Back to school question... - Page 2

[LynnS6]

Our classrooms have 'caddies' that are on the tables, and one of the jobs the kids rotate is making sure the caddies have all the supplies. This does several things: The kids who don't have the money to buy supplies don't feel bad (and we have a LOT of them at our school), it cuts down on time kids spend looking for a pencil, because they all know where they are and finally, it cuts down on arguments because it's all communal.

I find our lists very reasonable. 3rd grade is the first year the kids will keep a few of their own things. They'll keep their own notebooks, and share everything else, I think. The 3rd grade list is:

Backpack
1 box crayons – 24 ct.
1 package of colored pencils
24 - #2 pencils – not fancy
Sharp durable scissors with a point
1 12” ruler
1 school supply box
1 felt tip black pen
3 glue sticks
1 pencil sharpener
2 composition books
1 spiral notebook
2 folders with pockets
3 erasers
1 box of Kleenex
No Three Ring Binders Please

[LynnS6]

Originally Posted by coco4cloth

Exactly what does each 1st grader do with 12 glue sticks

They push 11 of them all the way out, leave the cover off and let it dry out! Seriously, a lot of supplies are wasted by 1st graders.

But I expect they have some kids who don't bring anything.

[rainyday]

Originally Posted by coco4cloth

If every 1st grader brings in 12 that's 720 glue sticks. I just don't remember my son doing that many protects with glue in 1st grade. I spent 125 dollars in supplies. Had to buy 7 boxes of kleenex too.

720? How many kids are in your child's class? At 12 per child, that would mean 60 children, which seems unlikely (I hope!)

But at the younger ages, which includes first grade, there's an incredible amount of waste. A lot of the glue sticks, especially the small ones, are done after just two projects. That same glue stick might last you or me for 50 projects, but as adults we don't have quite the same need to apply glue 1/4" thick! When I help out with a gluing project, I'm always amazed at how many of the kids apply the glue incredibly thickly, breaking off whole chunks of the stick on their project.

That being said, I know as a teacher that I have sometimes asked for more supplies than were needed but I didn't send them back home. For one, I didn't keep them in separate bins labeled for each student. For two, I would often have 2 or 5 or even 17 left - but I had 32 students. Who would I have sent them home to? The next year I just asked for a bit less of whatever was still usable.

[coco4cloth]

We have 3 classrooms in 1st grade with at least 20 kids in each class.

[Tinkerszs]

Kinders go through glue sticks at a remarkable rate!

[Linda on the move]

I don't mind buying school supplies BUT I wish our district marked on the list which things are communal and which things are personal. DD picked out some VERY cute spiral notebooks that we communal. I could have just bought the big package of cheap ones.

And 48 pencils isn't that many. DD's class room asked for 24 from each student and then ran out half way through the year. They also ran out of Kleenex (4 boxes per student) in January. There is a whole lot of school left after January.

It's far easier to get parents to bring in supplies at the beginning of the year. If the teacher doesn't ask for enough kleenex at the start, they run out, then they send out an email. Three kids each bring in one box. Then what? Keep sending home emails every week? (which the same 3 kids will respond too) Supply all kleenex from a teacher's salary?

[layne]

Originally Posted by coco4cloth

If every 1st grader brings in 12 that's 720 glue sticks. I just don't remember my son doing that many protects with glue in 1st grade. I spent 125 dollars in supplies. Had to buy 7 boxes of kleenex too.

They are probably expecting the kids to ruin a lot of the glue sticks. I would have thought that was an excessive amount too before homeschooling my kids for a few years and seeing how many glue sticks somehow get left with the cap off, fuzzed up somehow, smashed all over the table, etc. Same thing with pencils. Once they are chewed up or the eraser is worn down to nothing, some kids that age will resort to tears and arguing over not having to use the undesirable oldest pencil. Having a surplus of everything makes classroom management a whole lot easier.
That said, we are dirt poor this year and the kids are back in school and yeah, we may not be able to buy the whole supply list so maybe they anticipate people like me. :
layne

[cedoreilly]

Glue sticks seem to be used like crazy. It seems like very fall I send a mess of them in with my kids and the teachers are always asking for more mid-year. Now I just randomly send in 6 packs at various point during the year long with boxes of tissues (particularly if there is a runny nose going through my house). Everytime, the teachers are so thankful for more.