Is your kid's school brand specific for school supplies?

Mama-Bear

Maybe it's just me but I'm really put off by it.  Seeing as how you legally have to send your child to public school, private school, or homeschool, I don't understand the school requiring specific brands for public school.  We live in a LOC area and are brand specific on just about every supply (Crayola, FIskars, Clorox wipes, Expo, Ziploc).  Now, this is worst case scenario but not that far fetched IMO, what if you have such a tight budget that you can't afford to spend $50+ on their brand specific supplies (I can understand this more for a private school since it's an additional cost that you're choosing to spend on their school)?  Are there grants for those that can't afford them?  We can afford them and would probably have purchased most of the name brands anyway (probably would've bought generic baggies and wipes), but is this normal to require the name brands?  This will be my first year having a child in school.

GingerSB

I think they ask for brand names because sometimes the generic sucks. For some items it doesn't matter like tissues and baggies. But glue sticks and crayons? the generic suck. Our school puts a note stating that for certain items, brand name are preferable, for that reason. But I live in an affluent area so maybe they can get away with it easier.

MNgirl326

Specific brands are asked for because generic brands suck.  RoseArt crayons smell and break super easy and their markers where out super fast.

Dollar store or generic  blow.  The pencil led breaks the minute you start writing with them and sometime the lead isn't even in the pencil straight, so half the time when you sharpen them you end up with one side that is sharp and the other side that is just pencil wood.   

You don't have to buy bran name, you kid isn't going to kicked out of school if you don't or what not, the school list is just going off of experience on what supplies last and what don't.  Which will ultimately save you money in the long run.

Mama-Bear

MrsLee04 said:

 I try not to buy brand name stuff for ourselves, so I'm certainly not going to for school when there are perfectly good, more cost effective alternatives.  

This was my thought.  I buy Crayola and I'd buy the Fiskars, but the wipes and baggies just seems over the top to me because we don't buy that for our own home.

Littlejen22

Sales. Seriously it is not $50 for this stuff if on sale. Walmart usually sells Elmer's glue sticks for 0.10 each so for 10 that is 1 dollar. Crayola is .25 for the 24 pack and .20 for Roseart so for 5 cents I would get the better ones which honestly is why they want them not because they care around names but they care about quality. Discard were on sale last year for a 2 pack at Staples for around 2 dollars. I would not worry as much around Clorox wipes but would probably search coupons and sales between now and school at the grocery store and get Lysol or Clorox because on sale they are cheaper than the store brand.

I would strongly suggest not buying off brands for some of this stuff because the brand names on school supplies are generally better even if that means Crayola washes better when kids draw on the desk or get markers on their clothing.

mandymack

In two years of public school, the only brand specific requests were for Mr.Sketch markers and Crayola Write Start colored pencils.

Nothing else.

jnksmom

DS's list last year for Kindergarten had specific brands for most things. I did buy Crayola, Elmers, and Fiskar.  Sandwich bags and wipes I think I bought the store brand and no one ever said anything. We don't have lists yet for this year but I assume it will be similar and I will probably buy similar stuff as last year.

Angela814

abartow said:

Specific brands are asked for because generic brands suck.  RoseArt crayons smell and break super easy and their markers where out super fast.

Dollar store or generic  blow.  The pencil led breaks the minute you start writing with them and sometime the lead isn't even in the pencil straight, so half the time when you sharpen them you end up with one side that is sharp and the other side that is just pencil wood.   

You don't have to buy bran name, you kid isn't going to kicked out of school if you don't or what not, the school list is just going off of experience on what supplies last and what don't.  Which will ultimately save you money in the long run.

Yep. We have a mix of brand name and no brand requirements. Crayola crayons were just on sale for 49 cents. Crayola markers were $1.  Brand name isn't always more expensive.

KL777

Brand names weren't specified, but I did buy some brand names just because I know the quality level of the others (poor).

neverblushed

Wow -- no way!

I'd be livid about this!  I just got my son's school-supplies list in the mail yesterday.  The only specific brand mentioned was "No Trapper Keepers" for binders.

The whole school supplies list makes me bonkers anyway.  I can't tell you the number of marble "composition notebooks" I've bought over the years for my kids that come home in June each with 3 or 4 pages filled.  This year I'm just cutting the used pages out, putting masking tape over the subject, and sending them in with my kid again. 

