Let's vent together

I am SOOOOO angry about my kids school supply list. What will they have me bring next year? chalk board, dry erase boards, pine sol for the janitors, toilet paper for the bathrooms, hairnets for the lunch ladies... I know most of you are moms, so this probably is a common gripe, but GEEEEEEEEEEEZ This is so crazy. Here is a list of everything I have to get for my 2 daughters.

2 pkgs. of loose leaf paper (500 sheets)
1 pkg. of white 8 ½” by 11”
computer paper (500 sheets)
24 #2 pencils
1 pkg. of red pens
1 pkg. of blue/black pens
1 pkg. of highlighters
1 – 12 pack of colored pencils
1 pencil case/bag
1 large glue stick
1 scissors
1 small protractor (clear/plastic)
1 ruler (with inches and centimeters)
1 roll of masking tape (1” or 1 ½”)
1 roll of scotch tape
2 boxes of Kleenex
Book Covers
1 USB flash drive
Any size (1GB and up) is sufficient for
school use-to be re-used year to year
Graph Paper (not needed for 6th grade)
Colored Markers
4 - 5 subject spiral notebooks
4 - 1 subject notebooks
sticky notes
1 old hardcover book to be altered
TI-30, TI-34-, or TI-36 calculator for Pre-algebra
TI-83+ and/or TI-84 graphing calculator (Alg. 1)
5 pocket folders with fasteners
Gym Shoes
(non-marking soles)
White Socks
Gym Uniform
Purchase from PE Dept.
Deodorant
Stick or roll on, no aerosol
Sweatshirt
For outdoor use
2 dry erase markers
2” binder with loose-leaf
1 pack of construction paper
Markers, crayons, or colored pencils
Box of Kleenex
1 box of 6 #2 pencils
2 pink erasers
1 pocket folder
1 box of Kleenex Tissue
1 art sketchbook
1 roll of masking tape – 1” or larger

THAT IS THE FIRST KIDS LIST!!!!!!!!!!!

2nd....

1. One three –ring binder with 1.5 inch rings(Durable View/black)
2. Wide-ruled Filler Paper – 200 count
3. Four Composition books: These have a sturdy cover (usually marbled) and are sewn & bound. Please no spiral
notebooks.
4. Crayola Twistables colored pencils; minimum of 12 count pkg.
5. One black and one red each, erasable pen
6. Eight wide tip markers
7. One large glue stick
8. Protractor - Translucent plastic
9. Twelve sharpened WOODEN pencils, #2
10. Small personal-size pencil sharpener with receptacle to keep in desk
11. 12 inch ruler – metric & standard ruled
12. Seven inch Scissors – pointed tip
13. Calculator (TI 30/34 or 36 – also used at WMS
14. Small paperback dictionary – the one from 4th grade is fine
15. Clipboard (9 x 12 – letter size)
16. Two rolls of Scotch tape
17. Yellow and Blue highlighters – one each
18. Two pkg. 3” x 3” post-its
19. 3 x 5 Index cards: usually used for flash cards, may be lined or unlined. No post-it index cards, please.
20. Kleenex – 200 count box
21. Art smock & Gym shoes & music folder
22. 1 USB flash drive, not San Disk brand - MAC/PC compatible (Any size 128MB & up is sufficient for school use-to
be re-used at WMS)
23. Two dry erase markers
24. One ream of 8 ½” x 11 paper
25. One – 10 pack pkg. of heavyweight clear sheet protectors
26. One Expandable file, Seven file size
27. $2.00 for Assignment Notebook
28. Two folders w/prong for MUSIC and GUIDANCE
One box Gallon-sized Ziploc bags – last name A – M
One box Quart sized Ziploc bags – last name N - Z

WOW!! Is this what I have to look forward to?!! goodness!! what the heck is a school budget being used for? I thought classrooms supplied most things! oh my!

can they really make you get particular brands?! why so much paper? i thought everything was computerized anymore. maybe they should just have the market on laptops. goodness

I spent $45.00 on my FIRST grader's supplies and I haven't got the back pack yet.

How much kleenex do they need? It is on the first list three times for a total of four boxes. And Scotch tape AND masking tape? And what is with all those pens and pencils? Do they take them away and use them for administration purposes?

Dry erase markers? C'mon, really???

And why two reams of paper on the first list????? For the photocopier?

Sounds like they want supplies for the SCHOOL not the students.

I was listening to a mom shop today and she was reading off the school supply list to a friend... "one 2" three ring binder with pocket in the front, solid colour, plain, no designs on it"

And yeah, what's up with all the specific brands????

I remember back when I was a child... when we used to have to walk barefoot to school in the snow, up hill both ways... it was a couple of scribblers, a pencil, an eraser, a package of crayons, library paste (the kind you could eat... not me, but the other kids!), a ruler with a metal edge, and a pencil case.

OMG a graphing calculator alone is $75. ohhhhh my

Hey you have the masking tape twice on the first list - hahahahahaha!
Yup Yup I'm with you - here we have to buy them Laptops - but the government gives us some money back at Tax time for it.

They are required to have laptops??? OMG I feel old. I didn't even SEE a computer until Grade 11... and I only saw them because they had one in the Math room where the honour math students got to run code on it.... and I think that was the year they started printing our report cards on those large lined computer perforated computer papers.

