Most ridiculous item on school supply list?

urban gypsy

Thu, Sep 05 2019, 3:14 pm

watergirl wrote:

Thats not sitting and writing. And these people will find other things to hurt themselves/each other with in the absence of a pencil. Goodness. Have you seen the Handmaid’s Tale? I’d be more afraid of a pen!

And this goes back to my point on proper supervision.

I have nothing against pencils! Pens are so much worse, they stab and ALSO leak ink all over everything. I also recall many permanently destroyed backpacks, coats, textbooks etc. in elementary school I just wanted to share some of my tangentially relevant elementary school memories I guess LOL

PS. I have not seen Handmaid's Tale but there is a spectacular scene in Orphan Black involving a pencil for those who have watched that

teachkids

Thu, Sep 05 2019, 4:22 pm

chanatron1000 wrote:

I've had erasable pens that erased better than pencils.

The only ones I've ever met that erase well are the pilot ones, but those also get erased by heat , which has other issues. They're also too expensive for while kids are losing pens right and left.

amother

Slategray

Thu, Sep 05 2019, 6:08 pm

urban gypsy wrote:

I co-sign this. I remember frequent pencil injuries in elementary school. People were forever stabbing each other with them, and sometimes stabbing themselves on purpose to create "tatoos" Can't Believe It

I remember this with pens once we were allowed to have them in 5th grade. Its just kids being kids.
Oh how I can remember the excitement of finishing my chart and being allowed the privelege of actually using a real pen!!

Talking about pens and pencils, please teach your students and your kids to hold their writing utensils properly!! I was never taught and so I hold it funny and I have a hard time writing for more than a few minutes bcz it makes marks in my fingers and hurts. I have a permanent indentation.

my mama

Thu, Sep 05 2019, 6:23 pm

chanatron1000 wrote:

Most of them were either standing while sharpening a pencil and lost their balance, or they accidentally placed a their hand on a desk that had a pencil on it.

I once tore the palm of my hand in high school with a pen. I got scared and jumped while I was clicking it open. Surprised

gigglemom

Fri, Sep 06 2019, 7:33 am

ra_mom wrote:

Please tell me that pacifiers don't get shared.

Nooooo wayyyyyy are you out of your mind?!?! Everyone has their own paci, bottle and bed. The sheets and blankets get washed often.

gigglemom

Fri, Sep 06 2019, 7:36 am

ra_mom wrote:

Please tell me that pacifiers don't get shared.

We always have a pack of extra in case a kid forgets to bring one and needs it. So we right their name on it and it stays theirs.

amother

Peach

Fri, Sep 06 2019, 8:18 am

gigglemom wrote:

Putting a kid's underwear on a different kid is gross. Besides, no we do not keep people's clothes. We make sure it's labeled at the beginning of the year. And if it isn't it gets donated at the end of the year after 30 days. All parents know this.

We kept clothing in nurseries. We of course WASHED it. Why is wearing washed clean clothing that has been used...gross?

amother

Peach

Fri, Sep 06 2019, 8:23 am

gigglemom wrote:

Nooooo wayyyyyy are you out of your mind?!?! Everyone has their own paci, bottle and bed. The sheets and blankets get washed often.

I've definitely shared pacis before. Wash them with soap and water before and after.

Sorry mom, if you send you kid with one paci and it gets lost what am I supposed to do?
Honestly, you think the company I work for would buy extra pacis? What am I supposed to do? Spend my own money on them? I request parents bring in more but when they don't and a paci is lost and the kid is crying non-stop.

