I'm surprised there isn't an article anywhere (to my knowledge) that says parents are taking to skimming off the supply rooms at their offices so the kids can have binders in the fall.

On a side note, I have to admit that one of the things I miss about school is the back to school shopping I did when I was a kid.

But you have to also consider that the schools and teachers have less supplies too. Part of the willingness to spend more could be because they know that if they don't buy it for their kids they simply won't have it.

Besides, if they already cut down last year it makes sense that some of them can't make whatever budget they had even smaller.

I could go for some skrimps right about now.

Saw a K-Mart commercial last night advertising their layaway plan for school supplies. Shop now, pay a little bit each month until it's paid off. Sad.

They don't need most of that junk anyway. My parents bought me loads of crayons, pencils, protractors and rulers when I was a kid. I don't think I ever used the protractor. Buying your kid a box of 50 pencils just means they'll be lending out pencils to all the kids in the class.

Notebook, 2 pencils, done. Everything else can be mined from the classroom and will teach your kid to be resourceful.

They finally made a realistic school supply list this year. In previous years each classes list was full of pointless and expensive items that they rarely or never used. I also notice that many of the items on the list we still have from last year. A decent back pack, decent lunch bag, scissors, headphones etc. So my list is mostly things that wear out like markers and crayons.

The list of school supplies that parents are supposed to get keeps rising. My mom's a teacher, and her school asks kids to bring Kleenex. It's a low-income school, so parents look at the list, think it's a load of crap that they can't afford, and don't buy anything

@henrygates: what horrible elementary school did you go to? Not only did I use mine I had to buy another one because it broke.

My daughter starts Kindergarten this fall. I can't believe the amount of supplies I have to purchase for the class.

I wonder if there are any parents that would mind sharing their school supply lists? I went to public school in MN and as I recall our list of required supplies was very short. Now that I'm middle aged (and without children) I'd love to have a look, not to mention how interesting it will be to compare the different lists based on geographical region.

@henrygates: Buy a box of 50 pencils, give two to your kid to take to class. There's no reason a kid should be going to school with 50 pencils.

@Brian James Schend: Kleenex was on my back to school list too, when I was a kid. We always bought the generic kind, and no one cared. It's supposed to be put into a communal pile so the classroom had tissues. I'd rather buy the $2 box of tissues than have a kid use his shirt as a tissue and spread his germs to everyone else by wearing snot on his sleeve.

Oh, this is the time of year that I start to see red.

Every year they give us a list of supplies...at the JR high, (and I am on child # 3), each teacher wants a binder just for their class and a list of supplies that will not fit into the locker, will get lost and they ultimately do NOT need. THEN, the children are told, if they do not have the exact supplies by the 2nd or 3rd day, they will lose points on a quiz.

Yeah, I stopped playing that game years ago...

They get a morning and afternoon zipped binder,a binder for the agenda book and lots of folder.

Any teacher who objects is invited to a school board meeting to discuss the specific educational value of having a seperate binder JUST for that class.

@pecan 3.14159265: I loooove(d) back to school shopping. In grad school now so I don't buy a new backpack and crayons and a ruler and all that every year, but I do enjoy shopping for office supplies still.

@PunditGuy: When you include clothes, it gets really expensive. Especially with little kids who actually need clothes because their old ones don't fit anymore. If/when I have kids, then once they stop growing I think I'll tell them to buy their own clothes lol.

@celticgina: Go you! No sarcasm there. Truly.

@bohemian: my backpack was the same for many years, LL Bean original backpack with my monogrammed initials and lunch was put in my plastic lunch box (which my mom was nice enough to buy me a new one each year, She-ra, Masters of the Universe, Rainbow bright - they always had the cool little thermos' inside of them). Although I didn't have a uniform my clothes were always modest (purchased from JC Penny or Sears), no fashion sneakers, no name brand this and that. If the clothes still fit from last year they were used again this year. Her philosophy was school was about learning not a fashion show. Pencils and other supplies were re-used if possible. Notebooks, glue and any other essentials were bought at Woolworth's (wow am I dating myself or what?)

Yeah, but in high school most kids still need that TI-82 graphing calculator that's $120

@nwaasob: Kindergarten, Cincinnati, Ohio

24 #2 Pencils
2 boxes Crayola Classic Colors washable broad-tip markers
2 boxes 8 Crayola brand crayons (8 only, no 16, 24, 64)
15 glue sticks
1 pair Fiskars scissors
1 pocket folder
1 one-inch three-ring binder
1 plastic school box
6 boxes facial tissues
6 boxes of baby wipes
2 boxes of ziplock bags (girls-large, boys-small)
6 rolls of papertowels
2 packs of napkins for lunchroom.

@celticgina: Ugh. I hated the teachers who would grade you on your binder. What exactly does that teach, anyway, except to hoard every little thing? My parents were super pissed off when they found out I had to have a different binder for every class so some teacher could take one away at the end of the week to make sure I followed her weird note-taking scheme.

