school supplies every year -- how does that work?

Question

okay, honest question -- i don't have kids so i don't know. i heard somewhere that elementary schools collect the kids school supplies at the start of the year. the kid doesn't "own" his own supplies, and he doesn't get them back at the end of the year. i guess whatever is left is donated or something?

parents, teachers -- little help here. is this true? have you heard of this? most of my friends have babies or toddlers or i would just ask them.

if this has been going on awhile -- no wonder kids have to buy all new school supplies every year. when i grew up, i think i used the same pair of scissors for all of elementary! and i remember going through two boxes or crayons in all that time.

if kids are using each others stuff, i can see how supplies would get wasted or damaged -- they have no incentive to take care of their things because they aren't really theirs! they belong to the "collective". i just don't get it.

is this true? does this happen at schools today?

Answer 1

Yes, it's true and happens often. It depends on the school, area and grade though. When my daughter was in public school, you had to pool everything. It was shared by everyone. I hated it because there were so many parents that didn't supply their share and the good parents had to make up for it. On top of that, the first 2 years of school, my daughter picked out folders she loved and then they never used them. At the end of the year, I'd ask about them and they'd say that they belonged to the school and we didn't get them back. This doesn't happen at all schools though. As I said, depends on the school, grade and so on. Now that she's in private school, everything belongs to her. She loves it. Also, at the beginning of the year, EVERY parent brought in the proper supplies. There were no free rides and everyone did their share.

Answer 2

Most of the schools that my children went to had school supplies. Some things the children kept. Now paper towels and Kleenex and some of the colored paper the teacher took and used for everyone. Soap and such. But for the better part each child had a school box where they kept their crayons, their rulers and their scissors and a few other things.

Usually the walmart would have a list or you could pick one up at the school and go shopping for the supplies before school started. Of course there were some courses that I ended up going back to the big town and having to hunt and buy. With 6 kids in school. School supply day was a major thing. Runs about $40 a child. Can be expensive. Most of that stuff you can get during the summer and not make it all be a lump sum. That does not include school clothes.

Answer 3

I'm a teacher and I can explain this but, it may be hard to take.
Each deistrict gets an allotted four dollars a year to spend on a child. Four dollars. When you ask where all the money for the district is going, I would respond to what money? Parents and community members very rarely pass millages or give money to the children and educational facilities so we don't have any money.
Teachers don't sit around saying "Let's make those parents pay for supplies and make sure that the child doesn't get their folder or crayons. We have much more important things to do plus, we went into teaching because we love children and want to give them the best opportunity possible. Most teachers on an average spend at least twenty percent of their paycheck on the children in their classroom and are the most underpaid profession in many states. How many jobs do you know of where employees have to put that much back in to paying for expenses on a daily basis?
Do you know how hard it is when most parents shop at the same stores to keep track of whose pencil belongs to whom?
What is wrong with building a classroom family, instilling in our children the importance of investing and taking pride in contributing to that family.
TEACHERS DO NOT save the stuff nor do they pass out folders/items that have been chosen to a different child, if the student wants that folder. Get real. What teacher would hand out a folder to someone else while seeing that a second grader had her heart set on having the one that she bought.
Yes, they may share glue sticks, pencils, crayons, etc with the less fortunate children in the classroom. What a terrible thing to do to give something to someone who is in need and to actually see that you can make a difference by providing a small token for under a dollar to help them. Wow!
I know the answer, write to the school, tell them not only do you want your child not to share or contribute, you will provide them with all the supplies neccessary and place hisher name on the items. What a great life lesson.
And then, the next time the teacher buys treats, supplies, special gifts, rewards, stickers, snacks, juice boxes, play dough, arts and crafts supplies, leggos, building blocks, books, etc. etc. etc.
she can send you your portion of the cost.
Or tell her instead of purchasing items you will go in and volunteer in the schools, then you will see the reality of poverty, how the items are being used, and the importance of building a classroom environment rich in love and respect for all in the class.

Answer 4

Every teacher is different. There were some years I had to buy alot of things and my kids brought home many of the supplies at the end of the year except items like tissues and antibacterial wipes which were "community" classroom property and used as needed. This year my daughters teacher required the tissues and wipes and a few other items to be used as community property but for alot of other supplies, the school provided those.

Folders, notebooks, scissors and rulers were for personal use only. I personally dont go nuts spending $$ for name brands..I mean whats the point? I buy store brand tissues and wipes, store brand glue and Roseart crayons and markers instead of the overpriced Crayola. I really don't care if a $2.00 box of crayons dont make it home as I have more important things to worry about.

Answer 5

My son is in 5th grade at a Charter school here in AZ. his teacher this year told us at the Open House that the kids would all be using the stuff collectively. To tell ya the truth I really don't like that and didn't buy very nice supplies because of this. In past years I have bought him nicer things cause the teachers didn't do this kind of thing.

When teachers do this collective thing, it makes the parents not buy all the supplies on the list, cause their thinking is "well someone else's parent will buy that!" Then by the middle of the school year the supplies are depleted.

Answer 6

Yes it happens . I know for a fact that most of the time you do not get the alot of it back .Even when there is some left at the end of the year . Some classes even have to buy paper towels . Some teachers even insist on certain brand names (the expensive ones of course) . Makes you wonder where all that extra money for education is going. It sure isn't for school supplies in AR.

Answer 7

I have noticed that over the past two years also. My children are in the 2ND grade. When they went to Kindergarten, it was fine with me for the teachers to keep all the items and distribute to all children through out the year...UNTIL...they started calling me that my child needs more pencils, more glue, more crayolas...what a hassle. I knew those crayons were being used by others, which didn't bother me allot but why do they send the note directly to me when they are out? Irritating...

So know, they are in 2nd grade and I find myself writing their names on everything, pens, pencils, post-its (Why a second grader needs post-its is still a wondering question) and crayolas....each one BUT I also buy an extra one of everything and donate to the classroom for all the parents that could not afford their children's, because lets face it...we have all been there.

Answer 8

My children have attended several different schools and in general I have rarely heard of this. The school they currently attend does collect "general supplies" for art class. Their other supplies are theirs. The whole art supply thing is kind of nice since each grade level brings in a different supply for school use. Thus all the kids get to work with paints, colored pencils, glue, scissors, pencils, markers etc. but I don't have to buy all of those supplies for my child to use in class. My 2nd grader has to bring in glue and markers for the art teacher this year and a couple of years ago my fifth grader had to bring in a basic paint box and 12 sharpened pencils. My children use their supplies for several years except for pencils, crayons, markers, and glue--they always use those up!

Answer 9

At our school, we had to buy a lot of stuff, too. 3 boxes of Kleenex, 3 boxes of baby wipes, waterless soap/hand disinfectant, ziploc bags, are the items to be shared amongst the entire class.

Pencils, crayons, scissors, markers, stuff like that, had to each be labeled with the child's name. Even every single crayon....because some kids steal stuff. This stuff was for personal use.

Answer 10

yes it is true for some schools. i remember in elementary I had very few supplies(only pencils and paper) and they took it from me on the first day and put it all in a pile. then they divided all the supplies amongst the tables so each had 2 packs of crayons, 2 of markers, 2 of colored pencils, 2 of pencils, plenty of paper and erasers and kleenex. they just used the supplies as nescessary as the year goes on.(that was only in elementary school) now that im in highschool, the only supplies I need are pencils, paper, pens, erasers, and scissors... which get used up through the year and you have to buy new ones each year.


anyways, thanks for reminding me, I still havent bought my supplies for this year!