Teabag String; School Supplies List

It took me until now to realize that to avoid the frustration of the string pulling out of the staple of the teabag, I can pinch the staple as I pull the string.

Writing that sentence was not easy. It’s like that elementary school assignment where you have to write how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and then the teacher does exactly what you said and hilarity ensues. And if you don’t drink tea, or if you drink tea but you don’t use teabags, or if you don’t use the kind of teabag where the string has to be pulled out of a notch before it’s long enough to use, then you’ll be even more baffled. You will just have to trust me that this is one of those discoveries that is life-changing in a slightly sheepish way.

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The school has sent home the Next Year’s School Supplies list, which would be so extremely considerate if the list were accurate. I have pre-rage about it as I remember other years. One year we were very hard-up for money but I conscientiously bought every single item on the list; then when we brought it all in, the teacher said, “Oh, I don’t use those—I just have them use classroom supplies. I mean, if you want to donate it you can, but I have plenty.” So the next year I didn’t buy anything, and the teacher had her own list which she sent home the first day, completely different than the office’s list, and by then I’d missed all the school supply sales and in fact had quite a hard time even finding some of the things on the list. Another year, a teacher sent home a note on the first day asking parents to PLEASE (bold, double-underlined) not send in x, y, or z—all of which were items on the list the school had sent home. The teacher’s tone was aggrieved, as if she could NOT understand why parents kept INSISTING on sending in these TOTALLY UNNECESSARY ITEMS.

I think the problem is that the office staff makes the list based on a sort of classroom-average of what the teachers want. Some individual teachers then go by what the list says; most don’t. Some teachers use a system with a lot of folders, or a lot of binders, or a lot of notebooks; some teachers use individual white boards and need white-board markers; some teachers combine everyone’s supplies (this drives me crazy unless I know about it ahead of time) and some want everything down to the last pencil labeled so they’ll stay separate. I am just going to do what I do every year, which is to buy everything on the list during the summer when it’s available and on sale—and if that particular teacher doesn’t want those particular items and wants different items instead, I will breathe deeply and put the unwanted items aside for another year, and I will clench my teeth as I search store after store for the now-unavailable/full-price wanted items, and I will not have angry thoughts, because no one is TRYING to Do Wrong here.

46 thoughts on “Teabag String; School Supplies List

  1. g~

    My favorite is when, at the end of the year, I get some of those same hard-to-find, full-priced supplies back, unused, in the dregs of broken crayons in the bottom of their back packs. Or those particular notebooks my child HAD TO HAVE have three pages written in them. I literally tear out those three pages and save the notebooks for the next year.

    Reply
    1. Maggie

      Every. Friggin. Year. this year Oldest brought home a 3-ring binder with a virtually untouched ream of lined paper, two notebooks both of which had about 4 pages of writing in them, 3 ununsed glue sticks, and, of course, lightly used crayons, markers, and colored pencils. Notebooks had the first four pages torn out and will be sent with him again to school next year. And one of these years I swear to God I am not going to buy another 24 pack of new crayons and markers and colored pencils, but instead will assemble “sets” out of the approximately one million crayons/markers/colored pencils we already have. My kids might be horrified, but I am so tired of the wasting of money in August and then having an art cabinet completed crammed to the rafters with returned barely used school supplies in June.

      Reply
  2. g~

    OOh! And I think a great post series would be “things I wish I knew that now that I know seem ridiculously self-evident”! (Well…er…perhaps with a better title.) The problem is, I can’t think of any besides the triangle on the gas gauge in the car showing you which side to pull up to at the gas station.

    Reply
  3. lynn431

    The PTOs around here have started doing a bulk supply ordering thing, where you send in a check in June, and then in September they have everything ready to pick up at the beginning of school. The middle school uses an online site called http://www.shopttkits.com. It’s not cheap ($75 for my 8th grader!) but they at least claim that a portion of the proceeds will go towards school events. And maybe the price is worth it for the reduced stress.

    Reply
    1. Swistle Post author

      It seems like this would have the exact same problem, but at a higher price: it would be as if the list I get from our school was pre-purchased for me (at $75 x 5 = YIPES), and THEN the teachers would STILL have their own changes to make!

