Back to school expenses

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

I see the discount stores are full off school supplies and generic uniforms that some of the public, parochial, and private schools use. It seems like school families hardly get a break from buying between school years.

How are your expenses stacking up this year? I've seen some lists from public schools of supplies kids are supposed to bring and I thought it was, well, ridiculous. Things like alcohol gel hand disinfectants, Chlorox wipes, boxes of plastic cutlery, the brand name markers specified --with the largest array of colors, packs of printer paper, eight specific colors of paper folders and matching spiral notebooks, glue sticks--not liquid, a set of hand towels, rolls of paper towels, kleenex....on and on. I really don't think school accoutrements need to be that expensive.

[momof1in150]

When we lived in Hawaii we were expected to supply everything for our child and the classroom. Our first year in RI we didn't have to bring anything for school supplies. Now that our budgets have been cut we are asked to supply quite a bit. We aren't to the point of kleenex, paper towels and hand soap but we are getting close.

Both of my boys will need school supplies and my 7th grader will need some math items (protractor, calculator, etc) but I won't have that list until September. They both needs sneakers, shoes and jeans. I suspect there will be a couple of new shirts for my 7th grader and my 1st grader will need an entire wardrobe by the fall as he has grown over 4 inches in the last 9 months.

I am keeping my eyes open for sales. I like to shop the Lands' End overstocks page because they have slim pants up to size 20 in boys. They also will hem pants and with skinny boys that have long legs it helps. They don't get a lot of clothes so I don't mind paying for quality.

I will spend between $300 and $400 by the time we are done with basic supplies, shoes, clothing and items the school requires.

It isn't the back to school stuff that bothers me. What bothers me is all the checks I have to write the first month of school.

[disneysteve]

I agree that the lists have gotten insane. If they want to specify what brand and variety of items we have to provide, then let them pay for it. If we're doing the shopping, it should be up to us. If we find a good deal on brand X markers but they requested brand Y markers, that's just too bad IMO.

I also don't like when they require things that we wouldn't normally buy our own kid but we're expected to provide it for everyone else. We don't believe in hand sanitizers, like Purel, but it's on the list every year. And mechanical pencils - we prefer traditional wooden ones.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

I so agree. I keep wondering with all the disposable stuff the kids are told to bring, do they never send a kid to the restroom to wash hands or to wet a rag to clean up spilled paint?

Even the call for wire bound spiral notebooks/theme books would bother me. Looseleaf paper is cheaper. How much must an eighth grader be babied?: "Class take out your yellow folders and yellow notebooks for math." How about just, "Class, you might want to take notes today"? Then the student can put the notes wherever they darned well wish to, in a wirebound notebook, on looseleaf paper, on a legal pad, in a stenographer's book, etc.

[marvholly]

My younger DD teaches 2-3rd grade in a reasonably affluant suburb. The supply list includes rulers. She told me yesterday that 90% of her kids NEVER have rulers so she bought a bunch for $0.25 each.

How can parents justify this???? I would NEVER, no matter how tight my budget, not sent the ENTIRE supply list when my kids were in grade/jr high.

i do understand if the family is on WIC, food stamps or has reduced/free breakfast or lunch meals BUT 90% not having a ruler????

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by marvholly

The supply list includes rulers.

How can parents justify this???? I would NEVER, no matter how tight my budget, not sent the ENTIRE supply list when my kids were in grade/jr high.

I don't have a problem with a recommended supply list. What bothers me is saying you MUST have the XYZ brand ruler and it has to be the green plastic one with the yellow edges.

More than once, we ended up going to 3 or more stores before finding the specific items on the list. Tell the kids what they'll need in general and leave it at that. Let me buy the ruler that they have at Target, whatever that may be. As long as it is 12 inches long, that should be sufficient.

The problem is, just as with school uniforms, they want everyone to be equal. They don't want one kid to have some no-name folder and another kid to have the super-duper Mead organizer because the first kid might be jealous or feel inferior. The schools do everything they can to squash personal expression or individuality. It is really a shame.

