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Holy cow. If I have to buy all these supplies, why aren't I just homeschooling? - Page 4

post #61 of 157
6/26/08 at 10:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by quinnsmum View Post
How many professions do you know of that have their people pay for
education that is required or pay for necessary supplies? Never heard
of any nurses who have to buy their own needles, have you? My aunt who is a kindergarden teacher spends
$1000+ a year on stuff for school, from glue stixs to snacks.
Isn't that the kind of thing where the teacher's union is supposed to stand up for their people? I just get the feeling that teachers are buying all this stuff because the administrators know that they'll buy it rather than not and the system continues to get away with not putting the money where it belongs.

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post #62 of 157
6/26/08 at 11:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by phathui5 View Post
Isn't that the kind of thing where the teacher's union is supposed to stand up for their people?
There are many areas where unions, especially for teachers, are weak... Most teachers here are not union. Gives the union very little real power.

-Angela
post #63 of 157
6/26/08 at 11:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by alegna View Post
There are many areas where unions, especially for teachers, are weak... Most teachers here are not union. Gives the union very little real power.

-Angela
Not only that, but in some "right to work" states (FL, for example), public employees are not allowed to strike. That gives the union even less power.
post #64 of 157
6/27/08 at 11:10am
Quote:
How many professions do you know of that have their people pay for
education that is required or pay for necessary supplies? Never heard
of any nurses who have to buy their own needles, have you?
I understand this except take it a step further. The client of the nurse who needs the needle isn't expected to supply the needle either.

The problem lies in the gov't who funds the hospital & the schools. The hospitals get more money so they can afford to supply the needles.

Some things I have no problem supplying. Other things I do have a problem with. Some things I disagree with ethically(baby wipes, sanitizer gels) and will not supply if they are asked for(aren't in our school).

A pp mentioned having the bells & whistles in the classrooms are nice to have. Our school has a laminater, the decorative stuff, centers, games, etc the secretary laminates & the parent group cuts out. The cost of the school(or school community council, not sure who purchased it) buying the laminater saves the teachers money in having to re-purchase these things since they won't wear down.

We have an excellent school community council(they're required by this province) that has saved the teachers alot of extra time by doing those menial jobs(cutting, colouring, photocopying, bulletin boards, decorating, etc) for them. In small ways it has cut down the amount of $ they have to spend on supplies for the classroom.
post #65 of 157
6/27/08 at 9:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by CarrieMF View Post
I understand this except take it a step further. The client of the nurse who needs the needle isn't expected to supply the needle either.
Yeah, actually they are. The patient doesn't carry a needle in with them, but they pay for that needle, either through their insurance or out of their pocket.
post #66 of 157
6/27/08 at 10:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by EFmom View Post
Yeah, actually they are. The patient doesn't carry a needle in with them, but they pay for that needle, either through their insurance or out of their pocket.
We pay for the school funding through taxes too. We aren't asked to supply extra when we go into the clinic for a shot. We aren't asked to bring in the sanitizing gel, kleenex for the waiting rooms, cleaning supplies, toilet paper, paper that goes on the beds when we come in.

As I stated the problem is the gov't & how they divide up the funding that we pay.
post #67 of 157
6/28/08 at 1:53pm
I don't think that list is outrageous. it is on the long side but not terrible. They are asking for stuff in the sizes that come cheap . .

I will likely need to buy all that, pay a $70 book fee plus tuition ($6000 a year) and still do fund raisers. oh . . . and uniforms . . . its a good school though. I am not complaining.
post #68 of 157
6/28/08 at 5:26pm
Quinnsmum, I totally agree with your point, it IS absurd. But, I can't expect my childs teacher to fork over the money either, THAT is equally absurd, kwim?? My daughter's First Grade teacher was saying that she usually spends $800 a year on extra stuff she doesn't get reimbursed for.:
post #69 of 157
6/29/08 at 1:32am
I have said this before, and I say it again..It is NOT the teacher's responsibility to pay for these items. Nor should it be mine. We pay enough in taxes, yet our money is going to protect oil and who knows where-else. Then we have to find these items that the teacher suggests on sale or cheap and those cheap items are made in another country, and not supporting this country which doesn't help our economy at all. (Which is another soapbox entirely.) At some point we have to stand up and demand better funding for our children. A far better investment than petrol, I'd say.
post #70 of 157
6/29/08 at 5:45pm
Sorry if it sounded like I was disagreeing with you, because I wasn't. I completely agree with your point.
post #71 of 157
6/29/08 at 8:11pm
I don't think the list is bad.
post #72 of 157
6/29/08 at 9:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by WC_hapamama View Post
I also tend to buck specific brand recommendations for stuff like scissors, pencils, markers and erasers, for which I have my own preferences.
The list for my rising Kindergartener includes a specific call for Purell hand sanitizer - no other brand allowed. Is there any way around this?
post #73 of 157
6/29/08 at 9:39pm
Sounds like a pretty normal list. I had lists like that back in elementry school. I think it's perfectly fair for parent's to pay for supplies their kids will be using throughout the year. The education is free, the supplies helping their education are not. Parent's have always had to buy their kid's supplies. It's nothing new and I don't feel it's too much to expect.
post #74 of 157
6/29/08 at 11:36pm
Quote:
The list for my rising Kindergartener includes a specific call for Purell hand sanitizer - no other brand allowed. Is there any way around this?
Yep. You buy the brand you want to and give that. What are they gonna do, kick you out?

