School Supplies lists and Janitorial Supplies

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My thinking is, if there was a stocked closet somewhere in the school with cleaning supplies, extra pencils, whiteboard markers, Kleenex, etc., then the teacher wouldn't be asking for those things. They're asking so they need them. It's not like there's some secondary market where they're making a killing on my Costco supply donations.

Exactly. Last year my 6th grader’s classroom was stuffed full of Kleenex boxes and Clorox
Wipes during the open house. And by Christmas break the teacher asked parents to send in more Kleenex and hand sanitizer cause they’d used it all. Which is good! I’d rather know kids are wiping their noses and disinfecting their hands etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are none left over. Your children will break and lose all the pencils. They will let them fall on the floor and will walk over them instead of picking them up.

We use wipes snd paper towels probably for the same thing you do—cleaning things, wiping up messes, drying hands.

THIS! I am a sub and am constantly telling kids to pick up pencils from the floor.

Ok … so the answer is to have the kids pick them up and put them away no? Not ask the parents to send in 500 pencils.

They don’t pick them up.

I am also a teacher. I restock my pencil supply from ones I find in the halls. Full pencils with eraser just dropped and left.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They share with electives teachers and specials teachers.

I too dislike the antibacterial wipes. I think they're not healthy to be using. But I think it stems from the fact that schools do not clean at all. My kids have come home with wild stories about kids vomiting in the classroom. It gets cleaned up but really every single surface needs cleaned before that bug spreads to all kids, and that doesn't happen.

One of my kids is in Pre-K and you should see the amount of cleaning that goes on daily. All of the tables are bleached daily, every door handle and surface is wiped. My daycare kids never get sick even though they hug and touch each other a lot more than elementary school kids. My elementary school kids are sick nonstop all winter long. (And then school has the gall to complain about missing days!!!)

I had the same experience. Our Pre-K had professional cleaning daily and sanitizing. They also had a lot of assistants and floating staff who stepped in to take care of the kid and clean up if a kid threw up, had a bathroom accident, etc. Elementary schools don't have all this. Teachers are doing the best they can to keep things clean and sanitary while not having a lot of help and while not stepping away from the classroom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:120 Ticonderoga pencils? You're exaggerating right?

Nope not kidding. 24 pack presharpebed pencils x 5 packs. Last year the teacher only let him have 2 pencils. This communal thing is crazy. We aren’t working hard to spend our money for other people.

So don't. Other people who are grateful and maybe have been helped by others at some point in their life will buy the insane number of pencils, knowing that they are covering for a few other people.

Our school usually asked for one or two boxes per grade year. My inference is that your school district doesn't have a lot of people chipping in for collective supplies.

Also, almost all pencils we purchased for our kids, including the expensive Ticonderogas, are poor quality compared to what I grew up with. The wood is softer. They don't stay sharp as well. My understanding is that teachers ask for pre-sharpened pencils because kids mess around while sharpening and it's harder to get them sharp.

So these are single use pencils? Lol.

I know some parents who are very stressed about this stuff and need to be seen as the “good grateful” parent. After learning my lesson a few times I don’t let this stuff bother me anymore. I’ll make sure my child leaves home with a pencil daily and that’s enough.

Your child loses their pencil. Then what?

[Anonymous]

Surprisingly my rising kindergarteners list doesn’t have pencils on it. I’m baffled!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Surprisingly my rising kindergarteners list doesn’t have pencils on it. I’m baffled!

Maybe the school is supplying them. Do they still use the fat pencils for little kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Surprisingly my rising kindergarteners list doesn’t have pencils on it. I’m baffled!

Maybe the school is supplying them. Do they still use the fat pencils for little kids?

Regular pencils are on the list for kindergarten for my school.
- kindergarten teacher

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are none left over. Your children will break and lose all the pencils. They will let them fall on the floor and will walk over them instead of picking them up.

We use wipes snd paper towels probably for the same thing you do—cleaning things, wiping up messes, drying hands.

THIS! I am a sub and am constantly telling kids to pick up pencils from the floor.

Ok … so the answer is to have the kids pick them up and put them away no? Not ask the parents to send in 500 pencils.

They don’t pick them up.

Who's in charge here? Stand there and tell them they may not leave, may not go anywhere or do anything until they pick up the pencil they dropped. Get a backbone!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are none left over. Your children will break and lose all the pencils. They will let them fall on the floor and will walk over them instead of picking them up.

