Anonymous
Post 07/21/2025 22:19     Subject: Q for teacher on school shopping
I work in a low ses school and we don’t expect to get any supplies. We have to order all supplies for every child- we even buy pencils to send home with the kids so that they can do homework. The disparity between schools is insane.
Anonymous
Post 07/21/2025 22:16     Subject: Q for teacher on school shopping
Anonymous wrote:I'm not the OP but I would really love if a teacher could answer the question about labels. What should parents label and what should they not label? That's what I really want to know at this point.


Same. Does it look petty if I label folders or is it helpful?
Anonymous
Post 07/21/2025 22:10     Subject: Q for teacher on school shopping
I'm not the OP but I would really love if a teacher could answer the question about labels. What should parents label and what should they not label? That's what I really want to know at this point.
Anonymous
Post 07/21/2025 22:06     Subject: Q for teacher on school shopping
Anonymous wrote:I just order the supplies kit that gets delivered to school. Yes it might be an extra $10, but worth it not to have to go to 4 different stores and search online for specific supplies and then second guess brands and types. I’m sure the teacher prefers this method too.

Girl, it is WAY more than an extra $10. This year the box was $80 and I bought everything on the list and then some (because sometimes things come in a pack of 10 and I only need 2, so I can save for the following year) for $25.
Anonymous
Post 07/21/2025 21:59     Subject: Q for teacher on school shopping
I will always help restock Kleenex, wipes, and hand soap. Get those germy hands and desks clean!
Anonymous
Post 07/21/2025 21:34     Subject: Q for teacher on school shopping
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I’d love to hear from teachers. Are they annoyed at the whole school supplies issue? Surely it’s a problem to have to fill all your cabinets with tons and tons of supplies (maybe getting them 2x a year would be better?). Are teachers annoyed that other teachers want the composition books and they don’t?


We always get a plea mid year for more Kleenex and wipes. I wish teachers and schools would be honest and admit they aren’t ever going to have our kids using 12 pencils a year or more than 5 pages in a notebook because we are “rich and lucky enough” to have iPads for each kid starting in kindergarten. 4 boxes of Kleenex, 2 tubs of wipes, a box of ziplocks, a box of markers or colored pencils and a 5 pack of pencils is all each kid needs, sadly.


We get this plea for Kleenex and antibacterial wipes too. I don’t understand. How does a class go through 80 boxes of Kleenex and 60 antibacterial wipe tubs (3x20)? And all before Christmas? The math ain’t mathin. And I see everyone bringing the correct supplies on back to school night.

30 glue sticks a person is kinda wild too. I’m super into art projects and my kids go through maybe one glue stick a month for all 3 of them.


I work at a high poverty school, so no wipes or Kleenex are coming into my room unless I buy them, and I buy so much more of them from Costco than I ever imagined I would need. Kids use a LOT of Kleenex when they are sick, and I have multiple kids sick at one time. To try to avoid spreading the sickness, I wipe their tables and chromebooks down after school most days. But honestly, “the math ain’t mathing” is the kind of crap that would make me want to stop buying Kleenex and require kids to use paper towels. We are just trying to keep your kids hygienic and healthy.
Anonymous
Post 07/21/2025 18:43     Subject: Q for teacher on school shopping
Anonymous wrote:Hey teachers! I just did my back to school shopping and I’d love to hear your perspective. I feel like I only ever hear parents complaining about school shopping. I don’t mind purchasing supplies for the classroom at all, but I can’t tell if something is a shared supply or individual.

-do you hate it if parents label supplies? I never know what to label and what not to label. Like a ruler or a composition book. I’m definitely not labeling crayons or anything weird like that.

-what do you do when you have too much of something?

- how do you come up with these lists? One year it’s a school box wanted and next it’s a vinyl zippered bag. Do you actually care or is that just what the list says? (I know the list is for 4-6 classes per grade, not just your class)

- and then of course there’s the super hard to find item every year. This year it’s a 16ct crayon. The thing I’ve never ever found is an 8ct multi cultural crayon. It must be like the holy grail because Walmart/target/amazon only carry 24ct. I’ve seen them on eBay but marked up to 20x their original price. I also needed 8, 8cts of crayons last year. Where do they go? Lol

-does it bug you if you say “black composition” but the kid comes with a pink one?

Love you all! Keep sharing your Amazon wishlist needs because I love to fill them, especially middle of the year.


The school box vs. vinyl bag thing I care about. I don't actually care which one it is, but I'm going to store them in the classroom, and transport them to specials, based on what they are. So, if I've been told that we're asking for school boxes, I might set aside shelf space in a cabinet to stack them, and if I am told I'm getting vinyl bags, then I plan to put them in a tote, and since the vinyl bags will roll of the shelf, and the school boxes will open and spill in the tote, it will annoy me. I want them the same.

As far as the number of items, I care far more about brand than number. Buying the 24, when I asked for 16 is fine. Buying 10 markers, if I asked for 8 is fine.

As far as color, it probably says black, because people don't always know what a composition book is, and this tells them what to look for. Pink is fine. On the other hand, if it says "one red, one yellow, one blue" folder I have an organizational system, and if you send in puppies, kittens and unicorns all in shades of pink and purple, that won't work.
Anonymous
Post 07/21/2025 18:42     Subject: Q for teacher on school shopping
You got us. We are sneaking the pencils and glue sticks for ourselves. They do well on the black market.

-teachers
Anonymous
Post 07/21/2025 18:38     Subject: Q for teacher on school shopping
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:In my daughters’ parochial school, they required parents to label every crayon, marker, pencil, pen! Every year. The thought was, if a crayon fell on the floor, you did not have to say, “Whose crayon is this?” I guess. All of us parents joke that we have become super *masters* of labeling.


