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My son was a forgetful one. He'd bring home the wrong notebook or wrong binder.
When he got into middle school I got lists like that.
I got him one big binder. Got the dividers with pockets in them.
That was his notebook and folder for all his classes.
All his work was in that one binder. Take home work went into the divider with pockets.
One tab per class. Run low on paper then add some more.
I told him if any teacher said anything about that binder then have them call me.
FWIW..it worked much better than individual notebooks and individual folders.
That's what he used all through middle school and high school.
Trapper Keepers are coming back in my school district.
What makes you think he'll be carrying them back and forth each day?
Then what's the point of them? Each teacher wants their specific binder for their specific class. Notes for math? Math binder. Notes for Language Arts? LA binder. Homework for math? Math binder. And so forth. Homework in several classes, then several binders. About halfway through the year, you never see the binder again. Why you might ask? They got taken up to grade and never got handed back out. What happens at the end of the year? For some teachers they go into the dumpster. Others just fill cabinets with them. More binders than an office supply store sitting unused. We used more school supplies in one year of middle school than 4 years of college.
Once upon a time, we had one binder. With dividers. Everything kept in one place. Need more paper? Add more paper.
Kind of a funny, yet sad story. 7th grade math had to have the TI30, about $20. Couple years later, in 9th, they had to have the TI84+something graphing calculator, somewhere around $130 at the time. Just a few years after the, she gets through a college physics degree with, yep, you guessed it, the $20 TI30. Pretty much never used that $130 calculator again after 9th grade.
And the teachers will have to supplement supplied for students who don’t bring theirs...
True story that. I get highly annoyed when parents complain about school supplies because you know who spent more on schools supplies than anyone else in my classrooms? Me, and by a long shot. At the beginning of the year I purchased tons of notebook paper, pencils, pens, computer paper, and crayons at the back-to-school sales, along with what it took to write on boards (erasers and chalk, then white board markers). Never did a school year go by that by March I wasn’t purchasing tissues, paper towels and hand sanitizer (once that became a thing). At one school where I taught for two years the last month I literally had to buy toilet paper, I kid you not.
My husband kept meticulous financial records, which included a page called _______’s (Oldhag’s) classroom expenditures; towards the end of my classroom teaching years I used to bring the previous year’s copy in during Open House and would share it with any parent who complained. One year a couple of days later one of the mothers dropped off an extra eight rolls of paper towels, eight boxes of Kleenex, ten packs of paper and a short note saying it never dawned on her that the teacher was who would be stuck paying for supplies that parents didn’t.
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These lists are the reason I don't donate to school-organized supply drives. Those supply shortages are SELF-INDUCED. By the very teachers and/or schools that make those lists. I mean, really, who in the world needs 40 Ticonderoga pencils per kid, no other brands allowed? (Not on this list, but on others.) The OP's list actually looks semi-reasonable by today's standards. I've seen a lot worse; like CFL light bulbs. Which contain mercury! (For schools to push their liberal anti-incandescent agenda, presumably.)
It seems like schools and/or teachers ramp up supply list to ridiculous quantities, so that they can get kickbacks from the manufacturers. Why else would supply lists be so ridiculous? And obviously, they don't care who spends money---the parents or the teachers---as long as the items get bought. If what I'm saying is true, they need to be named and shamed.
30 years ago, this was the lower elementary school supply list I recall.
---------------------------------
Students are responsible for having the following items ready for use at all times.
* 1 pen, any dark color except red
* 2 pencils, sharpened
* 4 notebooks, perforated pages, wide-ruled, in different colors or labeled with subject
* 4 folders with pockets, in different colors or labeled with subject
* index cards, 3" x 5"
* colored pencils (not every day, I will notify)
* blank white paper (not every day, I will notify)
* gym clothes (Tuesday and Thursday only)
* other supplies as needed (occasionally, I will notify)
---------------------------------
THAT'S IT!
The only supply drives I donate to are those organized by churches, and I'm an atheist. That is, those that give supplies directly to the families. It's not the parents' or kids' fault that they have to buy extra supplies, so their schools and/or teachers can get kickbacks from Ticonderoga et al.
Last edited by MillennialUrbanist; 07-26-2019 at 06:09 AM..
These lists are the reason I don't donate to school-organized supply drives. Those supply shortages are SELF-INDUCED. By the very teachers and/or schools that make those lists. I mean, really, who in the world needs 40 Ticonderoga pencils per kid, no other brands allowed? (Not on this list, but on others.) The OP's list actually looks semi-reasonable by today's standards. I've seen a lot worse; like CFL light bulbs. Which contain mercury! (For schools to push their liberal anti-incandescent agenda, presumably.)
It seems like schools and/or teachers ramp up supply list to ridiculous quantities, so that they can get kickbacks from the manufacturers. Why else would supply lists be so ridiculous? And obviously, they don't care who spends money---the parents or the teachers---as long as the items get bought. If what I'm saying is true, they need to be named and shamed.
30 years ago, this was the lower elementary school supply list I recall.
---------------------------------
Students are responsible for having the following items ready for use at all times.
