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My 10th grader's supplies - he came home on the 1st day with a list from each of his 6 teachers - so no advance warning to shop around and when I went to Staples that evening there were 250+ other parents in there, too. Party at the Staples!
The Lists:
6 3-ring binders, various widths, some hard, some soft, all with dividers
2 wide rule spirals
loose leaf paper
pencils, pens (one said no gel pens), highlighters
Glue stick
Paper towels
2 boxes of zip lock baggies
Classroom donation item picked from a list
Calculator (which we will be using the school provided one and will only have to pay the $120 if it's lost. It wasn't lost last year.) Plus required batteries.
I had to get smaller width binders than 2 of the teachers wanted as the 6 binders would not all fit in the largest backpack LL Bean sells. Hopefully he'll never need to bring a text book home as it won't fit in the backpack with all of the binders. He rides his bike so he needs his hands free.
Total cost $85.
Your high school provides a school supply list?
Wow, here in CT by the time they are in high school the students are expected to have their own supplies as needed for each class. Teachers don't tell them what kind of binder is needed or that they need pencils..lol!
My question to parents with lists required from schools, is:
What are the consequences of -not- buying everything on the list? Does the student get an automatic lower grade, as a result of their mom buying only 10 instead of 60 pencils? Will Junior have to stay in detention for a month if his step-father could only find green binders and didn't get any red ones?
I mean - why not just use those lists as guidelines, get as many of each as you think he'll need in the first month or two of school. If they're out of one color, get a different color, just make sure it doesn't match the same color as one of the other colors (sounds like they're looking for things to easily identify different subjects). If the teacher gives you grief about it, tell the teacher to take it up with the Board of Ed, because this is what your child has right now, and when your child runs low on supplies you will take the responsibility of getting more for him.
We had lists in school too but they were worded something like this:
The following is a list of things your child will need during this year.
That's it. It was just an information paper, letting us know that we'll probably buy all this stuff eventually. It was left up to our parents whether or not they were gonna buy them all at the start of the year (when the back to school specials were on), or buy only what we needed at first and replenish when the stock wore down.
...oh and to whoever it was with the wrong shade of green folder...make a photocopy of the kid's work. Bring it to the teacher. Have the teacher initial and date it. Then turn in the original with the wrong shade of green. If it continues turning up "missing" you have the signed, dated photocopies as proof that the teacher acknowledges that the student turned it in. And then the responsibility of not losing it falls on the teacher.
My question to parents with lists required from schools, is:
What are the consequences of -not- buying everything on the list? Does the student get an automatic lower grade, as a result of their mom buying only 10 instead of 60 pencils? Will Junior have to stay in detention for a month if his step-father could only find green binders and didn't get any red ones?
I mean - why not just use those lists as guidelines, get as many of each as you think he'll need in the first month or two of school. If they're out of one color, get a different color, just make sure it doesn't match the same color as one of the other colors (sounds like they're looking for things to easily identify different subjects). If the teacher gives you grief about it, tell the teacher to take it up with the Board of Ed, because this is what your child has right now, and when your child runs low on supplies you will take the responsibility of getting more for him.
We had lists in school too but they were worded something like this:
The following is a list of things your child will need during this year.
That's it. It was just an information paper, letting us know that we'll probably buy all this stuff eventually. It was left up to our parents whether or not they were gonna buy them all at the start of the year (when the back to school specials were on), or buy only what we needed at first and replenish when the stock wore down.
In elem. school (at least around here), we were expected to bring in all the supplies at once at the beginning of the year, then they went into a stockpile for the teacher to draw from -( IME, the folders were the only things that were specific color - for different subjects or activities- and our teachers generally went for easy to find colors). What you purchased was for classroom use, not necessarily for your child's individual use. The teacher was not going to come knocking at your door if you brought in 2 packages of notebook paper and 1 doz pencils instead of 3 packages of paper and 2 doz pencils but certainly, the expectation is there to provide everything on the list.
My big gripe, too, we didn't get the supply list until the first day of school, past the sales tax free weekend. They sent home a detailed list on Monday, then somehow expected everything to magically appear on Tuesday.