I can see certain brands being better for certain things. But for things like hand sanitizer, does it matter?
post #75 of 157
6/30/08 at 9:47am
Not only is the list typical for nowadays, but it seems pretty typical for the way it's been for some time. I'm in my *ahem* late 30's and I recall having a similar list. I would get so excited to go to the store and get all my lovely new school supplies!!


Is it tough for you financially to buy this?? Cuz I know right now given our financial situation I would be a little bummed to have to shell out $ for all that (although I'm sure schools work w/ people in this situation).
post #76 of 157
6/30/08 at 11:22am
Quote:
Originally Posted by gcgirl View Post
Is this supply list thing recent? Because I don't remember ever receiving a supply list in ANY grade. Granted, I left high school in '92.

I mean, we always had to bring a notebook and a pencil, but never such an extensive list.
I graduated in '86 and never remember any lists all throughout school.

I try to remember that a lot of kids wouldn't bring anything at all if it weren't for a list at the beginning of the year. Too many parents depend on someone else to do it all for them. They send the kids off to school and I guess they just expect the teacher or someone else to give their kid what they need if they need it. It's sad that there are parents like that out there but there are.

Also, it can be disruptive to a whole class if one or two kids come in each day and have no paper, no pencil or no folder to keep their own papers in. Each time the child has to ask the teacher to fetch something for them that is taking away from class time or interrupting a lesson that has been going on. Students should be prepared and the first of the school year is the best time to make sure they all bring in what they need for the "whole" year IMO. Makes total sense to me.
post #77 of 157
6/30/08 at 11:28am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phantaja View Post
What's with all the Ziplock bags? If each kid brought in 3 boxes of 20 bags then the class will have an astonishing 900 flippin' Ziplocks, given that there's about 15 kids in a kindy class. Why???
But, you aren't taking in to account that each child will "not" bring in the Ziploc baggies. Plus, in the past when my kids were in school they were given a separate list for the classroom supplies like kleenex, soap, bandaids, baggies, etc and told that only a certain amount were needed and that everyone didn't need to bring them *all* necessarily. So that may be the case with some schools. But even if it isn't, I guarantee you that every single child in class is not bringing it all in anyway. The teachers know this too I'm sure.
post #78 of 157
6/30/08 at 11:30am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tuesday View Post
Wow. I feel pretty grateful. I live in southern Ontario, Canada and my eldest DS is just finishing JK. There was no list supplied last September - no supplies were needed. We're in the public school system.
But did you ever ask the teacher if she needed something anyway? Perhaps she was paying out part of the $$ herself.
post #79 of 157
6/30/08 at 5:25pm
It looks pretty normal - last year I had to buy about that much stuff for DD's preschool plus I had to give them a $100 "supply fee" and then we were hit up for extra supplies during the year -- luckily her new school provides all of the supplies. It gets really expensive having to come up with all of that stuff. Your best bet is to hit Target when the back to school sales start. You can get stuff pretty cheap. Last year I went to WalMart to see if I could get the stuff cheaper, and their prices were not as good as Target's.
post #80 of 157
6/30/08 at 5:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Heavenly View Post
Trust me, homeschooling costs ALOT more than that. I don't view that list as excessive at all.
That's what I was going to say!
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Mothering › Mothering Discussion Forums › Education › Learning at School › Holy cow. If I have to buy all these supplies, why aren't I just homeschooling?