Anyone else "alter" their kids school supplies? - Page 2

gilliam0128 · 08-07-2007, 10:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mew5c

I could understand if they wanted perforated, but they specify NONperforated and I can't see why they would want that. It would be different if the perforated pages fell out easily, but they really don't.

Or if it is non-perforated that they want, then why not just notebook paper?

ssusan2971 · 08-07-2007, 10:38 AM

My dd's school seems to be very BRAND conscious. I can understand some of the things, like crayons and Play-Doh.... but pencils? They want PaperMate pencils. They're getting the 9¢ ones.

Oregano · 08-07-2007, 10:50 AM

Our schools have not been that specific, but I agree that the difference between 16 and 24 count crayons is really not much and same for glue sticks. Why does it have to be the big one? Can't it be 6 of the small ones? L.OL!

I didn't even realize that my kids were using perforated notebooks! You can't even tell and the pages don't come out very easily either.

Oregano · 08-07-2007, 10:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ssusan2971

My dd's school seems to be very BRAND conscious. I can understand some of the things, like crayons and Play-Doh.... but pencils? They want PaperMate pencils. They're getting the 9¢ ones.

I don't think it's "brand conscious" necessarily, I think that some products just generally work better than others. Crayola is usually indicated on our lists, and IMO, I think they just work better anyhow! I never buy any RoseArt products, they're cheap for a reason. They break easily, the colors aren't as nice etc You can buy a box of 24 Crayola Crayons for 20 cents.

We also buy nicer pens and pencils, because again, we have found that they work better. When we buy the cheaper ones, we end up buying more, more often. At least that has been our experience...

Lucky Mom · 08-07-2007, 10:57 AM

I can't believe how specific all these lists are! And the teacher that took points off of the kid's work because their paper wasn't perforated? Give me a break!

I can't believe they tell you exactly how many crayons or makers they need, the size glue stick, etc. What the heck? Why do they not just say "your kid needs crayons, markers and glue sticks"? Geez. These teachers are anal.

Ugh. Not looking forward to the future now. Hoping to homeschool. lol.

lamby248 · 08-07-2007, 11:05 AM

I didn't have to alter the lists that I had. What I have problems with is knowing exactly what they want. Like the list will say 2" Trapper Keeper so that they can zip up all the papers, but there was no 2" trapper keepper, there were 1-1/2" trapper keepers and then 2" regular old binders. Which do I get?? That is what baffles me..

Last year, the school didn't even put out a list. We found out the night before school started from the teacher at Meet the Teacher night what was needed.. My ex-h ended up spending probably another $30 on more specific stuff they would need.

The .10 notebooks at Walmart are the nonperforated.. They are spiraled but when you tear them out, it is nonperforated..

I bought some of them last night and noticed that they were nonperforated.

ssusan2971 · 08-07-2007, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oregano

I don't think it's "brand conscious" necessarily, I think that some products just generally work better than others. Crayola is usually indicated on our lists, and IMO, I think they just work better anyhow! I never buy any RoseArt products, they're cheap for a reason. They break easily, the colors aren't as nice etc You can buy a box of 24 Crayola Crayons for 20 cents.

We also buy nicer pens and pencils, because again, we have found that they work better. When we buy the cheaper ones, we end up buying more, more often. At least that has been our experience...

I do agree with the Crayola crayons and we have to have Play-Doh and I can see that too- the off brands are usually very sticky and gross.

Do you really see a difference in the pencils though? I've never noticed one but my DD will just be going into Kindergarten this year so I may be singing a different tune next year LOL

What about the Fiskar (I think that's how it was spelled) scissors? I was going to just get any blunt tip scissors but .....are the Fiskar ones really better?

Princess1 · 08-07-2007, 11:29 AM

I also thought this years school list was silly. One of my boys had to have 3 boxes of Kleenex and two bottles of hand sanitizer. It didn't specify what size of hand sanitizer so I got the smallest one. I also bought the cheapest boxes of tissues. I am not going to buy name brand Kleenex tissue when we don't even have to have that brand or that many boxes in a years time around the house. When I was a kid we didn't have to have hand sanitizer and we only needed one box of tissues. There is approx. 30 kids per class X 3 boxes each kid you have 90 boxes of tissues !!! What do they need that many for?

This year on the supply list it said that you needed to replenish all these supplies mid year.

I can understand on some things but others it's getting ridiculous.

Cookie2 · 08-07-2007, 01:31 PM

THANK YOU for posting about this!

I bristle at the whole 'school list' concept anyway (free public schooling is supposed to be FREE) so the specifics on these lists are driving me nuts. And I agree with you, the worst is those d@mn glue sticks! Oh my goodness, we're supposed to buy 4 Elmers .77 oz gluesticks. They are sold out EVERYWHERE. Does Elmers have a corner on the market or what? That is in addition to the 4 oz Elmers gluestick that is also on the list.

I already bought DD the 3 plain pink erasers that were on the list only to re-read and find out they were supposed to be "Pink Pearl" brand. Then DD is also supposed to have a 'steno pad'. Okay, I FINALLY find one in the stores only to find out she is supposed to have WHITE pages, not the standard green pages. So now I have to run around town looking for another steno pad with white pages when the d@mn green page one was hard enough to find.

Then there are certain things where they aren't specific enough. For instance, the list says "large pencil box". Okay, HOW large? Define large! Am I supposed to buy a Rubbermaid tote? A standard 39-cent pencil box that they have everywhere in the stores? What?!?!?! Give me dimensions for goodness sakes!

Crayons - yes, they specified Crayola crayons, no problem. I'll find them. However, the kids are supposed to have 2 boxes of 8 count crayons AND one box of 16 count, PLUS 12 count colored pencils AND 12 count thin washable markers. Seems like a lot of coloring is going on in 1st grade - sigh.

This year we were trying to decide between two different schools for DD. One school starts much earlier than the other. My girlfriend suggested that we do what she is doing with her DD; start the kid in one school, see how it is going and switch if you want later. No way! You know why we're not going to do that? Because I read the supply list and the other school and there is no way I'm buying BOTH lists.

Kimberley · 08-07-2007, 01:46 PM

they give us a list of all name brand items that tend to be more expensive than no names, so i buy dd whatever is cheapest. the school has never said anything to me about it yet.i will continue to do what i do.