Teachers constantly gripe about how they're so underpaid, they fail to realize many parents earn less than they do. They would sure squak if they were asked to spend a penny more than they thought they should, but think nothing of dumping a supply list on parents with one evening to shop, missing the sales, etc.
Of course, you can stock up on basic, common sense things, like paper, pencils, pens, etc, but usually teachers have wish lists so specific you can't guess ahead. And the more specific the item, the more expensive! I wish teachers would quit their gripping and realize the economy has many families barely able to afford the basics, let alone fufill their wish lists, ASAP!
Really, our public school starting salary is $31,000 & the highest paid is $48 (it was posted in a letter req'd by state law). After taxes, the newer teachers & those w/ less than 5 yrs are making $24-$25,000. Divide that by 24 & a teacher is getting $1,000/paycheck. The most I made (I stopped teaching in '05) was $27,000 (I was teaching in parochial) & had my Masters. Oh, that's right, remember teachers are required to get their Masters w/in 10 years of initial certification...check out the cost of grad school & books.
I'm a parent & was a teacher. I spent, on average, $500 a year on supplies that were needed. About 75% for need & the other 25% b/c of whining parents who can afford to buy Johnny a DS but not school supplies The child shows up in new shoes & clothes, but again, god forbid mom has to go out & inconvience herself and buy supplies for her child's education.
I get the frustration. And do stand behind that some teachers are just pain in the butts & very unflexible.
But, really, look what you are complaining about..providing for your child's education.
Sorry it isn't all neat & tidy for you are the time that is good for you...but think about this when you need to ask the teacher for extra assistance for your child in terms of explaining, extra reinforcement work, makeup assignments and so on. Just as you are being asked to be flexible, parents ask the same thing.
Hate the system? Then doing something about it.
Hate the list? Then don't get everything on it if you are so infuriated they need to bring in printer paper (we only were authorized 100 copies a month...I had 90 students....figure out the math).
Hate the cost of the calculator? Then don't encourage them to succeed in math, buy them the same amount of cost in cell phone bills & Wii games...
I had numerous students who never had the complete list. Really never bothered me. Actually, students were never the issue as much as their parents...
I don't see teachers rolling up in Range Rovers and going on vacations to Bora Bora.
I could not find a solo black dry erase marker for my son's list this yr & just told his teacher that would not be included. She had no issues.
And ask for the supplies back at the end of the year if you want. Believe me, teachers aren't hoarding glue sticks and line paper just to annoy you though some of you seem positive they are...
(teachers don't gripe about the pay & most time, the students. They gripe about the constant whining from parents who fail to realize what the job entails b/c they are so self-consumed that they are special)
Wow, here in CT by the time they are in high school the students are expected to have their own supplies as needed for each class. Teachers don't tell them what kind of binder is needed or that they need pencils..lol!
Same here! We just get whatever my son wants that helps him be more organized. There might be a teacher that wants them to do something a certain way, but never what specific supply to buy.
Being asked for ziplocks, glue sticks (really?) and paper towels in 10th grade seems bizarre to me! Where would those go?
My big gripe, too, we didn't get the supply list until the first day of school, past the sales tax free weekend. They sent home a detailed list on Monday, then somehow expected everything to magically appear on Tuesday.
Teachers constantly gripe about how they're so underpaid, they fail to realize many parents earn less than they do. They would sure squak if they were asked to spend a penny more than they thought they should, but think nothing of dumping a supply list on parents with one evening to shop, missing the sales, etc.
Of course, you can stock up on basic, common sense things, like paper, pencils, pens, etc, but usually teachers have wish lists so specific you can't guess ahead. And the more specific the item, the more expensive! I wish teachers would quit their gripping and realize the economy has many families barely able to afford the basics, let alone fufill their wish lists, ASAP!
wow. Do you think the teachers should have to buy them themselves? They have a budget to work with. If the school doesn't give the teachers enough money for supplies, the choices are you buy them for your kids, or the teacher buys them. Priorities... school supplies or clothing that is just too cute to pass up.
Last year, my daughter's first grade class ran out of glue sticks. The teacher sent home repeated requests for parents to send in more, and only two of us responded. Finally, after asking for a month, the teacher told the students that the only children who were permitted to use the glue sticks were my daughter and the other boy whose mom sent some in. Any work that needed glued was sent home with the other children. The parents responded to that!
