School Supply Letter

jensriot · August 2013

Has this been posted already? So sorry if it has. My kids want to know why I'm laughing so hard.

https://prayingtodarwin.wordpress.com/2011/08/26/a-letter-to-my-childs-teacher-whom-i-suspect-is-a-sadist-revisited/

mandymack · August 2013

Omg hahaha!!!

The only item on my list that I found off ad had a really hard time finding was

"(2) Black felt tip pens NOT Sharpie brand".

Wtf? What's wrong with Sharpie other than I can easily find them on any store shelf?!? All other felt tip pens were permanent but lacked in variety of point type. Weird.

jensriot · August 2013

Since when is sharpie not the marker of choice?! Mine was 12x18" construction paper. It has to be the most expensive pack and only sold in one store nearby, and no where near the school supplies...geez

Arnegard · August 2013

I am not sure tonight is a good night for this.

School open house I noticed I forgot a shirt for Alex.

Taylor's class had to put her highlighters in one bin. No highlighter. So... I reread the school list. NO HIGHLIGHTERS!

::Sigh::

jensriot · August 2013

Aside from the hard to find construction paper, everything was very specific. Certain size glue stick, brands, etc. The list included "1 pack of 24 #2 pencils". I found packs of 20 all over the place for reasonable prices. Do I buy 2 packs and take 4 from one? So silly. I did eventually find a pack of 24 pencils for $4!

I think Kate mentioned paying some amount to the school and not worrying about this. I just may do it next year. I think it only gets worse from here.

MesmrEwe · August 2013

Ugh!!! I hate how the lists have gone so far over the top and "I feel your pain!" with the four stops trying to find one freak'n thing that isn't EVER going to be found! We still aren't sure what school DD is going to this fall yet so that's making things even more difficult right now because I can't shop until I know that information and DH hasn't a clue! Last year the school she was at it was a royal PITA!!! The pencil thing, every last one of the pencils we purchased for DD was sent home because they weren't PLAIN! Turns out they just threw the stuff into a class bin instead of kids needing to keep track of their stuff.

The simple things I hope to never have to put up with again! I just hope that one day we actually get to purchase something above the 24 pack of crayons, or for that matter, to be able to purchase the "fun" notebooks and folders while DD is still young enough to enjoy the sparkly ones!

bumpuser8448316 · August 2013

DS is only I'm preschool and our list was stupid. I had to buy certain brands of things. The only thing I can understand needing to be specific are the beginner pencils. Everything else, come on. It's preschool.

eaglesfan700 · August 2013

DS' list was pretty straightforward, except there was a pack of 100 ct index cards on there, but it didn't specify lined or unlined. This caused a momentary panic for me, so I just bought both

Spin313 · August 2013

I had to buy headphones for DS for kindy! No ear buds. They weren't hard to find, but definitely more than I expected to spend on a supply list!

eaglesfan700 · August 2013

Spin313 said:

I had to buy headphones for DS for kindy! No ear buds. They weren't hard to find, but definitely more than I expected to spend on a supply list!

I had to buy headphones too! They didn't specify no earbuds though, but I got some cheap Sony ones from Target that said "headphones", but they are buds. They didn't have the traditional old school headphones, Ugh, now I am stressing over this!

Spin313 · August 2013

@eaglesfan700, I found ours at BBBeyond. They were $19.99 and I had a $5 off coupon.

I seriously spent at least $30 on school supplies. That seems outrageous for kindergarten!

eaglesfan700 · August 2013

We have a BBB nearby, maybe I will pick them up just in case. I might even have the teacher's email. Thanks @spin313!

shortstuff15 · August 2013

We don't have to buy supplies until grade 1 so I have a lot of time, but the list for grade 1 is:

indoor shoes - Velcro and non-marking soles

Pencil box

8 markers

2 boxes of Kleenex

3 large Ziploc bags for library books

1 bottle foaming hand sanitizer

headphones

change of clothes to keep at school

And this has been the list for the past few years, so I can't see it changing anytime soon.