      Reply
      1. magpie

        that’s exactly what happens. the pta does the bulk order thing in the spring, and the spring lists are ALWAYS just enough different from the end-of-summer list that actually comes from the school.

        Reply
  4. StephLove

    We have the same issue with school supplies but as my wife generally buys them, I only have second-hand annoyance about it. (What with the inconsistent birthday treat policies, you’d think our kids went to the same school though).

    I need to pull out the teabag staples in order to compost the teabag.

    Reply
  5. Beth

    I feel like maybe I’ve mentioned this already in the Swistle comments when we’ve discussed this topic before, by my daughter is going into 2nd grade, and her school contracts with a company called Edukit. Parents have an option of purchasing a supply box (each grade has their own specific supplies and the price for each grade varies slightly). Enter credit card, supplies arrive (price includes $25 activity fee). Easiest thing ever, and I assume this is all pre approved by teachers, staff, etc. When I hear tales of frustration like Swistle’s, I’m glad for this system. It seems that a frustrated parent had a good business idea with Edukit. Wish I would’ve thought of it!

    Reply
    1. Swistle Post author

      I don’t think this would solve the problem at our school: there’s already one list for each grade, but the teachers themselves don’t agree on those lists.

      Reply
      1. Beth

        that *IS* a problem. I’ve never heard of any teacher complaints with this system, so it seems like you’ve got a complicated situation going on, there! and with 5 kids! makes my head spin.

        Reply
  6. Lynn

    I feel your pain. My kids are doing their year-end desk cleanouts right now and half the stuff I bought for them in September has come back unused – meanwhile I find out they ran out of markers and glue sticks back in December and have been begging them off of friends like we live in the poorhouse. SIGH.

    Our school has a Facebook group for each grade level and in the past parents have posted there asking, “What do we REALLY need to buy,” and last years’ parents have responded with, “You will actually need x, y and z, and you’ll also need f and g that weren’t on the list, but never mind about a, b, and c,” and it was SO helpful. I’m sure parents that are coming up to the grades that your own kids are just leaving would love some first-hand experience/advice.

    Reply
    1. Swistle Post author

      My kids did this TOOOOOOO! Me: “Why didn’t you TELLLLLLL me you were out of pencils???” Them: “*shrug* It was FINE, I borrowed from MADISON.”

      Reply
  7. jen

    We received a full box of crayons back at the end of this year. Which does not surprise me in the least because when I was looking at the list at the start of the year it said THREE boxes of crayons. Each child had to supply THREE. Which is absurd. I understand they do a lot of coloring and breaking of colors but how about everyone bring in one box and then if more is needed mid-year, more can be requested mid-year. I suppose I should just save the box for this Fall.

    Our school does offer the kit as well but I don’t purchase it because I love school supply shopping. But our teachers also don’t send out a separate list (or at least, our teacher last year did not). It seems really silly that the teachers cannot agree beforehand what to put on the list and stick to it.

    Reply
    1. Swistle Post author

      I’ve heard that teachers sometimes ask for more supplies than are needed, to provide extras for the kids who don’t bring in any. This steams me, too: I’d be HAPPY to contribute toward that cause, HAPPY to, I would even have FUN doing that—but I don’t want to be TRICKED into it.

      I get why each teacher might want supplies based on her/his own system, so what I wish is two-fold:

      1. That the office wouldn’t send out a list that doesn’t match what the teachers want

      2. That the teachers would send out their own personalized lists promptly at the beginning of summer, instead of waiting until the school year began

      Reply
      1. Laura

        We send in large quantities of supplies, and they are dumped into communal piles. So, that cute kitten folder picked out by my high strung six year old actually was handed out to another child. Don’t feel like purchasing two packs of $8.99 Expo dry erase markers? No problem, every child is supplied from the pile! Why does the list request three pairs of rounded scissors? Because they are going in the pile! Also, two three-packs of Clorox wipes and Gallon sized ziplock bags — straight to the pile! And yes, I do feel tricked (and a bit steamed). I’d rather just have everyone send in a check for the same amount (maybe with the option to sponsor another child) and the school can order exactly what they need. It has to be cheaper than the 90 bucks I spent on the kindergarten supplies last year.