[rob62521]

My school doesn't tell what kinds of items to buy such as markers xyz, but I will tell you why I would prefer mechanical pencils over wooden ones...some of the dollar stores sell pencils and some of them are almost impossible to sharpen. Whatever they coat the wood with doesn't sharpen in the hand cranked sharpeners.

Unfortunately, many of the students in my building don't bring anything to school and the teachers usually have to buy the stuff out of their own pockets to make sure the classroom is supplied.

[PrincessPerky]

I think kids need to learn to deal with differences, having a cool movie logo ruler vs a plain brown one, vs a pink one should be a cool event, not a bad one.

[moneybags]

When the year ends, I just throw all the supplies that are brought home into a bin. When the new list comes out, I have most of what is being asked for. My kids are used to not having a shiny new box of colored pencils, but a ripped box that has used pencil in it or a spiral notebook that has less than 70 pages in it (they never use them all anyway). I'm sure there is a ton of waste in school supplies.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Hey, moneybags-- a little tip on the original boxes that hold crayons, markers, or pencils. If you want to continue to use them for a long time, you can cover them with decorative "Conact plastic" or even just wrap some packing tape around them., including over the tuck-in portion of the lid. It reinforces them. Do it when the box is new, ideally. If you use the Contact paper it feels more like something special and personalized nstead of something pitiful signifying a need to make do.

[PrincessPerky]

Originally Posted by Joan.of.the.Arch

....nstead of something pitiful signifying a need to make do.

It's all in how you say it...reusing is 'a desire not to waste or harm the planet.'

[sounderella]

Wow...scary thought. I can remember back when I was in school the lists were pretty basic. DS has 2 more years before pre-k....that gives the schools 2 more years to figure out how to be even more super specific in their demands.

[rob62521]

I think it depends on the school on how specific they get. We are happy if our kids bring paper, pencils, and crayons, but most don't even bring these basics. The teachers provide glue, scissors, rulers, etc. out of their own pockets.

[SnoopyCool]

I've seen a partial list online, and they'd like the parents to buy colored pencils. "We find that Crayola sharpens the best."

Anyway, as far as expenses, I watch Wal-Mart throughout the year. Oft times, I've found things cheaper than what they are when they hold their back to school sales. Just a month ago, I found folders that are now $1 each and I got them for a dime.

For K, DS had a school supply list and the teachers just asked us to drop the supplies off in an empty room. That was nice because no one knew which child did/did not (could/could not) bring what was requested. I also thought it nice because I'm the mom that will buy what is least expensive (off-brand plastic zipper bags, hand sanitizer, etc.) and I'm not ready to have DDs feelings crushed because his mom wouldn't buy name brand (unless it is cheaper when I have a coupon and it is on sale). Anyway, I digressed.

[moneybags]

Originally Posted by Joan.of.the.Arch

If you use the Contact paper it feels more like something special and personalized nstead of something pitiful signifying a need to make do.

Thanks for the idea, but my recycling of school supplies has nothing to do with a need to make do. I could buy all the school supplies I want, I choose not to (and I wouldn't spend it on contact paper either). My kids could care less.

[JanH]

The thing I hated was having a whole extra list given out by each teacher the first day of class. Then, no matter how prepared you were, there was always something you had to go get. Along with everyone else so if you all needed yellow notebooks for one class it could make it interesting to find them. I wished that you could pick up an individual teacher's requirements the day you picked up the teacher assignments (in the last weeks of summer) NOT the first days of classes. It was stressful enough without running all over the place the first few days trying to fulfill the requirements. I had no problem with the list, just getting it on the first day. This was generally more middle and high school. The stores had the lists for individual elementary schools. Or you got that list with the teacher assignment. The extra lists in middle and high school were from each teacher. So, no matter how many folders, pens, erasers, etc., you'd bought ahead of time, there were always things you had to go out and find. Most gave you a couple of days and they gave points to kids who brought them in. We always had to supply boxes of kleenex, too. That was funny the first time I saw that.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

I didn't mean to be insulting with my comment about pitiful and needing to make do. I do not find it pitiful at all, and I believe there is no shame in continuing to use crayons, whether one needs to make do or not. I was just thinking of the larger milieu in which kids are sometimes assaulted with such judgments. I figured it was so common for kids at school to be teased regarding their possessions that everyone would understand.