My friend who is a teacher buy winter coats, hats, gloves on clearance to give to kids who don't have them. Many teachers buy supplies for their own classrooms. I don't think teachers set out to be unreasonable. It seems to me that there are reasons for most of the supply list requests.
My girls' supplies this year will cost me about 40 dollars, but it's easy to come up with that money when I'm not buying Ed Hardy tees and Underarmour or clothing from Justice. I also don't spend $400 a month on a car payment because I just have to have that SUV. It's about prioritizing.
I just started teaching this year again after several years being home with my kids. I started at a new school in a grade that I never taught before. Before school even started, I spent about $500 (OF MY OWN MONEY) to get my classroom up and running. Baskets for books, paper, office supplies, bulletin board stuff, name tags, hangers... it all adds up fast. I will admit that after school started rolling, I think I asked my parents to buy too many folders (and believe me, I feel guilty about it), but honestly, schools aren't providing endless supplies of tape pencils and markers like they used to. Parents need to pitch in and buy glue, sorry, that's reality.
I think next year though, I'm going to ask each family to just donate $20 so that I can buy all the supplies for the kids. Then I'll know that everyone gets a pair of scissors, glue, etc.
Teachers constantly gripe about how they're so underpaid, they fail to realize many parents earn less than they do. They would sure squak if they were asked to spend a penny more than they thought they should, but think nothing of dumping a supply list on parents with one evening to shop, missing the sales, etc.
Just to comment on this, do you really understand how many teachers use their own salaries (and way over the cap on their deductible) to supply things for their classrooms.
I agree that you should get your supply list early. We get them here at the end of the school year for the next year *or* in the packet when we register, but saying teachers don't spend a penny more than they think they should is just wrong.
When I taught in my inner city school, we were given no budget for anything in our classrooms and most of us spent quite a bit on supplies. By the end of the year, we even were buying and bringing in toilet paper for the teacher washrooms because the school ran out. Sometimes we brought some for the student washrooms as well because we knew they needed it.
This was put in the education forum, but it is relevant to this thread.
Another thing you may not understand about teaching is that we often supplied things parents could not for those who were really without any resources. I have a friend who taught first grade in the inner city in Chicago. We went to garage sales all summer to get coats, hats and mittens for her students as Chicago winters can be pretty brutal and kids often came to school without any winter gear. We also bought books for her classroom that she would level and give to her kids to take home after we found that when they were asked to bring a book from home, many could only bring the Bible or a cookbook. She is now a reading specialist and is teaching the grandchildren of those first children. While they have not moved out of the ghetto yet, she has high hopes that the grandchildren will be able to because their parents read to them at home and they have books now as their parents value education for them. My friend makes a big difference in their lives. Aside from that she made a difference in the lives of my dd and many, many children in our suburb because she was a girl scout leader. She had three troops. All of our kids graduated from hs and most went on to college. In fact, my dd's sister troop (her oldest dd's troop) had primarily African American girls who got scholarships despite their poverty and difficulties.
I do NOT think my friend is the exception either.
Did you know that in Pinellas County, Florida, teachers are paid so poorly that they often qualify for food stamps?
Teachers may soon apply for food stamps (http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/news/local/pinellas/teachers-may-soon-apply-for-food-stamps-05202010 - broken link)
Quote:
CLEARWATER - Pinellas county teachers are getting briefed on what kind of low-income, government and charitable assistance programs they may be eligible for.
"It's the first time we've ever had to do this" says Pinellas Classroom Teachers' Association president Kim Black, explaining an "evening of outreach".
Several community service providers and the school system's own employee assistance program will be available to explain how to get financial and other help.
Black says after four years of budget cuts, they are hearing disturbing stories.
"We're hearing more and more about how the teachers are having to water down their insulin to spread it out over days...it's no longer a full cart of groceries, it's a bag of groceries just to make it through that dinner and the next morning's breakfast," Black said.
Dorothy
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The child shows up in new shoes & clothes, but again, god forbid mom has to go out & inconvience herself and buy supplies for her child's education.