        Reply
        1. Katie

          That’s what our school does! My cousin just brought in a cheque for $25.00 (ish) and the school went out and bought everyone supplies. It was so much easier.

          Reply
      2. Beth

        oh! the edukit thing asks if you want to donate an amount (any amount) of money to kids who aren’t able to purchase supplies, so that’s nice, too, if you feel like participating. Also, if it seems like I work for this company because of my enthusiasm I want to assure you that I don’t, promise! I just shudder at “I took the afternoon off work to go school supply shopping, and went to 2 Targets, and couldn’t find the required markers” stories.

        Reply
      3. vanessa

        I’m guessing they don’t slot the kids in classes til the school year starts and they know exactly how many kids they are getting (since they have to take everybody). But it is ANNOYING!

        Reply
  8. Becky

    Why can’t the teachers each have a page on the school’s website where they list what they want the kids for THEIR class to bring (or one page with all the teachers’ lists)? Not that I think it is your responsibility to make this happen. It just seems like such an easy solution to an ongoing problem, I’m surprised no one at the school has done it. Or is that still the same problem, because you don’t know what teacher you will have until too close to school starting?

    Reply
  9. liz

    What I want is for the taxes we already pay to go towards the NECESSARY school supplies. Why the heck are we spending beaucoup bucks on smart boards and ipads when they’re asking us to send in crayons and tissues?

    Seriously!

    Reply
    1. liz

      In our county, the school board installed smart boards in every class room and now are buying ipads for every classroom.

      Reply
    2. g~

      I can answer this one! The money that schools get through grants, etc. is usually allotted. So let’s say it’s a technogy grant. They HAVE to spend the money on technology and are not allowed to spend it on supplies or salaries. The rules on how money can be spent is mind-boggling and get WAY more complicated than what my example.

      Reply
  10. Monica

    No kids yet so I can’t comment as a parent, but now I’m wondering if my mom went through this every year and just kept her rage well-hidden from me. I suppose it probably helped that I went to a “year round” elementary school, so our summer break was only 6 weeks long and school started the first week of August. If we needed more/different supplies at least the sales were still on. Now I want to ask my mom!

    Reply
  11. erin d

    Based on my experience in schools, I would be very surprised if anyone in the front office had a hand in creating the supply list. It is their job to mail out said list (along with myriad other papers; envelope stuffing day/week interrupts everyone’s work, is a complete dread, and there are no volunteers or summers-off teachers to pitch in! So herein may lie the discrepancies), but the secretaries don’t sit in front of a word document and just guess what supplies may be required. At some point, a teacher has created the supply list. Perhaps she is long gone, or she half-heartedly made it on the last day before turning in her keys and sprinting to her car, or she is responsible for the whole 4th grade list but doesn’t know each 4th grade teacher’s needs and preferences.

    Reply
  12. Jesabes

    This is so frustrating. To top it off, we don’t get teacher assignments until August – the week before school starts! So even if we wanted to ask the specific teacher what her adjustments to the list are, we don’t know who to ask.

    Reply
  13. Kara

    The District puts the “Required Materials” on the website in June. And then you go to Meet The Teacher Night, five days before the start of the school year, and the “Classroom Materials Needed” lists are TOTALLY DIFFERENT. Then you have to fight and throw elbows at all the other parents in the same situation at Walmart and try to escape with everything on the list (and your sanity intact).