* 1 pen, any dark color except red
* 2 pencils, sharpened
* 4 notebooks, perforated pages, wide-ruled, in different colors or labeled with subject
* 4 folders with pockets, in different colors or labeled with subject
* index cards, 3" x 5"
* colored pencils (not every day, I will notify)
* blank white paper (not every day, I will notify)
* gym clothes (Tuesday and Thursday only)
* other supplies as needed (occasionally, I will notify)
---------------------------------
THAT'S IT!
The only supply drives I donate to are those organized by churches, and I'm an atheist. That is, those that give supplies directly to the families. It's not the parents' or kids' fault that they have to buy extra supplies, so their schools and/or teachers can get kickbacks from Ticonderoga et al.
I always cringe when I see school supply lists that specify brands, whether it’s Ticonderoga pencil, Crayola crayons/color pencils, Expo whiteboard markers, or Sharpies. I would never do it, nor allow it done by a teacher if it were in my control. However, it has nothing to do with kickbacks, it has to do with quality control. Many brands of pencils break continually resulting in lost time and distraction with frequent sharpening. Off-brand crayons and color pencils frequently do not leave true color markings on paper, more like a pastel waxy tint. Quite a few brands of whiteboard markers don’t actually erase and require the boards to be clean frequently with a special whiteboard cleaner. Lots of brands, other than sharpies, bleed and permanently mark desks and books. I get the temptation to request better quality products, but it should be done only as a recommendation, not a requirement.
Oh, and 40 pencils equates to one pencil a week, with only four extra. It’s really not enough for an entire school year.
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Originally Posted by loves2read
And the teachers will have to supplement supplied for students who don’t bring theirs...
They wouldn't, if classes didn't pool supplies. If every kid brought their own stuff, well, the kid who didn't have a box of highlighters would use a pen/crayon/whatever to star a passage in the margin.
Buying a NEW pair of scissors, and ruler every year? What in the world happens to those scissors and rulers that are in the possession of the teachers at the end of the year?
Rule 1: Classrooms shouldn't take possession of student's supplies
Rule 2: Besides a package of pens and pencils, and a new notebook or several paper notebooks, and a pack of notebook paper, a student shouldn't need a lot of supplies at the beginning of the year. They still have what they had last year, and it's doubtful their colored pencils are worn down to a nub, or their red pen has run out of ink.
They wouldn't, if classes didn't pool supplies. If every kid brought their own stuff, well, the kid who didn't have a box of highlighters would use a pen/crayon/whatever to star a passage in the margin.
Buying a NEW pair of scissors, and ruler every year? What in the world happens to those scissors and rulers that are in the possession of the teachers at the end of the year?
Rule 1: Classrooms shouldn't take possession of student's supplies
Rule 2: Besides a package of pens and pencils, and a new notebook or several paper notebooks, and a pack of notebook paper, a student shouldn't need a lot of supplies at the beginning of the year. They still have what they had last year, and it's doubtful their colored pencils are worn down to a nub, or their red pen has run out of ink.
That is a huge if. No, on second thought, essentially an impossibility. In all the years I taught I don’t think I had a year where every child brought all their own stuff. Just because you take care of your children doesn’t mean other people do. Should those children, in addition to being behind the eight ball because they have negligent parents, also be shamed by having to use a crayon (assuming they have one of those) while everyone else uses a highlighter? Or do I just not allow anyone to use highlighters or crayons?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Oldhag1
That is a huge if. No, on second thought, essentially an impossibility. In all the years I taught I don’t think I had a year where every child brought all their own stuff. Just because you take care of your children doesn’t mean other people do. Should those children, in addition to being behind the eight ball because they have negligent parents, also be shamed by having to use a crayon (assuming they have one of those) while everyone else uses a highlighter? Or do I just not allow anyone to use highlighters or crayons?
I do completely understand what you're saying. No one wants a child whose parents can't or won't furnish their school supplies to feel habitual shame at school.
But here, with the school supplies, we've done the same thing we've done with lunches and breakfasts. In an effort to feed those children who won't be fed otherwise, and not single them out or shame them, we're feeding everyone breakfast who shows up and wants it, regardless of whether their parents are wealthy and quite happy to provide breakfast at home.
I don't know what the solution is, but I'll say this. It worked when I was a kid. Everyone brought their stuff. And I'm sensitive to noticing stuff like that, and would notice if a kid who didn't have basic supplies was shamed or went without. Maybe in part because we didn't have to have 85 things in our pencil boxes. We had notebooks and paper and a pencil box with pencils pens a few crayons and an eraser.
So. What's the solution, do you think? It's outrageous to make families, every year, every student, spend 150 bucks + on school supplies, most of which they won't use.
Oh, and 40 pencils equates to one pencil a week, with only four extra. It’s really not enough for an entire school year.
You'd have to be REALLY wasteful (or an extremely avid writer) to use up an entire pencil in a week. A box of 24 pencils lasted me a full school year and then some. Of course, having gone to a NORMAL school, not a pathetic circus of today, I was careful with my pencils. I rarely lost one, and used it until it got uncomfortably short, rather than throw it out after using 1 inch of it. But I guess that's too much to ask in 2019.
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(Not on this list, but on others.) The OP's list actually looks semi-reasonable by today's standards. I've seen a lot worse; like CFL light bulbs. 
Which contain mercury! (For schools to push their liberal anti-incandescent agenda, presumably.)
