Do you buy new everything each school year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A new back to school outfit. Everything else gets replaced as needed. "Needed" includes if a kid says "That's too babyish - I can't bring a fairy princess backpack to school anymore - I'm in third grade now!"

Same here. Lunchbox and backpacks got switched out based on age. Everything else based on need.

[Anonymous]

My daughter doesn't usually care much about getting new clothes. She is small for her age so we get lots of hand me downs. Once things she did ask for was a new lunch box (her current one is a few years old and showing it's age) and amatching backpack. She is going into 1st grade so I will get her something new (and then she will keep that until middle school).

[Anonymous]

My dd just finished Kindergarten. We got the grossest school supply box returned to us- gummed up, all broken crayons, the tiniest eraser ever, pencil shavings and her scissors. So basically she can reuse the scissors and that's it (once I scrub them!)

Her backpack still looks really nice, so we'll reuse and her clothes are in great shape. I will buy new sneakers if/when she outgrows her current ones. She still runs through sneakers really quickly so I'm not buying them until they wear out or she outgrows them.

[Anonymous]

DS just finished kindergarten and his PB backpack is in great shape and was only used this year and the previous year in preK but he’s already asking for a new one because his friends apparently have “camp backpacks” and “school backpacks.” And no, this is not a W feeder! But seems like Target has stuff out already so maybe I’ll get him another cheap backpack. Will have to refresh some school supplies but he also brought home a lot of unused ones.

[Anonymous]

Yes. Everything is new to mark the new year.

[Anonymous]

Nope. New backpack when the old one wears out or becomes too small. Ditto for water bottles and lunchboxes. New crayons and markers to send to school, but reuse folders and other supplies if possible. Clothes are bought as needed based on growth.

[Anonymous]

We order a lot though the PTA with all of the supplies.

Backpacks and lunch boxes when something is worn out, or when the kindergarten backpack is too small.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Backpack - they only get a new one if the old one is no longer functional. The only exception was last year when DD (who is now 9) had to start carrying a laptop to and from school and we bought her a rolling backpack. This year, she gave the rolling backpack to her younger sister and we bought her a large Lands End backpack with a padded laptop sleeve. Unless something crazy happens, this is the backpack she'll have until high school.

Lunch bags - we usually buy cheap lunch bags new each year (that said, they barely used their lunch bags last year, and this year ate school lunch almost every day, so we probably won't buy new for the fall, but we'll see how they fare at summer camp).

Water bottles - we've had the same ones for a few years now and have only had to replace one that was lost and never found.

Supplies -- barely anything gets sent home in re-usable condition. I've been able to re-use folders and scissors every year, sometimes I get back almost brand new erasers and I will send those the next year. I have never received a full set of crayons or markers back, so they just go into our bin for the kids to use at home.

Clothes/Shoes - I don't buy specific back to school clothes, I just buy clothes and shoes as needed seasonally/when they are outgrown or on sale for the next season/year.

Regarding school supplies - if I find a good deal, I buy in bulk. You will need Ticonderoga pencils, pink erasers, glue sticks, dry erase markers, sticky notes, plastic folders for at least the next 6 years. I have a shelf in my basement with extra school supplies that I look through before I go to the store each July/August.

If you can afford it, the PTA sale is convenient, but it is definitely not a good deal.

This sounds like my experience growing up. I loved getting to choose new folders and binders and notebooks every year — that was pretty much it. I hated clothes shopping so I don’t remember that as a back to school thing, just a grudging chore done when necessary. For us, no brand names but my mother let us choose what we liked of the cheapest option at staples usually.

The difference between when we were kids and now is that my kids don't get to bring in character folders/notebooks. Everything has to be plain and boring and is shared across the class, so unless you label everything, it's not going to be distributed to your child (and I've heard of some teachers who will either remove the labels or just give someone a pre-labelled folder even if it's not their name).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS just finished kindergarten and his PB backpack is in great shape and was only used this year and the previous year in preK but he’s already asking for a new one because his friends apparently have “camp backpacks” and “school backpacks.” And no, this is not a W feeder! But seems like Target has stuff out already so maybe I’ll get him another cheap backpack. Will have to refresh some school supplies but he also brought home a lot of unused ones.

My kids have separate backpacks for camp because the camp is mostly outdoors and the backpacks/lunch boxes get filthy.

[Anonymous]

Backpacks and lunch boxes—replace only as needed. I don’t buy the character ones since kids move through phases so quickly. They’ve got a mix of llbean and lands end brand backpacks and lunchboxes and they hold up really well so hardly ever need to replace.
Pencils, erasers, markers, crayons, glue sticks, spiral notebooks—buy new because the ones from last year are either all used up or nowhere to be found by now
Scissors, binders, folders, pencil boxes—re use as long as they’re still in good shape
Clothes, shoes—I do buy them a couple new shirts and pants each year and they do get new shoes before school starts. But it’s not like a whole new wardrobe. And I usually buy the clothes throughout the year on sale. Wait til right before school to get the shoes though as their feet grow so fast. My son just started caring about name brand stuff and loves under armour and adidas so that’s Easy to find on sale. My daughter has a particular style but doesn’t care about name brands.

When it comes to pencils, I always buy Ticonderoga brand. Markers and crayons and color pencils—always crayola. Other supplies, I don’t think it matters too much. The target brand plastic folders have held up better than Mead!