    Reply
  14. Elizabeth

    Oh, yes!
    1.) One year, I picked out more expensive folders in the teacher-requested colors for my child, because the more expensive ones were sturdier and I figured I wouldn’t have to replace them multiple times during the year. Of course, the first day of school the teacher had them put their folders in communal piles and my kid ended up with super cheap folders somebody else bought. Lesson learned: go ahead and put their names on them, even though the directions say not to.
    2.) One year, the supply list requested a box of green ballpoint pens – very hard to find. It turns out they were for the teachers to use in doing grading, because green would be better for the kids’ self-esteem than red would be. ??!! The principal later said she would have put the kibosh on that had she known about it.
    3.) One year, the supply list requested 40 (yes, forty) glue sticks for each child. I figured that was a typo, and asked the teacher, who said she thought they’d fixed that, but not to get any at all because some of the parents the year before had actually supplied 40!
    4.) In elementary school, I wondered why we had to buy a pair of scissors every single year. Another mother explained to me that if the cleaning crew found scissors on the floor of a classroom, they just swept them up and threw them away.
    5.) The son of one of my friends had a child with a latex allergy in his classroom one year. It cost her $35 for the 50 pencils he was supposed to bring, and 2 weeks into the school year, the teacher sent home a note saying they were out of pencils. My friend figured her kid hadn’t used 50 pencils in 2 weeks, so she didn’t send any more in. I think the school should have helped shoulder the expense of the pencils, since the child had a medical issue. However, I think latex-free school supplies are easier to find these days.

    Sorry. Had to get that off my chest.

    Reply
  15. Julie

    I totally understand the frustration. The first grade list calls for half a dozen glue sticks when I have personally seen the 5 gallon paint bucket full of glue sticks that my daughter’s teacher has at this very moment.

    And I completely understood the tea bag explanation and will be using said trick immediately (it never occurred to me, either).

    Reply
  16. Becky

    I am a third grade teacher and I work together with the other third grade teachers to make the supply list. Occasionally two or three of us will request something that the other one does not want, ( one year it was magazine holders), but otherwise we ask for what we need.
    The two biggest things that kids run out of are dry erase markers and PENCILS! I cannot tell you how many pencils I buy each year! I often buy the cute holiday pencils at Target in the dollar bin and give each kid one – a Halloween one in October, candy cane striped in December, etc. The VERY NEXT day I will have kids coming up to my spare pencil cup to get another one because they lost the one I JUST gave them the day before! I can see how kids need so many glue bottles and glue sticks and crayon boxes – they lose everything and never remember to put caps back on. I wish I had a dollar for every time I have sat digging dried glue out of a glue bottle cap with a paper clip! Anyway, the only supplies that I collect for communal use are the Kleenex boxes and loose leaf paper. I know the younger grades use communal supplies a lot, but my kids have desks and can learn to keep track of their own things. But, I have never seen the situation that you describe, where the list and the actual needs are so different!

    Reply
  17. Shawna

    Our school board puts out an official supply list but we realized early on that the teacher often did not need or want the same list of things. Since we got wise before our second child started school and got an introductory meeting with the kinder teachers before school starts, we took the opportunity to ask our son’s teacher if she wanted the official list, if she had her own list, or if the classroom was already well-stocked for the start of the year and she’d prefer money so she could re-stock as things ran out later in the year. She went with door number 3 and seemed grateful for the option.

    Unfortunately we don’t get that same opportunity above the kinder level so we’ll be going through the same situation as you describe this coming year when both kids are at the elementary school level.

    Reply
  18. nonsoccermom

    Luckily the PTA pays for all of the shared supplies and the bulk of the other necessary supplies at our school. Then in the first few days a note may come home from a teacher with specific requests – I think last year we had to send a deck of cards for my 4th grader to use in math. Beyond that – not a thing and it is GLORIOUS. Before we moved here I spent so many late-summer days searching every store in town for the elusive half-lined, half-blank composition notebook required by my son’s old school. Supply shopping is so painful!!

    Reply
  19. Maggie

    I was on the PTA board this year and one of my missions was to get the school to include a note on the list of requested school supplies by grade whether the supplies would be pooled or would be kept by the individual student. It seemed like a small thing, but if they are going to pool supplies I won’t get the extra cute kitten folder my daughter really wants or the specific kind of pen my son desires and will skip writing their name on everything (even though we are always told to do so), but instead just get regular stuff and leave it at that. If the supplies are not pooled I will allow my kids some leeway in picking out the things they really prefer and write their name on everything. Just a little bit more information helps me make decisions at a time when I’m already kind of swamped.

