So it's a thing here that schools give you specific lists of the supplies that are needed for the school year. They also offer the option to buy the supplies through a vendor, in a bundle, and they are delivered to the school directly. Do your schools do this? Do you buy the supplies separately or bundled through the vendor? I hate over-paying for the vendor supplies but I also happen to know(as I am a teacher) that a lot of teachers get (mildly) annoyed when students come with unbundled supplies because they don't match the others. So for example, if they wanted all math journals to be red, but Student A comes with only pink, blue and black notebooks that don't match the bundled ones, it messes up their system. It isn't the end of the world but it gives me pause. I mean, I guess it's nice to not have to go buy them but still... I hate overpaying...
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We are asked to buy the bundle. It's a pta fundraiser so at least I feel like the extra goes somewhere useful! I hope so at least.
I don't really want to drive all over for super specific things but I always loved school supply shopping growing up and kind of miss that. Maybe there will be more individualized stuff as they get older? -
We don't do that but there is a local vendor that does this. I just checked their site and our school is not on the list. However, I just checked a neighboring school and it seem extremely overpriced. Like double the cost if comparing it to sales to 1/3 more if not on sale. I wouldn't do it. I like school supply shopping (early) and I have a little backstock of general supplies (crayons, pencils and tablets) on hand from when I stumbled upon sales post-season.
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We didn't have a vendor option and we just brought in stuff on the list.
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We didn't have the option. I would just see what prices are. I think there was a thread last summer about the cost for Items.
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We had both. The school billed us for things like notebooks/binders because all of the kids have the exact same ones (the teacher has specific uses for each one), and there was a cap on how much it would cost. We got a list of the rest of the things like pencils, pens, markers, art supplies, etc. Personally, I wouldn't mind buying everything through the school. I thought their prices were reasonable and they definitely weren't making a profit off of it. It would also make my life easier since I wasn't able to find everything in one shop.
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We're not at that stage yet, but far as I know we don't have the option of bundling. The teachers make up a list of what supplies the kids need. But then I'll see parents in our town Facebook group going crazy to find whatever particular supply the teacher wants. People posting things like, "We need the red notebook, but all I can find are blue and green and I've been to 3 stores. Where can I buy the red one? Is it ok to get blue?"
I have to say, I don't really get why the teachers *need* to have a certain color notebook or folder or whatever.
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@ShootingStar: I think the color specific notebooks and folders are really helpful for teachers at the elementary level. If all 20+ kids use a red folder for math it's easier to instruct them to get it out and make sure everyone got out the right one. Past the elementary years I think it is a little silly though.
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@ShootingStar: it absolutely is easier to tell 20 six or seven year olds to take out their red math notebook. Organization is a huge part of teaching elementary school, as you can imagine it would have to be with 20+ young children in a room all day.
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I can only speak from what occurred this year, which was that we did receive a request for some school supplies, but it was limited to what I call "utensils;" a pack of crayons, markers, glue stick, dry erase markers, pencil with sharpener.
At first I thought the idea of colored notebooks was silly, but then I realized it makes perfect sense. Not every kid is at the same level when it comes to reading and organization, so telling the kids to take out the red folder is a lot easier than telling kids to take out their Social Studies folder. As the teacher, you can quickly see that they have the right one, as opposed to having to read the title on each notebook, multiple times a day.
I am going to bring up the idea of the PTO organizing the boxes of school supplies this coming year, our school is one year old and only k-1 at the moment, so we have a lot of things still left to address.
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The school offers the vendor option and I love it. It's so much easier. I wait with anticipation every year for fear of missing it. The year I didn't know about the order and had to find those specialized composition books myself was horrible. Ours is reasonably priced. Time is money!
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We bought school supplies for Kindergarten (in the fall) from the vendor for several reasons:
- its a PTA fundraiser
- our school has "community" supplies - so all the supplies are pooled and then redistributed (which discourages people from going "off list" and getting character folders or whatever - because their kid likely won't end up with the special folder, etc)
- several parents told me its a pain in the butt to drive to multiple stores to get the exact items on the school supply list.
- the price seemed fair (especially since I won't have to spend time driving all over buying school supplies) -
We did the vendor/PTA fundraiser option for Kinder, but I won't do it again. I didn't realize how overpriced it was and we still were given a list in the first week of more supplies that were needed.
Part of my reason for doing it for Kinder was to be supportive and the darn construction paper. I've read stories of hunting the manila construction paper. Or the weird sizes. I didn't have time for that.
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My district sends lists and parents have the option to get it bundled or to shop for the items themselves. The PTA puts everything together for the bundle.
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@ShootingStar: color coding makes it easier for everyone, even with parent communication ("homework and weekly reports go in the red folder, make sure to look there!"). That being said, at my school, we can't publish a school supplies list, so we our school district provides everything and I always make sure I have the right colors for my systems.
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Also, random thing, but some parents don't understand that composition books are not the same as spiral notebooks, which are not the same as five subjects spiral notebooks, which are not at all the same as binders. They all serve organizational purposes. Composition notebooks might be more expensive, but they are much more durable and slightly smaller!Oh also liquid glue is not the equivalent of glue sticks.... I don't even allow liquid glue in my classroom, haha. Too much opportunity for mess! But again, I provide the glue sticks.
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One more note on buying your child folders, if there is no color requested, do NOT choose the same color (your child's favorite color) as he/she will not be able to easily differentiate and it will slow down the lesson as they are digging through folders in their desk. Choose assorted colors.
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My district has set lists that are available in local stores and on websites! Teachers help make them so it is pretty good!
We ask for many things to be universal/community but some things can be personal
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