ETA: I don't think by saying Kleenex they mean actual Kleenex brand. They just mean boxes of tissue. Same with the Ziploc bags. Any resealable bag will do.

Mrs.Hizzo · August 2013

Spin313 said:

@eaglesfan700, I found ours at BBBeyond. They were $19.99 and I had a $5 off coupon. I seriously spent at least $30 on school supplies. That seems outrageous for kindergarten!

$30??? That's it? Our prepacked supply kit cost $80, and since I couldn't get it together in time to do that, I wound up spending more than that because so many items aren't sold as singles.

We had to have non-earbud headphones, too. A specific brand of #2 pencil, a specific brand of mesh pocket binder, a specific brand and sub-type of glue stick in a specific size, specific brand of eraser, etc. I rebelled on the tissues, though. They specifically wanted Kleenix and I sent Puffs.

jensriot · August 2013

I really shouldn't complain I guess, at least my list is reasonable for one child's use for the year. My friend is in a different district and her list includes 12 glue sticks and 7 boxes of crayons. She also had to special order a certain color of card stock because no store carried it in stock. It's just kindergarten people!

mandymack · August 2013

I spent $55 for 2nd grade supplies but that's less than 1st and much less than Kindy!

At our school, all the supplies is combined and dolled out to each kid as needed throughout the year. We live in a VERY diverse district and there are always children who's parents couldn't afford supplies so this helps to cover them. I know our PTA is in the works to adjust Teacher Allotment UP so they can order whatever supplies they want to and take the burden off the parents. I love this idea

lexusolsen · August 2013

In my district, each school has a supply room that the admin orders supplies for. Now that I have a kid of my own, I don't spend my own money on that kind of stuff. We make do with what is available in the supply room. If a kid complains about it I remind them that they can bring their own of whatever it is. I've only taught middle and high school though.

id012 · August 2013

Ds isnt in school yet.
Why do thibk everything is so specific? Is it so there no competition for who has better/nicer notebooks?
Also. This is stuff that you need to.bring to school or stuff you need to have at home.for projects and stuff?

lollitots · August 2013

I am totally laughing. This is coming from the parent that bought the glue sticks in the size that the 1st grade needs, got home and saw that her 2nd grader needs a different size glue stick so I have to go back to the store. I would like to add that we needed permanent black pen, fine point for 1st, non-permanent black pen, medium point for second. No two pack for me. Ugh.

eaglesfan700 · August 2013

Mrs.Hizzo said:

Spin313 said:

@eaglesfan700, I found ours at BBBeyond. They were $19.99 and I had a $5 off coupon. I seriously spent at least $30 on school supplies. That seems outrageous for kindergarten!

$30??? That's it? Our prepacked supply kit cost $80, and since I couldn't get it together in time to do that, I wound up spending more than that because so many items aren't sold as singles.

We had to have non-earbud headphones, too. A specific brand of #2 pencil, a specific brand of mesh pocket binder, a specific brand and sub-type of glue stick in a specific size, specific brand of eraser, etc. I rebelled on the tissues, though. They specifically wanted Kleenix and I sent Puffs.

Our list was not long, and was probably even less than $30. I should add though, DS is going to private K, so we are paying sizable tuition

A 24 pack of crayons was on his list and they said Crayola was "preferred". Other than that, I wish they were a bit more specific (see my post above re:index cards and headphones/earbuds

notkateanymore · August 2013

Spin313 said:

@eaglesfan700, I found ours at BBBeyond. They were $19.99 and I had a $5 off coupon. I seriously spent at least $30 on school supplies. That seems outrageous for kindergarten!

I wish we had only spent that much then. Crayons and paper are expensive, not to mention fat pencils!

notkateanymore · August 2013

Reading all of this makes paying a little extra for the school fundraiser that has her supplies already in their locker/desk when they get there on the first day of school TOTALLY worth it.

notkateanymore · August 2013

eaglesfan700 said:

Spin313 said:

I had to buy headphones for DS for kindy! No ear buds. They weren't hard to find, but definitely more than I expected to spend on a supply list!