We use wipes snd paper towels probably for the same thing you do—cleaning things, wiping up messes, drying hands.

THIS! I am a sub and am constantly telling kids to pick up pencils from the floor.

Ok … so the answer is to have the kids pick them up and put them away no? Not ask the parents to send in 500 pencils.

They don’t pick them up.

Who's in charge here? Stand there and tell them they may not leave, may not go anywhere or do anything until they pick up the pencil they dropped. Get a backbone!

I guess the teacher can assign a new "helper:" pencil monitor

Do you really think the teacher can stand there and watch every pencil that falls on the floor?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are none left over. Your children will break and lose all the pencils. They will let them fall on the floor and will walk over them instead of picking them up.

We use wipes snd paper towels probably for the same thing you do—cleaning things, wiping up messes, drying hands.

THIS! I am a sub and am constantly telling kids to pick up pencils from the floor.

Ok … so the answer is to have the kids pick them up and put them away no? Not ask the parents to send in 500 pencils.

They don’t pick them up.

Who's in charge here? Stand there and tell them they may not leave, may not go anywhere or do anything until they pick up the pencil they dropped. Get a backbone!

Sure, Jan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are none left over. Your children will break and lose all the pencils. They will let them fall on the floor and will walk over them instead of picking them up.

We use wipes snd paper towels probably for the same thing you do—cleaning things, wiping up messes, drying hands.

THIS! I am a sub and am constantly telling kids to pick up pencils from the floor.

Ok … so the answer is to have the kids pick them up and put them away no? Not ask the parents to send in 500 pencils.

They don’t pick them up.

Who's in charge here? Stand there and tell them they may not leave, may not go anywhere or do anything until they pick up the pencil they dropped. Get a backbone!

Sure, Jan.

Um, it literally IS that easy. I say that as someone who worked in public schools and enforced rules.

[Anonymous]

The pencil thing is crazy. My kids second grade teacher last year had a “one month pencil club” and the kids who used the same pencil all month long had their picture taken and posted on the class FB page. It was the majority of the class, each month. So that’s 9 pencils per kid per year. 120 is outrageous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:120 Ticonderoga pencils? You're exaggerating right?

Nope not kidding. 24 pack presharpebed pencils x 5 packs. Last year the teacher only let him have 2 pencils. This communal thing is crazy. We aren’t working hard to spend our money for other people.

I’m a teacher. I have to spend my own money on others’ children all the time. When parents don’t provide, I have to purchase. Some years parents are generous and provide what’s on the list. Some years parents provide very little and I have to do bulk orders with my own money. It adds up. I’ve spend over $800 on supplies some years.

Has it occurred to you that some parents can't afford the ridiculous lists teachers put out like the 120 name brand Ticonderoga pencils when their kids only see 2?

I could not afford it what did the teachers do? Shame me, time and time again. This happened in Fairfax county. I wasn't given anything I had to ask to borrow from other students a piece of paper, a pencil. I was not my fault yet I was chastised for it by EVERY teacher. Now you say you hand things out for those who don't. Well guess what? I never saw that. At all, ever. So I have a very hard time believing that to this day.

Yeah… okay.

I was also a product of Fairfax County. Things are VERY different now. Very. Very. Very. I mean VERY different.

No teacher is chastising somebody for having no supplies. They are simply going into the supplies they individually purchased for their students. That may be a pencil. It may be deodorant.

And while I get a whopping $250 deduction from my taxes, know that only covers a small fraction of what I actually spend on my students.

[Anonymous]

We should go back to the olden days of each kid bringing in their old school supplies, and not pooling them.

Bring back personal responsibility. A kid won't care if they lose some boring yellow pencil, but if they lose the one with soccer balls all over it, or a rainbow eraser on top that they picked out themselves, they'll take better care of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are none left over. Your children will break and lose all the pencils. They will let them fall on the floor and will walk over them instead of picking them up.

We use wipes snd paper towels probably for the same thing you do—cleaning things, wiping up messes, drying hands.

THIS! I am a sub and am constantly telling kids to pick up pencils from the floor.

Ok … so the answer is to have the kids pick them up and put them away no? Not ask the parents to send in 500 pencils.

We do, but some of your kids are rude and refuse and/or break pencils on purpose.