    Reply
  20. Brenna

    Oh my, school supply rage. Gets me every year. I haaaaate the trend towards communal supplies. It’s a hardship for us to spend that much money on our own kids. As much as I would like to, we can’t afford to pay for other kids. Secondly, it seems to me that kids might learn to be more responsible with their supplies if there wasn’t a seemingly endless (to them) well of pencils and glue sticks to choose from. Why keep track of a pencil, just get a new one! So I write my kids name on everything I can, and anything I can’t, I parcel out to them as needed.

    And as a side note, I’m fairly certain that public schools cannot require you to contribute any supplies. That’s why we pay taxes. In reality you’re just shifting the burden to other parents so I can’t really advocate taking this approach, but it’s something to remember when teachers get a little ridiculous about a specific brand name or excessive quantity of something.

    Reply
    1. Elizabeth

      I think that public schools can’t make you pay any fees. However, at our schools there’s an “Invest In Your Child” fee that is pretty hefty (although I think you might get a break if you have multiple kids). If you can’t afford to pay it, you have to bring proof that you can’t afford it, which I would think might be kind of embarrassing. Nonetheless, I know several people who don’t pay. They figure their taxes go to supporting the public schools.

      Reply
      1. Elizabeth

        Interestingly, the schools in poorer parts of the area don’t ask for so much, knowing families can’t afford it. The more affluent the area, the more supplies and fees they ask for, making the schools in the affluent areas just that much better equipped, even though all the schools share in tax money equally.

        Reply
  21. Ann

    I come at this issue from both sides. As a teacher, I am happy to report that our school sends out a list at the end of the year divided by grade level, so it doesn’t matter that you don’t know which teacher you will be assigned yet. The secretary sends it out to the teachers in May, we look it over and agree to it, and it goes home with kids at the end of the year and with new kids at registration. We are a low-income school, so most teachers rarely ask for anything extra right at the beginning of the year, although we may ask for replenishment later in the year (you can’t believe how much Kleenex we go through in the early years!). However, as a parent (in the same school district!), I have now decided to buy only the most basic things as they go on sale (loose-leaf paper, pencils, etc.) for my own kids, as the list the school sends out is never what the teachers want! They go to a grades 6-12 school, so now that the oldest will be a senior, I finally have a good idea of what will actually be used and what will come home unused. The one that annoys me most is the 3-ring binders. Some teachers insist that students must have a binder just for their class, and even that it must be 2 inches or some such nonsense. Excuse me, have you seen the loaded down backpacks that the kids carry? It’s so much easier to have one binder with dividers that kids can use (one for blue day, one for green day, or whatever system the school uses this year). I would collapse if I had to carry a backpack that heavy!

    Reply
  22. Sara A.

    Re teabags: I just lift them out with my spoon and wrap the string around it to wring it out before throwing it out. I’ve had too many strings come out to pull by the string.

    Reply
  23. karen

    So…our kids find out at the end of the school year who their teacher will be the next year, and on that same day (during the last week of school) they are given sheet with the teacher’s picture, an introduction, and THAT teacher’s list. So every teacher gets to make their own list. It’s a great set-up, and one that i assumed most schools used. Until i was reading over all of these comments, and … why DOESN’T everyone use this system? It would certainly lead to a lot less rage! :)

    Reply
  24. yasmara

    I gave up & did the pre-bought school supplies this year through our school’s program. Last year was so frustrating because the list was BRAND SPECIFIC. I guess too many parents had complained about the communal supplies & the fact that some of us buy whatever’s cheapest & others of us buy the most sturdy, regardless of price. So I went to FOUR Target stores looking for Ticonderoga pencils in packs larger than 8 (since I was supposed to bring in 36 or something & that would have been something like $24 on pencils alone). Don’t get me started on the graphing calculator my 3rd grader NEVER USED or the empty notebooks we got back…

    Reply
  25. magpie

    i hate hate hate the school supply racket. i so would prefer to give cash to a fund that the school uses to buy the damned supplies that they actually want. i get that budgets are tight and that they can’t raise taxes. but the system as it is is INSANE.

    Reply

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