school supplies!

In article , MarieD says...

"Anne Rogers" wrote in message
...
If you want to get stressed, I have a good recipe...

...try to get school supplies on the evening before school starts!

I have been really shocked at the amount of school supplies parents have to
provide and even more shocked that the lists specify brand! When I was in
school, we just needed some "things". A notebook and folder for each class,
some pens and pencils, a calculator/protractor/compass, and crayons in lower
elementary. Now, the lists say Crayola 24 count crayons, what color and
brand of pencil, it's outrageous. Kleenex, antibacterial hand stuff, WHY do
people think it's ok to constantly use that antibacterial stuff.
And why do parents continue to agree to buy all this stuff, especially down
to the specified brand? If you can get the generic or cheaper, in the same
color and count, why isn't that acceptable? I am a homeschooler and I keep
finding it strange the things parents put up with when it comes to the
schools. Every parent with school kids I know complain and complain but no
one does anything about it(or tries to)!
Marie


I've only seen brands specified for things like crayons, where the cheep brands
really are very inferior.

Ive never seen brands specified for things like notebooks or pencils or paper.

As for Kleenex and the like, well, the budgets are so tight nowdays so folks
like you don't have to pay so much in taxes, that parents are increasingly being
called upon for some classroom supplies.

Banty

"Banty" wrote in message
...
I've only seen brands specified for things like crayons, where the cheep
brands
really are very inferior.

Yeah, like the Roseart crayons just kind of chip off pieces of wax as you're
coloring.

Ive never seen brands specified for things like notebooks or pencils or
paper.

As for Kleenex and the like, well, the budgets are so tight nowdays so
folks
like you don't have to pay so much in taxes, that parents are increasingly
being
called upon for some classroom supplies.

I have no problem paying the taxes!
My nephew is blind and learning disabled. The school district he's in built
a new school building with a section just for special ed, so that all
special ed students in the district will go to that one school. Well, they
decided to only buy part of the equipment and have the teachers "come up
with the money" for the rest of what's needed. Oh and there's only one main
special ed teacher for the whole district(there are aides). There's no
playground and the science lab does not have equipment. But you can be sure
the athletic department will have what they need. It's always been an
ongoing fight between important issues and athletics in that district, even
when I went to school there.
Marie

MarieD wrote:
"Anne Rogers" wrote in message
. ..
If you want to get stressed, I have a good recipe...

...try to get school supplies on the evening before school starts!

I have been really shocked at the amount of school supplies parents have
to provide and even more shocked that the lists specify brand! When I
was in school, we just needed some "things". A notebook and folder for
each class, some pens and pencils, a calculator/protractor/compass, and
crayons in lower elementary. Now, the lists say Crayola 24 count
crayons, what color and brand of pencil, it's outrageous. Kleenex,
antibacterial hand stuff, WHY do people think it's ok to constantly use
that antibacterial stuff.
And why do parents continue to agree to buy all this stuff, especially
down to the specified brand? If you can get the generic or cheaper, in
the same color and count, why isn't that acceptable? I am a homeschooler
and I keep finding it strange the things parents put up with when it
comes to the schools. Every parent with school kids I know complain and
complain but no one does anything about it(or tries to)!

While there are some teachers/schools that are just
control freaks, by and large every single requirement is on
there for a reason. They say 24 count crayons because they
are going to do assignments where they specify that some things
have to be in a certain color ("color all the triangles blue")
and they've found that some of the cheap crayons are not true
to color (a real pain if you're trying to teach colors, or if
you have to grade the papers and what look like green triangles
were actually colored with the blue crayon). They don't want
fewer crayons because the child won't have enough colors, and
they don't want more crayons because they don't want the child
distracted by the other colors (or confused over which of the
12 different blues would be the right blue for the assignment).
And so on for each of the items. If they are specific, there's
probably something that happened repeatedly in the past as a
result of not being specific that was problematic for them.

Yes, all this can be a pain, but if any of us had to
deal with a classroom of 20-30 students, there are things we'd
be doing to lower complexity and increase simplicity in the
classroom to make the logistics easier so that time can be
focused on the important stuff, and not on helping a dozen
different kindergarteners figure out which blue is blue.
Like I said, they do step over the line on occasion, but by
and large there's a reason, even if it's not readily apparent
to someone who isn't familiar with the on-the-ground situation
in the classroom.

Best wishes,
Ericka

NL wrote:

One teacher in pre-school (remember, germany, different system, I'm
talking about the grade before 1st grade) specified crayons that come in
blocks. there is only one brand which is super organic, kind of
anthrophosophic, all ingredients have to be collected by virgins no
older that 14 in the light of the full moon,... otherwise I can not
explain the price of that box of 12 crayons which was a whopping 18€.
Sure, they were made from beeswax and you could probably eat them for
lunch, but seriously, 6 y.o. kids will draw with anything, they don't
need crayons for 18€! And yes, I did tell her that that amount of money
buys a very nice birthday or Christmas present in our family.

