Community Chat

[Sooner]

Good grief I am amazed at all the stuff kids have to have for school now!  Two or three bottles of glue, several boxes of crayons, fiskars scissors, zip lock bags, a change of clothes with underwear (?), and on and on.

With that much glue, half of our class would have had to be physically separated from the desk or the kid next to them's hair. 

Makes me feel like all we had was a stick to write in the dirt with.  

[missy1]

It's not required where I live, just a list of suggestions for each grade level .Many of our public schools, supplies are donated. Also, a lot of the teachers buy their own supplies/provide snacks.

Not all students bring supplies, so the extra suggestions on the supplies help the other students out. In elementary school a lot of stick/Elmer's glue is used.

All schools should suggest an extra pair of  clothes in their backpack, at the elementary level.

[dex]

@Sooner@When my son was in school the teacher always asked for extras to give to those who didn’t have the needed supplies.The list was very brand specific and the kids handed over all of the supplies and the teacher doled them out as needed.

[Ruby Laine]

Another issue that comes up more often than we know—students sometimes need to change school districts one or more times during the year. This can happen due to parent/parents facing jail time, parents losing custody for drug use and other endangerment issues, and kids being moved from one foster home to another or to another family member. 

They show up at their new school without supplies or backpacks. Teachers often keep a few extra backpacks on hand.  

[Kachina624]

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@dex wrote:

@Sooner@When my son was in school the teacher always asked for extras to give to those who didn’t have the needed supplies.The list was very brand specific and the kids handed over all of the supplies and the teacher doled them out as needed.

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@dex.  If I was a parent with budget issues, I'd really resent being asked to subside other kids.  I dont approve of this at all.

[dex]

@Kachina624i didn’t like it but there was really no choice.I didn’t know exactly how much my son needed so I just complied.We had to buy Kleenex too.

[Sooner]

@Kachina624  Me either!  That's terrible.  If schools want to ask for donations, that's great.  But to charge everyone for all the kids is very wrong. I agree with Kachina624--and I don't approve. 

[Warrior2022]

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@Ruby Laine wrote:

Another issue that comes up more often than we know—students sometimes need to change school districts one or more times during the year. This can happen due to parent/parents facing jail time, parents losing custody for drug use and other endangerment issues, and kids being moved from one foster home to another or to another family member. 

They show up at their new school without supplies or backpacks. Teachers often keep a few extra backpacks on hand.  

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Or the families could be in the military, have job transfers, need to move for personal reasons. 

I never really minded stocking up when I bought my childs supplies and sending the extras to the school.

[stevieb]

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@Kachina624 wrote:

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@dex wrote:

@Sooner@When my son was in school the teacher always asked for extras to give to those who didn’t have the needed supplies.The list was very brand specific and the kids handed over all of the supplies and the teacher doled them out as needed.

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@dex.  If I was a parent with budget issues, I'd really resent being asked to subside other kids.  I dont approve of this at all.

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I'm with you @Kachina624... A voluntary donation is one thing. A mandatory communal supply experience is altogether different... When I was in the early grades, the school provided for the few basic needs and billed parents. That way, they could manage those who couldn't or wouldn't pay as they saw fit... Anything above the essentials, we were on our own... It worked out nicely... Of course, that predates backpacks, but we did have book bags and lunch boxes...

[missy1]

I don't see public schools making parents buy school supplies mandatory. Private and charter schools yes. I don't look at it as subsidizing other students. If one has the funds to give extras to the class, then this great. Where I live, just having the students attend school is good. Kindergarten here, supplies are generally shared. I see no problem with this. Also, school supplies usually run out after the Winter break. Many teachers end up buying tissue, hand sanitizer etc. (if the school runs out)