I honestly think the parent would rather their kid NOT cry themselves to sleep for 30 minutes and wake up 2 other kids in the process? Or be miserable all morning?

amother

Pink

Fri, Sep 06 2019, 11:22 am

So school started bh and my kids had all their supplies ready. And guess what?? They came home with an UPDATED supplies list of MORE stuff they need for Monday, and one DD brought home 2 things they don't need!!! Why was it on the original list if they don't need it???????

gigglemom

Fri, Sep 06 2019, 12:43 pm

amother [ Peach ] wrote:

I would rather spend $5 on this poor child who's mom is silly enough not to care (that's me controlling myself not to call her a worse name) than to have her use a paci from a different child. I wouldn't want my childs paci to be used for someone else even if she cooks it up and sterilized it. Not sure about you.
Not sure how a school supplies thread evolved to a paci recycling thread 😂😂

gigglemom

Fri, Sep 06 2019, 12:45 pm

amother [ Peach ] wrote:

We kept clothing in nurseries. We of course WASHED it. Why is wearing washed clean clothing that has been used...gross?

Dunno. I'd much rather my kids not wear someone else's stuff. Obviously if we have no choice we use a different child's change and we ask permission. Leaving a child wet or dirty is child abuse and neglect, and we would never do that.

amother

Pink

Fri, Sep 06 2019, 12:59 pm

Gigglemom, what's the big deal about reusing a paci that was washed well or sterilized?
In the kimperurin homes they reuse paci's for the newborns.
Same for clothing that was washed, if was washed what's gross about a child wearing it??

gigglemom

Fri, Sep 06 2019, 5:09 pm

amother [ Pink ] wrote:

Maybe I'm ultra sensitive to these things, I don't know. But in my opinion I think it's not sanitary to reuse. I wouldn't want my kid to use someone else's paci or someone else to use my kid's paci. Clothing is a different story, but I definitely prefer the childs own clothes. Forget the cleanliness issue. The moms who don't send in changes of clothes are the same ones who don't return the clothes the child came home with.

Amelia Bedelia

Sun, Sep 08 2019, 1:20 am

Hashem_Yaazor wrote:

I think as kids get older, this is how it naturally becomes. I also remember switching off every year because I desperately believe in being organized, but somehow organization fell to the wayside not too far in the year, so I would convince myself that the opposite (binder vs notebook, or notebook and matching folder vs binder) would be better the next year Wink

With younger children though, a lot of school is teaching "soft skills" aka executive functioning and time management and all that which is just as crucial (if not more in this age of Google where you can search up an answer but not a life skill....) and as such they want some uniformity to be able to aid the students in this. Boys, take out your red folder and put this homework sheet in there. Girls, it's time to take out your chumash binder. And in the younger years the students learn that at transition times (beginning/end of class) they need to find what they need for that class, and take it out. But until around 13, the autonomy for quick executive functioning to be able to seamlessly remember for XYZ class I need ABC material isn't really developed yet on average. Sure a 10 year old can remember math has a green notebook, but it might take an extra minute of connecting the dots in her brain at which point the teacher has already started the daily math quiz or whatever. By postponing the expectation for students to choose their own method of organization until middle school (or dare I even say high school for those 'late bloomers'), it not only helps the teacher but the student to not be lost in the jungle of expectations we give them when we send them to school for 8 hours a day with a dual curriculum and work that needs to be brought home (some of which should remain, some of which should be returned)....they can focus on whatever is really age appropriate at the time, and not on other things only to find out that the system they came up with isn't working for them and then they have lost the year.

I will freely admit that I have had 4th graders need a red plastic folder for homework and I felt my 4th graders (or some of them) could easily relate to an orange folder just the same. I remember one year, I put red electric tape in strips over the orange folder and wrote on the folder "this is a red folder" because I had a surplus of plastic folders and didn't really want to buy more just because I was out of red Smile

I would not have done that for a first or second grader though. And I wouldn't have done it for every 4th grader. I just knew my child that year and her ability to not get flustered. Teacher was fine with it too Smile

Kudos to you! So impressed with your improvisation!
And your daughter was a great sport. My dd would never agree to that.

ra_mom

Sun, Sep 08 2019, 7:51 am

gigglemom wrote:

We always have a pack of extra in case a kid forgets to bring one and needs it. So we right their name on it and it stays theirs.

That's awesome - thanks for clarifying!