It’s back to school time… womp womp womp…. I’m just getting
started with summer vacation. Every year
around this time when stores put up their fancy back to school displays, I
start to see all the complaints about buying school supplies. And you know
what! It burns the depths of my soul! “Why do they need so many glue sticks?
The teacher should….” *grabs pearls* The teacher probably spent way more on
school supplies than the $50 per kid you will buy on top of the fact that your
kids shoes cost more than what you spent on school supplies. I know that
because I (who REFUSES or at least tries to not buy school supplies) has
already spent $50 on school supplies. I still am waiting on 60 folders to go
sale so I don’t have to spend $30 on folders and I’m going to buy at least 20
glue sticks myself.
YES!! Your child needs however many glue sticks are listed
on the list and whatever is on the list. You don’t know how many glue sticks
end up without tops on them and dry out, or kids roll all the way up and smash them
when they try to put the top on it, or they cut them in half, or they just
throw away for NO REASON! I’m running around like a glue stick police trying to
keep all the glue sticks safe. And let’s
not talk about tissues. They grab a handful of tissues and WIPE their nose and
throw them away. They didn’t blow it so it it’s continues to run, so before you
know it, a box of tissues are gone in 30 minutes. I spend at least a month (sometimes MUCH
longer) teaching children how to not waste YOUR supplies so I don’t have to go
into my stash. With all the gluing, writing, germs etc. your child needs all of
the supplies listed … so just BUY THE DAMN GLUE STICKS!
My School supply list if I could send out my own would go
something like this…
-
5 COMPOSITION books (not spiral notebooks- those
wires are not safe)
-
2 boxes of Crayola crayons (They color the
best.)
-
36 quality pencils (Cheap pencils are eaten up
by the pencil sharpener and break it.)
-
2 pair of scissors
-
8 large or 12 regular sized Elmer’s glue sticks
(the others dry out and end up in trash by March)
-
1 regular pencil box
-
plastic pocket folders with prongs in green,
purple, and black
-
2 pocket folders of your child’s choice
-
8 highlighters
-
1 box of gallon sized zipper bags (girls)
-
1 box of sandwich sized zipper bags (boys)
-
2 regular sized bottles of hand sanitizer (not
the little individual bottles)
-
Clorox/Lysol wipes
-
2 boxes of tissues
-
8 dry erase markers
-
1 pair of headphones
*You know your child, if he/she is
clumsy, destructive, or messy you should purchase and send extra of these
items. For those little people, the items listed will NOT last them/us through
the year.*
Things not to send those little
personal pencil sharpeners and fidget spinners. Additional requested items but
not required by each child include notebook paper, cardstock, snacks, markers,
paper plates, etc. Please feel free to reach out and request are sent out
regularly.
But on a real note, teachers pour a lot of unpaid time as
well as their own personal money into their classrooms and your child’s school
year. The least you can do is send YOUR child to school READY to get the most
of those 180 days. I am grateful every year for those parents who send in
snacks, GLUE STICKS, etc. throughout the year! They are truly a blessing
because some kids are not fortunate enough to afford supplies and brand new
back to school gear and that helps me meet those children’s needs and worry about more important things like ya
know, teaching. If you buy your 7 year
old Jordans for his first day back, you do not need to be on my timeline
complaining about .50 glue sticks...
I was the little girl who once upon a time believed in fairy tales. I'm a Disney Princess fanatic. I saw the the The Princess and the Frog like 3 or 4 times in theaters and I only took kids once. As life happened my belief in fairy tales dwindled. 