They are exorbitantly expensive, but have you ever
used them? They are *beautiful* to work with. They feel
great, they smell great, they blend like a dream, the
colors are true and rich. Are they a luxury? Yes, no doubt.
Do I think that in an ideal world children would get to use
lovely art supplies? Absolutely. I think it makes all the
difference. Here, you would be very unlikely to find a public
school requiring those, but many of the Montessori and virtually
all the Waldorf schools provide them (but at that point, you're
paying some hefty tuition ;-) ). I buy those or similar crayons
at home for mine when they're young because they're such a pleasure,
and so great when learning colors and color mixing and so forth.

Best wishes,
Ericka

"MarieD" wrote in
:

"Anne Rogers" wrote in message
. ..
If you want to get stressed, I have a good recipe...

...try to get school supplies on the evening before school
starts!

I have been really shocked at the amount of school supplies
parents have to provide and even more shocked that the
lists specify brand! When I was in school, we just needed
some "things". A notebook and folder for each class, some
pens and pencils, a calculator/protractor/compass, and
crayons in lower elementary. Now, the lists say Crayola 24
count crayons, what color and brand of pencil, it's
outrageous. Kleenex, antibacterial hand stuff, WHY do
people think it's ok to constantly use that antibacterial
stuff. And why do parents continue to agree to buy all this
stuff, especially down to the specified brand? If you can
get the generic or cheaper, in the same color and count,
why isn't that acceptable? I am a homeschooler and I keep
finding it strange the things parents put up with when it
comes to the schools. Every parent with school kids I know
complain and complain but no one does anything about it(or
tries to)!

Boo goes to lower el (3rd grade) in a Montessori school. i
changed him to a new school that actually follows Montessori
guidelines much more closely than his previous school.
this year his supply list was:
a snack (preferably healthy)
lunch
slippers for wearing indoors

the school supplies pencils, paper, erasers, sissors, crayons,
notebooks for journal writing, etc.
i did have to supply these things at his other school so we
have a large supply at home already anyway.
this school also doesn't have homework for lower el, so he
won't be bringing home the busywork worksheets he was from the
other school (which caved to parental pressure over Montessori
practice). this means we have more time to pursue his
interests after school. yay!

lee
--
Last night while sitting in my chair
I pinged a host that wasn't there
It wasn't there again today
The host resolved to NSA.

In article , Ericka Kammerer
says...

MarieD wrote:
"Anne Rogers" wrote in message
. ..
If you want to get stressed, I have a good recipe...

...try to get school supplies on the evening before school starts!

I have been really shocked at the amount of school supplies parents have
to provide and even more shocked that the lists specify brand! When I
was in school, we just needed some "things". A notebook and folder for
each class, some pens and pencils, a calculator/protractor/compass, and
crayons in lower elementary. Now, the lists say Crayola 24 count
crayons, what color and brand of pencil, it's outrageous. Kleenex,
antibacterial hand stuff, WHY do people think it's ok to constantly use
that antibacterial stuff.
And why do parents continue to agree to buy all this stuff, especially
down to the specified brand? If you can get the generic or cheaper, in
the same color and count, why isn't that acceptable? I am a homeschooler
and I keep finding it strange the things parents put up with when it
comes to the schools. Every parent with school kids I know complain and
complain but no one does anything about it(or tries to)!

While there are some teachers/schools that are just
control freaks, by and large every single requirement is on
there for a reason. They say 24 count crayons because they
are going to do assignments where they specify that some things
have to be in a certain color ("color all the triangles blue")
and they've found that some of the cheap crayons are not true
to color (a real pain if you're trying to teach colors, or if
you have to grade the papers and what look like green triangles
were actually colored with the blue crayon). They don't want
fewer crayons because the child won't have enough colors, and
they don't want more crayons because they don't want the child
distracted by the other colors (or confused over which of the
12 different blues would be the right blue for the assignment).
And so on for each of the items. If they are specific, there's
probably something that happened repeatedly in the past as a
result of not being specific that was problematic for them.

Yes, all this can be a pain, but if any of us had to
deal with a classroom of 20-30 students, there are things we'd
be doing to lower complexity and increase simplicity in the
classroom to make the logistics easier so that time can be
focused on the important stuff, and not on helping a dozen
different kindergarteners figure out which blue is blue.
Like I said, they do step over the line on occasion, but by
and large there's a reason, even if it's not readily apparent
to someone who isn't familiar with the on-the-ground situation
in the classroom.

OK....but what's the reason for the date of Aug. 25th mailings for
lists-of-must-haves for Sept. 3??

Banty

Banty wrote:

OK....but what's the reason for the date of Aug. 25th mailings for
lists-of-must-haves for Sept. 3??

