawer? Does he have a pencilcase? Can you find some sort of pencil-soap-on-a-rope-type thing so he can keep his pencil around his neck when he's not writing?

Also, if your son keeps losing things, then the issue seems to be your son's scatterbrained behavior and not the school's policies.
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Hashem_Yaazor




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Sep 04 2014, 8:42 am
I'm laughing here at what is considered abnormal. 3 boxes of tissues is not abnormal to me; I'm used to it. Kids have runny noses even without a full fledged virus. And in allergy season, I'm not keeping them home because they have a runny or stuffed nose!

What is insane to me is 30 glue sticks for one child...or when they ask you to get specialty items like first grade writing paper which you basically need to get in a teacher supply store, but then say the teachers will provide the folders, you will just pay the teachers back....and then you see what folders the kids got and they were the regular paper 1c/5c/10c (whatever the cheap sale is) folders in a specific color. THOSE I can buy (and cheaper than asked for!) but once you're buying that, why not buy the specialty item?
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studying_torah




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Sep 04 2014, 8:49 am
Yup we were supposed to send a few dozen pencils- not happening sorry.
When my oldest was in first grade, I sent an entire box of pencils, only to find out the teacher pooled all the kids pencils together and whoever needed one took one, but never put them back. In the end my dd was left w no pencils and I had to buy her more. Why is it right that I'm buying pencils for the whole class?! Question
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