@Brian James Schend: I alway looks (very carefully now) for the bulk boxes and send them in. I mean seriously, it's only kleenex.

At least they now publish the school supply lists online in our districts.

For years, the JR High and HS list was a state secret that could only be told on the first day of school AFTER the sales were over, AFTER the shelves were picked clean and making darn sure that you would wait on line for at least 2 hours....(yeah, welcome to Long Island).

When I pointed out that if a teacher has been teaching for more that 3 years, they pretty much ask for the same thing every year......why would they think waiting would make sense.

Luckily, I only had to point that out one year at a school board meeting, Because my next step was to send in a envelope with 10 to each teacher and invite them to stand online to purchase supplies.

Yeah, I am a lot of fun at a PTA Meeting too! ;}}}

Thankfully my daughter is in high school and the list was pretty short last year. I only plan to buy a binder, some dividers, paper, pens, and pencils.

She's used the same French dictionary for a couple years, and it's a little worn but still should last until she graduates. She has plenty of leftover markers and colored pencils in case she needs them for anything. Unless some of her electives require special materials (her art class last year needed special pencils), we should be able to spend less than $20.

I don't know why kids need so many supplies each year - other than the consumables (paper, pens, pencils) most supplies should last for more than one year. When she was in elementary school, we invested in a box of address labels and stuck them on every colored pencil - she came home with them all at the end of the year because they didn't get mixed in with everyone else's.

Rulers, protractors, staplers, pencil boxes, etc. should last for multiple years if they are taken care of properly and labeled with your kid's name.

And yes, we contributed the mandatory TWO boxes of Kleenex every year.

@nwaasob:

Kindergarden, Northern Virginia:

1 Plastic 8" x 5" School Box (No Handles)
1 Box 24 Count Crayola Crayons
1 Fiskar's Children's Scissors
10 Large Glue Sticks
2 Boxes of Tissues
1 12 Pack of Dixon Ticonderoga #2 Pencils
2 Sanford MagicRub Eraser
1 Box Gallon Size Ziploc Bags
1 Box Sandwich Size Ziploc Bags
1 Hand Soap (Pump)
1 Disinfectant Sanitizing Wipes
1 Marble Composition Book
1 Package Medium Sized Motivational Stickers ("Great Job"/"Good Work")
2 Reams White Computer Paper (8 ½" x 11")

Sixth Grade, Northern Virginia (same school):

5 Large Spiral Notebooks - 100 pages (plastic cover) (Mead
Five Star Premier Notebooks)
10 Jumbo glue sticks
1 Post-it 1" green/blue/red Durable tabs, 66/pack
1 Nylon Pencil Pouch (No Boxes)
2 Dozen #2 Pencils (Ticonderoga, if possible)
1 Children's Scissors (pointy)
2 Pens, black or blue (No gel pens)
3 Highlighters (3 different colors)
1 Box 24 Colored Pencils
1 Small, Hand Held Pencil Sharpener
5 Large Dry Erase Markers (Various Colors)
1 Medium Eraser
1 Protractor, clear, without arm
1 12" ruler (inches and centimeters)
1 Large box of tissues
4 2-Pocket Folders
2 Marble composition notebooks
2 Reams White Computer Paper (8 ½" x 11")
1 Agenda/Assignment book
1 Large Container of Disinfectant wipes
1 Paperback novel from home to be kept in desk
1 Pkg 3" x 5" index cards for research projects (Pkg of 100
Cards)
$20 Dollars for National Geographic Magazine and class activies.

@henrygates: But at what point does it stop? Why should the teacher be on the hook for classroom supplies because you are too stingy to shop the sales and buy them a decent amount of pencils?

@pecan 3.14159265: ah yes because tissues will keep children from spreading germs, right....

I am personally amazed how teachers dont come home everyday puking their brains out or are constantly sick. All it takes is one kid and the whole class goes down for the count.

@nwaasob:
3rd grade, Tallahassee, FL

Pencil bag
1 pack of 10 #2 pencils*
1 pack of cap-on erasers
1 pack of 200 sheets wide-ruled notebook paper*
1 Elmer's glue bottle
2 glue sticks .77 oz.
1 spiral notebook, single subject, 70 pages, with wide-ruled paper
10 Duotang folders with pockets, 3 hole punched and no brads in these colors: 2 red, 2 yellow, 2 blue, 2 orange, and 2 green (bright colors) please no plastic folders.
1 2" view binder notebook
1 centimeter/inch ruler
16 count box of Crayola crayons
8 count box of Crayola colored pencils
8 count box Crayola markers
1 pack of colored ink pens*
Highlighters: 1 each of pink, yellow, green and blue
Scissors, 5" sharp Fiskar brand
1 box of tissues
1 roll of paper towels
1 container of antibacterial wipes
1 roll of Scotch tape
1 dry erase board
1 package of Expo markers
1 package of sheet protectors
1 gallon sized Ziploc freezer bags
Student Planner
Old sock to use on your dry erase board
4 jumbo book covers
1 shirt or pillow case for an end-of-the-year project

My son's school offers a service where you can order most of the school supplies and they will have them ready at his desk on the first day of school. I'm trying them for the first time this year because I spent so much time and money last summer finding the exact supplies that they asked for and it ended up costing the same as if I had used the service.