Yes - i know it sounds crazy... at the moment she is only in grade one so she ie required to have one but it stays at home... by high school they take it with them everyday... I'm not looking forward to that... she barely uses it for more then educational games..and watching movies - it's not connected to the internet - she uses mine for that - but yeah Shannon I hear ya - all my report cards were hand written when I was in primary.

So you'll have to buy her a new one every year?

OMG I hope not - although if she's anything like I was when I was a kid I will be!
I know my cousin went through about 5 in 5 years from throwing his school bag on the ground with it in there. I'm thinking i buy myself a new one every two to three years and give her my old one... hehe

Yeah different classes she is in needed certain things... Some classes needed 2 boxes of kleenex, another class 1 box....etc.

Holy crow! Is that private school? Because my list for 3 kids is half of your 1st list, and is only suggested, or on the teachers wish list. Wow. You better get painting

nope, public school

Wow. I heard that there are private schools requiring parents to buy iPads for 3rd graders. Let's hope that's not where we are heading.

Wow, that is insane! The worst part is that so many teachers STILL wind up spending personal cash on classroom supplies. It's so unfair because the people who really truly care - parents and teachers - are the ones paying taxes and out of pocket on top of that and still there never seems to be enough.

I homeschool my kindy and 6th grader and even paying taxes into the school system and all our supplies I still doubt I spend as much as what those lists probably add up to. And I include membership to the local museums and zoo as part of my homeschooling budget!

I don't know how much this will help since the lists are so specific, and obviously it won't help for this year, but most homeschoolers purchase supplies the first two weeks of September when they are clearanced at 75-95% off at most major retailers. I am still using the five cent packs of Crayolas and ten cent Composition notebooks we stocked up on two years ago. It's a shame the schools can't negotiate a giant purchase order with a retailer or at least a few manufacturers.

Big hugs mamas, and thanks for the reminder to donate some of our stash to local families in need. I can't imagine how stressful it would be to have a huge list like that as a single parent or struggling family. I too remember when it was not more than a pencil box, notebook, and cool lunchbox with matching Thermos and built-in cup.

It does seem that the list gets longer each year.
I have a 6th and 3rd grade sons. No computers or ipads needed.
Just a memory stick. The rest is pretty typical, but it all adds up!

Homeschool moms---you even get to raise your own kids!!

that list is crazy long. i pay school fee's each year and the only thing i need to supply is there recess lunch and drink. my kids just email there homework to school from home so don't even need a memory stick. Also centrelink( our government service) will let you pay off a laptop with no interest with the most expensive ones being $599.00 so pretty good prices. and you can claim half of that back at tax time in the education tax refund! gotta luv Australia

Our list is pretty bad too,not as bad as yours but, I feel your pain. It seems like I have to buy more for my elementary school child than middle and high schoolers. I had one in each school last yr. Now 1 in elementary and my boys are both high school monkeys.

May the Good Lord bless us with many ,many gigs to pay for this ton of stuff we all have to buy for school!!

wow. just wow.

Yeah, I have homeschooled for seven years now, but last year our daughter went to private school. I couldn't believe the list of supplies required! Brand specific seemed ridiculous to me! And we supplied computer paper for the school year, too.
This year we are back home and school supply buying was a delight again. I got to decide what to buy. I bought what color folders the kids liked. If they wanted polka dot binders, they got polka dot binders.
And yes, I sniffed the crayons.

WOW, okay, I don't feel quite so bad about the lists for my kids...

and although two of them have to have uniforms (the prices are a killer) at least they're not required to have laptops yet...

eeeeeesh!

Oh uniforms! I loved school uniforms! Mine were grey wool skirt, white blouse, white knee socks, grey cardigan with red trim and/or red v-neck pull over...

I used to be a teacher so I know that a lot of that is BS. As a parent you have the right to get or not get whatever you deem necessary on that list, and much of that is not necessary.
For example, one package of computer paper is enough for awhile (kids print a lot). I'd not be getting dry marker erasers without an explanation and even then, not two. If my kid wanted a design, I'd get it. He tends to draw on his binders anyway.

I told my sons teachers that I would supply one box of tissues, with his name on them to go in his cubby but I would not supply for the rest of the class.

When he hit middle school, he got mechanical pencils, not wooden. And I stood up to the teachers on that.

The ONLY thing they have the right to ask a brand for is the memory stick. Not all sticks are compatible with all computers but honestly, schools shouldn't be using MAC's because they are too specific.

No scuff sneakers and gym uniforms? Uhhhh. Not at a public school I wouldn't.

I've fought teachers/principals and school boards over such ridiculous requirements- and won- but in the end this is really the gov't fault. They need to stop cutting the education budgets and start cutting their salaries.

Btw, my son's calculator, which he's been using for several years thank goodness, $153. I nearly died when I saw that. I know a lot of his friends who have to borrow calculators from the school because single parents in this economy simply can not afford all this crap.

This is crazy and you know that the teachers set some of that stuff aside to give to the kids that come in with nothing. I just wish they would ask for what they REALLY need and then ask for donations-so we wouldn't all feel obligated.

I don't even have mine yet. I guess I better look for it.