I do have a few brands that I always buy; for other stuff, I go for the generic/cheapest.  Here are some of the brands I'm loyal to:

Pencils -- Ticonderoga pre-sharpened

Pens -- Bic Clear Stick

Magic Markers -- Crayola

Glue Sticks -- Elmer's 

Tissues -- Kleenex

I'm on the fence about crayons.  Crayola crayons are softer/waxier and make bolder colors, but the names for the colors aren't what an art teacher would call those colors.  RoseArt are cheaper, and they use the technical name for the color, but the crayons are more brittle and take more pressure to make a bold line.

MesmrEwe

The school that DD was at the past three years (we're moving schools because it just wasn't the right educational fit for her - in a lot of ways she's gone down in her love for learning since starting there in addition to the daily battles we faced just getting her there!) did the "community box" with all of the school supplies - and I have to say as a parent I absolutely HATED that approach (seriously, during the "magic" years, you're going to make it so a kid can't have a "fun" design-wrap #2 pencil, come on!  Same goes for notebooks).  I have no problem with "80 page notebook" in four colors, but when it had "no perforations, specific colors, then when it wasn't EXACTLY the right shade of "red" or "blue" they wanted, the school sent DD's home...

On some things I have no problem with the "brand specific" stuff, but on other things, it's over the top.  As a parent you do your best to equip your kid with what you can, but if I want to go with an artist quality colored pencil/marker, that should be my option.  Same goes if the parent knows their kid isn't going to be an aspiring Picasso, that they go cheap on that but expensive on the calculator... 

hmd

Ours was brand-specific last year, which I thought was odd.  Even more so when I found out that 75% of the students were on free or reduced lunches.  

We had to bring in Pampers or Huggies wipes, Clorox Disinfectant wipes, Ziplock gallon baggies, etc.  They were specific on the size/quantities too!

MNgirl326

 

neverblushed said:

Wow -- no way!

I'd be livid about this!  I just got my son's school-supplies list in the mail yesterday.  The only specific brand mentioned was "No Trapper Keepers" for binders.

The whole school supplies list makes me bonkers anyway.  I can't tell you the number of marble "composition notebooks" I've bought over the years for my kids that come home in June each with 3 or 4 pages filled.  This year I'm just cutting the used pages out, putting masking tape over the subject, and sending them in with my kid again. 

I do have a few brands that I always buy; for other stuff, I go for the generic/cheapest.  Here are some of the brands I'm loyal to:

Pencils -- Ticonderoga pre-sharpened

Pens -- Bic Clear Stick

Magic Markers -- Crayola

Glue Sticks -- Elmer's 

Tissues -- Kleenex

I'm on the fence about crayons.  Crayola crayons are softer/waxier and make bolder colors, but the names for the colors aren't what an art teacher would call those colors.  RoseArt are cheaper, and they use the technical name for the color, but the crayons are more brittle and take more pressure to make a bold line.

People get livid over the most random things.  Really they are suggesting brands that have worked the best.  If you don't want to buy them, fine dont' buy them.  But there are so many more things to be livid over. 

WestCoastMommy

Yes DSs Kindy class is brand specific but I didn't mind. Supplies came to $30 and to me thats pretty fair. DSs school ask for you to donate but your not required to. The school also has you bring in supplies for the whole class and then the teacher handles it. In this case I can defiantly see why they request specific brands/items.

WestCoastMommy

Just to keep in mind, our kids schools barely have enough money for most essentials these days. Why would it make you livid to provide tools that are meant to help your child learn. I think at the very least we can follow a supplies request list for the year if it helps the teacher out. Some people will always find the most insignificant things to complain about. JMO

grumbledore

Mama-Bear said:

Maybe it's just me but I'm really put off by it.  Seeing as how you legally have to send your child to public school, private school, or homeschool, I don't understand the school requiring specific brands for public school.  We live in a LOC area and are brand specific on just about every supply (Crayola, FIskars, Clorox wipes, Expo, Ziploc).  Now, this is worst case scenario but not that far fetched IMO, what if you have such a tight budget that you can't afford to spend $50+ on their brand specific supplies (I can understand this more for a private school since it's an additional cost that you're choosing to spend on their school)?  Are there grants for those that can't afford them?  We can afford them and would probably have purchased most of the name brands anyway (probably would've bought generic baggies and wipes), but is this normal to require the name brands?  This will be my first year having a child in school.

If my daughter's school did this, I would just buy whatever brand I wanted and they can suck an egg.

ETA:  There are certain things that I would buy name brand (by choice, not force) - crayons being the biggest one, because they really are just better.