So we will do the fun stuff of picking out a new backpack, lunch box, uniform, and shoes without have to track down an elusive yellow two pocket folder with 3 prong brackets.

@AllanG54: its the best $120 you will spend. I still have my ti-83 and I have been out of school for 10+ years already.

@AllanG54: Really now, the TI-82/83 went out of style when I entered high school years ago. I think now they're up to the TI-84 or TI-84 Plus. Still costs the same though, and it's only good for those 3 years since universities pretty much ban their use unless you're doing classes that explicitly use them.

@chersolly: I hope your kid isn't planning to ride the bus or walk to school on the first day :-) He/she will need a grocery cart in addition to a backpack...

Assuming a class size of 15 kids, where does the teacher plan to store 90 boxes of tissues, 90 boxes of baby wipes, 90 rolls of paper towels, 30 packs of napkins and 30 boxes of ziploc bags?? That's an entire grocery store aisle of paper/cleaning supplies!

@italianscallion33: you can back to school shop for a child who can't afford school supplies. you can pick up a list and buy the whole round of supplies for a student. it helps me because i get the shopping out of my system, and school supplies are so affordable right now. plus some child who may not otherwise have supplies will be ready for school.

Beware of department store (ie Walmart's) school supply lists - even if they are school and teacher specific. The stores just make them up to sell you more.

@Adrienne Willis: No, kids will find ways of spreading germs, but a good teacher would have the kid wipe his/her nose with a tissue instead of leaving them to solve the problem with a sleeve.

@PunditGuy: Layaway isn't sad. It's the way people bought things on time until about 20 years ago. KMart and Walmart did away with layaway only about a decade ago, and some stores are now bringing it back. It's a responsible way to shop with limited funds.

@Adrienne Willis: Henry's school was anti-geometry. Tangents are of the devil, I tells ya!

@AllanG54: our math classes had access to a set of graphing calculators. they worked fine, only used in school under adult supervision. i think it's better if the school buys them at a discount for educational purposes... i don't remember needing to use one at home for any reason.

@inadequatewife: I figured I'd have to drive her. I guess they assume that most parents won't provide the items, which is why they aim high? Thank gawd for Costco.

@inadequatewife: Thanks to summer assignments, we end up using most of the consumables that are left over from the school year (pencils, pens, crayons, colored pencils, markers) during the summer. His school is pretty good about only asking for consumable items and I passed on his kindergarden mat to a younger relative.

@henrygates: You do realize that in most schools the teachers pay for classroom supplies, not the school.

CHEAP PAPER SMELLS AWFUL: Do not skimp on notebook paper, notebooks, etc unless you want to smell the STINK for a long time. Avoid "made in India" paper products.

@xay: no plastic folders? Why not? Those suckers are indestructible.

@Allison Granados: Are there any nonprofits who do this specifically? I've heard of programs like this but it's usually advertised at the local stores, and I'm not about to spend $5 on a pack of pens just because Target tells me I should do something nice for a kid. If I could find the actual charities, and give them the donation of supplies myself, then I wouldn't be spending $5 for pens at Target.

@pecan 3.14159265: check with places like homeless shelters, family assistance (maybe food banks and the like) or your city/ local schools. someone will know something.

@Adrienne Willis: I think I had a Mickey Mouse lunchbox and possibly a Barbie lunchbox for a while. I'm pretty sure if I had a say back then, I'd be the only girl with a Transformers lunchbox. But I was made to carry something far less cool.

My backpack was pretty cutesy and trendy for the first few years, but as soon as I was old enough for a "grown up" backpack (circa fourth grade) I got a basic red Jansport that I used up til 10th grade. Going with something basic rather than trendy can save a ton of money. Plus, Jansport made really good backpacks.

@winshape: I have no idea - maybe they are some kind of hazard? The sound gets on the teacher's nerves?

Good. Parents spend too much on school supplies as it is. I never used half the shit my parents bought me. A 10 pack of pens? 8 of them lost in the first week. Buy a pack of Crayola markers! Never used them. Make sure you have a graphing calculator! For basic algebra? I don't think so.

Parents buy into the notion that you need all this shit the schools and stores recommend for your kids when you really really don't.

@henrygates: These days you might not want to count on it. Since the schools aren't providing as much teachers are having to buy things they usually wouldn't have to. There might not be a large surplus of pencils and paper since they have to buy other things. I'm sure the teachers aren't just letting the kids grab whatever.

@bohemian: Headphones? Why?

@xay: That list sounds unnecessarily picky. It's just 3rd grade, FFS.