latenightleader:

 I will be going through my school supplies bin and checking the lists- Karen, last year my third grader needed a flash drive!  The school has a cart of laptops they take from room to room.

Hmm... that's a new one to me!  But we have a server in the building (actually, several) and the students each have a login that lets them save to a portion of the teacher's file.

Brandy:

I see the notebooks and the pencils coming out again so it's almost SCHOOL TIME! We all know that those little supply costs can add up so let's motivate each other to find the best deals and prepare the kids frugally.

• Do you have a spending budget?
• Do you have a list to follow?
• What are the challenges you face in buying supplies cheaply?

 

I was talking with the manager of our local Walgreen's, and she said they are going to have a sale next week on school supplies.  So be sure to check your ads tomorrow!!!!!!!

 

More sales tomorrow.. Walgreens in my area is going to have sharpeners.. 3 for $1, and index cards 3 for $1, pens 39 cents each pack of 10,

 The week after Walgreens is going to have ( this is 7/20). they are going to have erasers  packs for 19 cents,  paper clips 19 cents, and pencil boxes 2 for $1.

 WALMART.. has  scissors.. 50 cents each,  crayons.. and glue 22 cents each..  and rose art colored pencils 60 cents each..

 I  heard through the grapevine that Staples the week  of 7/20 is going to have loose leaf paper for 9 cents a pack. .

 Cheryl

I don't have a spending limit, I just get what's on their list....and then some. I always stock up on crayons, markers, colored pencils, glue sticks, pens, pencils, notebooks, notebook paper, etc. this time of year. I also use the extras for bday gifts, and stocking stuffers too. I also will take in a few of the extras to help the kids teacher out in her classroom. Sadly, there is always at least one student who can't afford all of their supplies. :(

The only thing that drives me batty about our school, each year, the kids have to bring in 2 rolls of BOUNTY paper towels, 2 bottles of Purell with the pump, and either 1 box  of gallon or quart size freezer bags!! The bulk of what we spend on their school supplies goes to paying for these few items!! Oh yeah...this year, (going into 3rd grade) each student has to bring in 2 reams of copy/printer paper. My kids will snag this from our home office/daddy's business!! LOL

Why specifically Bounty?

We aren't allowed to use hand sanitizer... some child in the 3rd grade drank some last year (no idea what the teacher was doing while this was happening) and it was banned across the district.

I've used plastic bags for things... but I cannot imagine needing 20+ boxes of them in a year!

If parents want to send me something for my classroom - I'll take tissues!  I much prefer anything from a store to the rough stuff the school provides - and they've only been providing them in the last year; we used to have to buy our own.  Since I am not a core teacher (I teach special ed, so I'm not part of a core that teaches Reading, Writing, Math, Science, and Social Studies - although I teacher Reading and Math) I never got any of the tissues the kids brought in - those went to their core/primary teachers, so it's nice not to have to buy my own... but I really don't like the industrial/institutional stuff the school buys.

I also work with Special Ed. children and  tissues are always needed!! The kids seem to catch colds so often and then they also use so many tissues!! We probably went through 30 boxes last year in a class of ten children.

 Brandy- the Lutheran school two of the kids went to last year has a very reasonable list.  My first grader got a scholarship there, so next year I'll have three there.  Some tuition costs, offset by the reasonable supplies and the lunch cook who cooks good vegetarian food for my kids.  My fourth grader has an IEP and needs the resources at a charter school.  She will have more supplies and uniforms, but school is free.  Her school supplies are as follows- 24 community pencils, 5 folders and 5 spiral notebooks in the following colors- blue, red, yellow, purple, green, 1 pack wide rule paper, 3 ring binder, scissors, ruler, erasers, highlighter, glue, glue sticks, colored pencils, Kleenex,  pencil pouch, hand held pencil sharpener, dry erase markers,dry erase eraser or clean sock for erasing dry erase board, 2 pens, Crayola markers, crayons.  The first grader needs just a few supplies- 3 8 packs of crayons, glue, 8 glue sticks, 2 spiral notebooks, box of baby wipes, Kleenex, 2 pencil top erasers, 2 pink erasers, markers, 2 spiral notebooks, school box, paint shirt, a plastic margerine tub for snack tickets, and tennis shoes.  The 7th and 8th grader need scientific calculators, one has one, the other I think can be purchased at Walmart for $10.  They need combination locks, English Standard Bibles, Catechisms, 3 spiral notebooks, three folders, paper,  notecards, protractor and compass, pencils, pens, markers, scissors, rulers, glue sticks- a lot of this they have from last year, they need 2 boxes of Kleenex each.  

I'll spent some money on uniforms, I'll try to keep it at about $75. Violet needs a pair of shorts, a pair of pants, a long sleeve logo shirt.