I don't think there *is* a good reason, if that's the
first communique. Ours send out the school supply list right
before school with the teacher assignment...but they also sent
it out before the end of the previous school year, put it in
the kindergarten registration packet, post it on the website,
and generally make it hard to miss. Kindergarteners who
didn't register until just before school started would not
find out until the last minute unless they looked at the
website, but I'm not sure there's any way to proactively
communicate with individual students until you know they exist ;-)

Best wishes,
Ericka

Ericka Kammerer schrieb:
NL wrote:

One teacher in pre-school (remember, germany, different system, I'm
talking about the grade before 1st grade) specified crayons that come in
blocks. there is only one brand which is super organic, kind of
anthrophosophic, all ingredients have to be collected by virgins no
older that 14 in the light of the full moon,... otherwise I can not
explain the price of that box of 12 crayons which was a whopping 18€.
Sure, they were made from beeswax and you could probably eat them for
lunch, but seriously, 6 y.o. kids will draw with anything, they don't
need crayons for 18€! And yes, I did tell her that that amount of money
buys a very nice birthday or Christmas present in our family.

They are exorbitantly expensive, but have you ever
used them? They are *beautiful* to work with. They feel
great, they smell great, they blend like a dream, the
colors are true and rich. Are they a luxury? Yes, no doubt.
Do I think that in an ideal world children would get to use
lovely art supplies? Absolutely. I think it makes all the
difference. Here, you would be very unlikely to find a public
school requiring those, but many of the Montessori and virtually
all the Waldorf schools provide them (but at that point, you're
paying some hefty tuition ;-) ). I buy those or similar crayons
at home for mine when they're young because they're such a pleasure,
and so great when learning colors and color mixing and so forth.

Sam used them maybe 5 or 10 times. Since they're blocks and not pencil
shaped he has trouble holding them in a way that's comfortable for him.

I think art supplies should be of a high quality _if_ you intend to use
them often. But if I draw a picture once a month the el cheapo Aldi
crayons work just fine. They're about 2€ a pack with as many colors as
the expensive ones. Sure they break and they're not as cool and they
don't smell as good, but right now I don't even know where Sams
expensive Crayons went, I think they got "lost" at school at some point.
Just like the 3 shirts he had (one after the other) to use as an apron.

I think a lot of stuff gets lost at school, I've already replaced a
notebook, two erasers and a few colored pencils and this is the 5th week
of school. They work in groups and apparently everyone packs whatever
they can grab. Sam comes home with other kids stuff, too. Not notebooks,
but pencils and erasers. And I'm not that bothered about replacing
notebooks and erasers because I can get those for under 1€ each, but
losing a box of crayons for 18€, sorry, I do not have that kind of money.

At home is different though. I have control over what gets put where and
things usually don't get lost as quickly, if ever.

cu
nicole

"MarieD" wrote in message
brand of pencil, it's outrageous. Kleenex, antibacterial hand stuff, WHY
do people think it's ok to constantly use that antibacterial stuff.

I am not sure what the problem with it is. I don't have a problem with the
hand sanitizer stuff. Have you ever tried to get 25 kindergarteners ready
for snack? That's when it is totally useful to just bring out the hand
sanitizer and get their hands clean. Since my DD3 is a germ freak, the
sanitizer has been really useful. Pulling it out of your lunchbox is useful
also to use before lunch. We never had a list of specific brands on the
lists, but the RoseArt crayons are horrible and I buy Crayola because it
lasts longer. Like Ericka said, if they specify a certain brand or product,
there is probably a good reason for it. It's nice if every kid has the same
thing so that continuity doesn't have to be a problem.
--
Sue (mom to three girls)

"Banty" wrote in message
...
In article , MarieD says...

"Anne Rogers" wrote in message
m...
If you want to get stressed, I have a good recipe...

...try to get school supplies on the evening before school starts!

I have been really shocked at the amount of school supplies parents have
to
provide and even more shocked that the lists specify brand! When I was in
school, we just needed some "things". A notebook and folder for each
class,
some pens and pencils, a calculator/protractor/compass, and crayons in
lower
elementary. Now, the lists say Crayola 24 count crayons, what color and
brand of pencil, it's outrageous. Kleenex, antibacterial hand stuff, WHY
do
people think it's ok to constantly use that antibacterial stuff.
And why do parents continue to agree to buy all this stuff, especially
down
to the specified brand? If you can get the generic or cheaper, in the same
color and count, why isn't that acceptable? I am a homeschooler and I keep
finding it strange the things parents put up with when it comes to the
schools. Every parent with school kids I know complain and complain but no
one does anything about it(or tries to)!
Marie


I've only seen brands specified for things like crayons, where the cheep
brands
really are very inferior.

Ive never seen brands specified for things like notebooks or pencils or
paper.

As for Kleenex and the like, well, the budgets are so tight nowdays so
folks
like you don't have to pay so much in taxes, that parents are increasingly
being
called upon for some classroom supplies.

I've seen it for pencils only in the case of "plain yellow, #2", and for
paper and folders, its' things like "Wide ruled notebook paper", or "blue,
yellow, and red 2 pocket folder with prongs"-the goal being to avoid the
fancy, expensive stuff with special characters or decorations. Usually, the
most common brands requested are crayola crayons, markers, and the like and
Fiskars scissors, and in both cases, there is a noticable difference in
quality.


Banty