OMG I can't afford to send my kids to public school!

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When my son took Algebra 1, I remember the teacher discussing calculators, mentioning that a less expensive, (but still not cheap) scientific calculator would be sufficient for that year, but that the following year aa graphing calculator and pretty much all subsequent math classes, a graphing calculator would be needed. Purchase the $40 one this year and the $100-150 one next year, or purchase the more expensive one from the get go. They were picky about brands (and somewhat, but less so about models) because they wanted to be able to show how to work the calculator on the overhead without having to learn multiple ways for multiple different brands. No one ever talked to us about turning in points for the school.
 
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Can you come be a teacher at our school???
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The teachers here put on the list "Kleenex BRAND ONLY" - and it used to be 1 box per student, plus paper and pencils, crayons, maybe markers, too. NOW their list looks something like:
-2 boxes Tissues Kleenex Brand Only
-Baby Wipes
-2-4 folders
-Pencils
-erasers
-loose leaf paper
-spiral bound notebook
-shaving cream (I asked why, because they have the kids use it to clean off their desks)
-2 Rolls of Paper Towels
-Hand sanitizer
-scissors
-crayons
-markers

We even had a teacher one year specify that the crayons needed to be Crayola brand. They also give us a list of what the kids are NOT allowed to have (i.e. trapper keepers, binders, etc.)

We got so frustrated with the lists we got each year, that we started homeschooling. We have five kids - and homeschooling 4 kids in grade school level is a bit daunting! We're putting them back in public school this year. I'm really not looking forward to the monster list of supplies needed for the kids.
 
I was just in Walmart and they already have .15 binders and .25 crayons, glue etc. I buy way more than is on the list so mid school year I don't have to pay 3 times that for the same items. Sorry off subject but I just dug out my school supply box and it's looking thin. Our list is considerably longer than the one listed. All I can say is I love it when school starts
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I always take advantage of these sales. DH never does--he wants to go to one store (usually the office supply store) and simply get it over with. I want to purchase the most for the least $$.

I will say that I am much happier purchasing for high school than I usually was for elementary school. Older DS was allowed to have mostly his own supplies; youngest DS almost never was. So he would pick out the markers or the pencils or the scissors or... that he really wanted, then the teacher confiscated them and put them in a big bin. Same for pencil boxes and rulers and virtually all other supplies. That school claimed they didn't have the room for the kids to have individual supplies. Yet they had cubbies for each child and also a place to hang their backpacks. If the school is going to confiscate and turn the supplies into communal ones, then I would rather pay a supply fee and let the school order in bulk at a lower cost.
 
Quote:
Can you come be a teacher at our school???
fl.gif


The teachers here put on the list "Kleenex BRAND ONLY" - and it used to be 1 box per student, plus paper and pencils, crayons, maybe markers, too. NOW their list looks something like:
-2 boxes Tissues Kleenex Brand Only
-Baby Wipes
-2-4 folders
-Pencils
-erasers
-loose leaf paper
-spiral bound notebook
-shaving cream (I asked why, because they have the kids use it to clean off their desks)
-2 Rolls of Paper Towels
-Hand sanitizer
-scissors
-crayons
-markers

We even had a teacher one year specify that the crayons needed to be Crayola brand. They also give us a list of what the kids are NOT allowed to have (i.e. trapper keepers, binders, etc.)

We got so frustrated with the lists we got each year, that we started homeschooling. We have five kids - and homeschooling 4 kids in grade school level is a bit daunting! We're putting them back in public school this year. I'm really not looking forward to the monster list of supplies needed for the kids.

Yes, I've seen those requests where they specify that it must be a certain brand. And also the lists of things not allowed. I personally think the trapper keepers are pretty nice at holding everything together, but I've seen them banned. Someone I know had a child at a school where all backpacks had to be transparent
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And we went a number of years with a very small child who had a hugely filled backpack, but the wheeled backpacks were against the rules! This was AFTER publication of the study about backpack weight and children that STRONGLY recommended that children used wheeled backpacks.
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I've needed a graphing calculator my first year in high school. I thought everyone did. I have Alg. 2 my first year. You actually use them, so don't think it's wasted. Plus when they take the SAT you'd need to buy one anyway. i think it is time for parents to start paying for schooling, maybe then the kids will actually do something.
 
Transparent backpacks are to prevent items not allowed at school,, but they fall apart and aren't worth buying! I agree with no wheeled backpacks, they are very dangerous in the packed hallways, get kicked and hit others and also pull shoulders out of socket while playing and swinging them!
 
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We were required to send these items with our kids since they were in Kindergarten.

We have always had to send in stuff. IN KY we had a two page list! It was insane. In fact, One year, I spent more on "school supplies" for two elementary school kids than I did buying my college text books. I swear the list stopped short at asking for toilet paper!!

When the kids started in NC, they literally only needed pencils, paper and folders.

I think this varies from state to state based on school taxes and how each school district allots it's funding.
 
Somehow I graduated high school after finishing pre-algebra, algebra 1 (twice) and algebra 2, taking the PSAT, SAT and ACT ------ without buying the special TI calculator. I did have to purchase it for College Algebra when I got to college, but that was the least of my expenses at that point!! What really irked me is that they made everyone go out and buy I think it was the TI-83 and a year or so later they started requiring the TI-84 instead
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Who knows what version they are on nowadays. It's basically only necessary for a few chapters in the books too.

See if you can find a used one from a college texbook broker - lots of poor college students sell them back.

I still like my mom's old HP accounting calculator BETTER, still use it every time I do the budget, but it doesn't do graphs.
 
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Parents ARE paying! we have property taxes - and trust me, we can barely afford those! and we buy as much of the supplies as we can.
Do you think the parents who's kids get FREE LUNCHES at school can really afford to pay for the schooling if they can't afford to pay for LUNCH????

No, I think the answer is stop making the schools pay for the extra curricular activities (like football, band, other sports, etc.). The schools should ONLY be responsible for covering the fundamentals - if kids want to be in the extra activities then the KIDS should find away to earn the $ to do so.

and on top of that, even if parents did pay, a lot of kids now days have no respect for the cost of things and as long as their parents are paying for it they don't care what the cost is.

Extra curricular activities are a privilege and should be treated as such. Sports programs should be funded by the parents and/or fundraisers if people really want their kids to participate in them - and the schools should only have to focus on the academics inside the school walls.
 

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