I will also use a community resources for school supplies, I'll get a bag of supplies for each child, then will have to fill in.   I have used this the last two years, they will supply the notebooks, folders, some of the pencils, gluesticks, markers, and colored pencils.  They also provide a $10 or $15 giftcard, last year I used these for a scientific calculator and some tights for uniforms.  This year I plan on one more calculator, the dry erase markers, and would like to put some towards new tennis shoes for my 13 year old boy, who grew about four inches since Dec.  He also needs underwear, socks, and blue gym shorts, the physical ed shirts are provided.  Ivy, my seventh grader, will need new shorts also. They also offer new backpacks if you need them, last year we got two, I think this year we need one, Violet's is pretty small, she is pretty small. She'll have lots of notebooks to carry, it seems, she might need a bigger carrying capacity for homework.

I can't imagine a classroom going through 24 pencils per child. And Karen, they are very upper class, the average free/reduced in my neighborhood is about 45-50%, the free/reduced at the charter schol, drawing from 12 cities/suburbs in the area, is 3%.  I had never seen such a low number.  I thought you would say they are for kids that can't afford them, but my kids are making some pretty well to do friends there- I had never had an e-vite to kids' parties before this school, it is becoming the status quo.

Other things I buy- very few clothes, but will buy a new pair of jeans if needed.  I get everyone a chapstick for their backback, make sure I have sandwich bags for lunches and some juice boxes.   I usually put a little pack of Kleenex in the backpacks, for the bus if need be.  I make sure my older girls have a discreet place for femine hygiene products, in the past I've given them a pencil pouch.  I make sure I fill out and order lunch and snack tickets, and the charter school allows water bottles at the desk.  I try to make sure that everyone has what they need to be comfortable.  

I should start!  First stop, the school supply bin, last year's abandoned backpacks. 

 Edited to add- the sales at Walmart and Walgreens are very good, will be purchasing from each this week!

latenightleader:

I can't imagine a classroom going through 24 pencils per child. And Karen, they are very upper class, the average free/reduced in my neighborhood is about 45-50%, the free/reduced at the charter schol, drawing from 12 cities/suburbs in the area, is 3%.  I had never seen such a low number.  I thought you would say they are for kids that can't afford them, but my kids are making some pretty well to do friends there- I had never had an e-vite to kids' parties before this school, it is becoming the status quo.

 

I can... I have students who can't hang on to a pencil from one room to the next (middle school students in my school change classes every period) - not because they're incompetent (most of my students are average to bright students with learning disabilities that affect reading, writing, and/or math) - but because they can't be bothered.  And honestly... I see it most in the kids whose parents have more money - because those are the parents least likely to be frugal; the kids lose things and the parents just replace them.  I have other kids who will use the same pencil until it's too short to sharpen, or will keep adding lead to the same mechanical pencil all year - it just depends on what they've been taught at home.

I keep a boatload of pencils in my room - if a student has a worn-out nub of a pencil I will give him/her a new pencil, but if the student doesn't have one, I require collateral so I get my pencil back - I've gotten everything from hair ties to cash (it's amazing to me that kids who don't have school supplies have $20 bills on them all the time) to cell phones and MP3 players (forbidden to be on in school... but if that's all the kid has for collateral... and they always remember to get them back) to a shoe, if the student has nothing else in his/her pockets.  For the majority of my students, it makes them more responsible about bringing their supplies; I mean, they're in 7th grade and the only thing they must have with them is a pencil (in Math, it does, specifically, have to be a pencil, not a pen; in Reading, it just has to write).  I have a 4-drawer file cabinet full of school supplies I've bought myself - 1 drawer is full of pens, pencils, markers, colored pencils, crayons, etc., 1 is full of lined paper, 1 is full of spirals, and 1 is full of folders, glue sticks, glue, and miscellaneous (whatever doesn't fit in the other 3 drawers).  About the only thing I need to get this year is graph paper - but I did find a nice site to download it, so if I really have to, I can run it through the copier (here:  http://incompetech.com/graphpaper/ if anyone is interested).

One difference- the custodian at the Lutheran school sweeps up and might find pencils, pens, etc.  Puts them on the teacher's desk- the custodian at the charter school sweeps up and THROWS THEM AWAY!

Graph paper is surprisingly expensive, I would say copying it makes sense.  Do you get unlimited copying, or do you use a code?  I imagine in a math class there is not a whole lot of copying.  I also have trouble finding graph paer, I have bought it at Office Max.  Other things that are hard to find- the 8 pack box of crayons- never on sale, and the 8 color watercolor set, also never on sale.  Compasses that are not plastic, which are hard to work with, esp. if you have *** or teen hands.   

I think there is always one or two school supplies and one or two Christmas presents that have me searching!  I don't mind it, but the graph paper has been one.   

karenteacher:

(here:  http://incompetech.com/graphpaper/ if anyone is interested).

 

Thank you for that link! I had a small graph paper generator on my computer but when I reformatted, I forgot to save it - don't have a clue where it came from in the first place, it was one of those freebie programs.  

My daughter used to watch for dropped pencils in the hallways. She always had a stash of them.