I love that our parochial school is having the parents pay a flat fee and is acquiring the supplies in bulk.


This is what I want.
Anonymous
Post 07/21/2025 18:37     Subject: Q for teacher on school shopping
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I’d love to hear from teachers. Are they annoyed at the whole school supplies issue? Surely it’s a problem to have to fill all your cabinets with tons and tons of supplies (maybe getting them 2x a year would be better?). Are teachers annoyed that other teachers want the composition books and they don’t?


We always get a plea mid year for more Kleenex and wipes. I wish teachers and schools would be honest and admit they aren’t ever going to have our kids using 12 pencils a year or more than 5 pages in a notebook because we are “rich and lucky enough” to have iPads for each kid starting in kindergarten. 4 boxes of Kleenex, 2 tubs of wipes, a box of ziplocks, a box of markers or colored pencils and a 5 pack of pencils is all each kid needs, sadly.


We get this plea for Kleenex and antibacterial wipes too. I don’t understand. How does a class go through 80 boxes of Kleenex and 60 antibacterial wipe tubs (3x20)? And all before Christmas? The math ain’t mathin. And I see everyone bringing the correct supplies on back to school night.

30 glue sticks a person is kinda wild too. I’m super into art projects and my kids go through maybe one glue stick a month for all 3 of them.


Teacher here. The antibacterial wipes are easy. In a class of 20, that's 4,800 wipes. If there are 80 days a school before Christmas, that's enough to wipe each desk, each computer, and one other thing per kid, whether it's the door handle, or the white board they sneezed all over, per day. That doesn't seem unreasonable. But of course, not every kid is going to bring them.
Anonymous
Post 07/21/2025 18:27     Subject: Q for teacher on school shopping
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I’d love to hear from teachers. Are they annoyed at the whole school supplies issue? Surely it’s a problem to have to fill all your cabinets with tons and tons of supplies (maybe getting them 2x a year would be better?). Are teachers annoyed that other teachers want the composition books and they don’t?


We always get a plea mid year for more Kleenex and wipes. I wish teachers and schools would be honest and admit they aren’t ever going to have our kids using 12 pencils a year or more than 5 pages in a notebook because we are “rich and lucky enough” to have iPads for each kid starting in kindergarten. 4 boxes of Kleenex, 2 tubs of wipes, a box of ziplocks, a box of markers or colored pencils and a 5 pack of pencils is all each kid needs, sadly.


We get this plea for Kleenex and antibacterial wipes too. I don’t understand. How does a class go through 80 boxes of Kleenex and 60 antibacterial wipe tubs (3x20)? And all before Christmas? The math ain’t mathin. And I see everyone bringing the correct supplies on back to school night.

30 glue sticks a person is kinda wild too. I’m super into art projects and my kids go through maybe one glue stick a month for all 3 of them.
Anonymous
Post 07/21/2025 18:14     Subject: Q for teacher on school shopping
Anonymous wrote:I’d love to hear from teachers. Are they annoyed at the whole school supplies issue? Surely it’s a problem to have to fill all your cabinets with tons and tons of supplies (maybe getting them 2x a year would be better?). Are teachers annoyed that other teachers want the composition books and they don’t?


We always get a plea mid year for more Kleenex and wipes. I wish teachers and schools would be honest and admit they aren’t ever going to have our kids using 12 pencils a year or more than 5 pages in a notebook because we are “rich and lucky enough” to have iPads for each kid starting in kindergarten. 4 boxes of Kleenex, 2 tubs of wipes, a box of ziplocks, a box of markers or colored pencils and a 5 pack of pencils is all each kid needs, sadly.
Anonymous
Post 07/21/2025 18:11     Subject: Q for teacher on school shopping
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I just order the supplies kit that gets delivered to school. Yes it might be an extra $10, but worth it not to have to go to 4 different stores and search online for specific supplies and then second guess brands and types. I’m sure the teacher prefers this method too.


No way! That is one junky box. Not one name brand pencil or crayon in there and there's dollar tree type of headphones. I'm not into brand names usually, but Crayola and Ticonderoga and Expo do work better than some off brand. And then I'm pissed off when other parents buy the junky box and my kid gets stuck with those waxy crayons that don't work instead of the .99 cent Crayola box that I bought. I feel like those boxes are predatory on poor families who don't understand what's going on (we are a Title 1 school). They're way more than an extra $10 though


Huh? I’ve bought the school kits at two different schools and there might be off brand expo markers, index cards, or scissors but the crayons are Crayola, pencils are brand names, composition notebooks are normal, haven’t had an issue with the junky stuff. It’s usually $100-130 for the box depending on the grade.
Anonymous
Post 07/21/2025 17:06     Subject: Q for teacher on school shopping
Anonymous wrote:I’d love to hear from teachers. Are they annoyed at the whole school supplies issue? Surely it’s a problem to have to fill all your cabinets with tons and tons of supplies (maybe getting them 2x a year would be better?). Are teachers annoyed that other teachers want the composition books and they don’t?


At my school they traded excess supplies with each other. Mostly they seemed interested in pencils that sharpened well (even Ticonderogas aren't reliable anymore) and cleaning supplies. Most had tons of markers and crayons.
Anonymous
Post 07/21/2025 16:23     Subject: Q for teacher on school shopping
Anonymous wrote:In my daughters’ parochial school, they required parents to label every crayon, marker, pencil, pen! Every year. The thought was, if a crayon fell on the floor, you did not have to say, “Whose crayon is this?” I guess. All of us parents joke that we have become super *masters* of labeling.


I love that our parochial school is having the parents pay a flat fee and is acquiring the supplies in bulk.