I had to buy headphones too! They didn't specify no earbuds though, but I got some cheap Sony ones from Target that said "headphones", but they are buds. They didn't have the traditional old school headphones, Ugh, now I am stressing over this!

Does your child wear earbuds usually? If so, they should be fine. DD can't wear them, so thank goodness her school supply box comes with regular ones.

eaglesfan700 · August 2013

KateMW said:

eaglesfan700 said:

Spin313 said:

I had to buy headphones for DS for kindy! No ear buds. They weren't hard to find, but definitely more than I expected to spend on a supply list!

I had to buy headphones too! They didn't specify no earbuds though, but I got some cheap Sony ones from Target that said "headphones", but they are buds. They didn't have the traditional old school headphones, Ugh, now I am stressing over this!

Does your child wear earbuds usually? If so, they should be fine. DD can't wear them, so thank goodness her school supply box comes with regular ones.

He has never worn earbuds or headphones before, so I was looking for the traditional ones, but Target didn't have them. I have to see if I have the teacher's email, but I can just run to BBB to get the regular ones

hokies94 · August 2013

Thankfully our school has the pre assembled supply kit that you buy at the end of the previous year. It's a bit more pricey than doing it separately but I would pay a fortune not to have to shop for supplies.

I haven't shopped for supplies in 3 years. Honestly, I don't even know what's on their supply list. It shows up on their desk the first day of school. Best $$ ever spent in my opinion!

penguingrrl · August 2013

This post really hit home for me. Last year I was in 5 or 6 different stores finding the right things. We have some pretty specific things on our list. Headphones are a must and not earbuds (these are for use with computers, so it's very important to have them). Everything is brand specific because they do a big pot and the kids share, so they don't want kids deciding they will only all use crayola crayons when half the parents bought rose art. The folders are also specific because the teachers will pick a color to be each subject. So instead of telling kids to get out their math folder and having kids fumble around looking for it they could just say "get out your yellow folder" and the kids all have the same thing. For the younger grades I totally understand it.

As far as getting sparkly notebooks while they're still interested, there's a long time for that! I remember it being pretty specific like this in early grades then by 4th or 5th it calmed down and I loved the heck out of my sparkly stuff then. I still used glittery fun stuff through HS.

We considered buying the box provided by the school, but it was $70 and included non-earbud headphones when the ones we bought for K are still in good shape (no way I was paying for a new pair when the pair she has is fine). There were a few other items we didn't need and we ended up spending $44.75 instead of the $70, so I'm very glad we didn't waste money on the pack through school.

notkateanymore · August 2013

scorpio72 said:

Thankfully our school has the pre assembled supply kit that you buy at the end of the previous year. It's a bit more pricey than doing it separately but I would pay a fortune not to have to shop for supplies.

I haven't shopped for supplies in 3 years. Honestly, I don't even know what's on their supply list. It shows up on their desk the first day of school. Best $$ ever spent in my opinion!

All of this!!

notkateanymore · August 2013

And another good thing about the boxed supplies is that everything is the same, so there are no sparkly notebooks and fancy pencils to compare with others.

Spin313 · August 2013

As a follow up, it was probably $30 before the headphones and that isn't including his backpack and lunch box. Plus, we already had things like paper towel and tissue boxes in the house, so I just threw it in the bag and didn't add that into the aforementioned $30.

notkateanymore · August 2013

Spin313 said:

As a follow up, it was probably $30 before the headphones and that isn't including his backpack and lunch box. Plus, we already had things like paper towel and tissue boxes in the house, so I just threw it in the bag and didn't add that into the aforementioned $30.

Yeah, I'd still love to spend $30 on supplies. I don't count backpacks or lunch boxes in the total.

pitterpatter129 · August 2013

Our school used to do this. They only wanted Crayola crayons, weird counts of things, etc. Then one year I found myself supply shopping for two kids we had custody of and I had a fit. A crayon is a crayon! They just lose half of them by the third day anyhow! Being the (only) first grade teacher at the school, I got the list changed! *happy dance* That was a few years ago, now, they just supply them all for free though since it's a 98% poverty school. Most schools in our district provide all the supplies.