Anonymous
Post 06/18/2014 14:07     Subject: What is the deal with back to school kits?
Anonymous wrote:Some of my fondest back to school memories were from the first day. First the new outfit and then afterschool supply shopping with my mother. There was nothing like a new three ring notebook (trapper keeper anyone?) paper, reinforcements, highlighters, new folders decorated with whatever was popular at the time (cabbage patch kids anyone?). To this day I love ofice supplies.

That said I will buy the kit, and will be happy to have the supplies shared but I am a bit sad to think my DS won't get to have the same fun back to school supply shopping experience I did.

And yes I know he will live. Please dont jump down my throat for recounting a sweet memory from my childhood.


PP, I agree - I used to LOVE school supply shopping and apparently, my DD does too. The past couple of years, I've gone the BTS kit route. While it was easier, I could tell DD was disappointed she didn't get to pick out her own stuff. I promised her this year we'd go shopping and do it together. So much more fun.
Anonymous
Post 06/18/2014 13:30     Subject: What is the deal with back to school kits?
Would be a good idea for when new schools are built or old ones are modernized that a trough of sinks are built near the cafeteria.

Hello school architects ......
Anonymous
Post 06/18/2014 13:06     Subject: What is the deal with back to school kits?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The sanitizer contains endocrine disruptors, so if you're fine with your kids maturing too early and having other problems then by all means go for it.


Alcohol has endocrine disruptors?


No, but anti-bacterial soap does -- you know, the kind you often encounter when you wash your hands with soap and water.
Anonymous
Post 06/18/2014 12:31     Subject: What is the deal with back to school kits?
Anonymous wrote:The sanitizer contains endocrine disruptors, so if you're fine with your kids maturing too early and having other problems then by all means go for it.


Alcohol has endocrine disruptors?
Anonymous
Post 06/18/2014 11:59     Subject: What is the deal with back to school kits?
Anonymous wrote:Our kits have always had name-brand items (Elmers, Crayola, Ticonderoga pencils).


PP who doesn't like the kit quality here. This is interesting. I wonder what our PTA is doing wrong.
Anonymous
Post 06/18/2014 11:56     Subject: What is the deal with back to school kits?
We are sanitizer users, I have no problem with it. My child's classroom has a bathroom in it but no sink. Yup. So I'm good with it.
Anonymous
Post 06/18/2014 11:45     Subject: Re:What is the deal with back to school kits?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:We have one sink in the boys' bathroom and one in the girls' bathroom. No sinks in my classroom. I have 28 1st graders. We use hand sanitizer or it would take nearly 30 minutes for every kid to use the bathroom and wash their hands.


Amazing how previous generations managed without sanitizer. Do you have kids? Would you want rubbing alcohol and other chemicals absorbed into their bodies via their skin every day?


Amazing how previous generations managed without all kinds of stuff it's convenient to have now. Indoor plumbing, air conditioning, cell phones, antibiotics...

Actually, as I remember it, there was no routine hand-washing before lunch when I was in school, in the days before hand sanitizer.
Anonymous
Post 06/18/2014 10:32     Subject: What is the deal with back to school kits?
Anonymous wrote:Hand sanitizer does indeed kill good bacteria. We all washed our hands the regular way in school; no reason why kids can't now.

It's the end of the year in our FCPS school, and the classroom cabinets are still stuffed with plenty of zipper bags, tissues, glue sticks, and wet wipes. And yet all of those things will be on the list for the new school year. FYI.


Do you think that washing your hands the regularly way somehow keeps the good bacteria on your hands and washes away the bad ones? Both soap and sanitizer get rid of everything on your skin--sanitizer kills it and soap traps it and lets it be rinsed away. But if they are each doing their job, they are each getting rid of good and bad germs.
Anonymous
Post 06/18/2014 10:28     Subject: Re:What is the deal with back to school kits?
Anonymous wrote:We have one sink in the boys' bathroom and one in the girls' bathroom. No sinks in my classroom. I have 28 1st graders. We use hand sanitizer or it would take nearly 30 minutes for every kid to use the bathroom and wash their hands.


Amazing how previous generations managed without sanitizer. Do you have kids? Would you want rubbing alcohol and other chemicals absorbed into their bodies via their skin every day?
Anonymous
Post 06/18/2014 10:07     Subject: Re:What is the deal with back to school kits?
We have one sink in the boys' bathroom and one in the girls' bathroom. No sinks in my classroom. I have 28 1st graders. We use hand sanitizer or it would take nearly 30 minutes for every kid to use the bathroom and wash their hands.
Anonymous
Post 06/18/2014 10:02     Subject: What is the deal with back to school kits?
The sanitizer contains endocrine disruptors, so if you're fine with your kids maturing too early and having other problems then by all means go for it.
Anonymous
Post 06/18/2014 09:48     Subject: What is the deal with back to school kits?
Hand sanitizer does indeed kill good bacteria. We all washed our hands the regular way in school; no reason why kids can't now.

It's the end of the year in our FCPS school, and the classroom cabinets are still stuffed with plenty of zipper bags, tissues, glue sticks, and wet wipes. And yet all of those things will be on the list for the new school year. FYI.
Anonymous
Post 06/18/2014 09:46     Subject: What is the deal with back to school kits?
Here's our Kindergarten list. I think its reasonable, especially if the supplies are supposed to last all year.

4 Boxes Crayola Crayons – Box of 24
12 Yellow #2 Pencils (sharpened)
1 Child’s Scissors (blunt tip)
1 Black Composition Book
1 Red, Plastic, Two-Pocket Folder (no prongs)
1 Blue, Plastic, Two-Pocket Folder (no prongs)
1 Yellow, Plastic, Two-Pocket Folder WITH Prongs
12 Elmer’s Glue Sticks
1 Pack of 4 Dry Erase Markers
1 Box of Tissues
1 Pack of 100 Index Cards
1 Bottle Liquid Hand Sanitizer
1 Container of Clorox Wipes
Anonymous
Post 06/18/2014 09:45     Subject: What is the deal with back to school kits?
Our kits have always had name-brand items (Elmers, Crayola, Ticonderoga pencils).
Anonymous
Post 06/18/2014 09:42     Subject: What is the deal with back to school kits?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My DD's school has 5 reams of copy paper on each grader's supply list. Ummmmm. No! That's the school's job to provide.


But what if the school doesn't provide it? And the parents all think like you?


Seriously. So tired of free loaders. And to the mom who doesn't "believe" in hand sanitizer...do you think the teacher will send your special snowflake to wash his hands (remember, it has to be at least 30 seconds to be thorough) while all the other children line up for sanitizer or do you think she will just have him skip the sanitizer and have dirty hands? There is no time for 30+ kids to correctly wash their hands several times each day.


Why the hell do kids need to wash their hands several times a day? I never washed my hands with anything but water as a kid because I hated industrial soap. If my kid washes their hands before lunch that's plenty. Hand sanitizer kills good bacteria.


We've been to three elementary schools and they all lined the kids up and did sanitizer before lunch as they walked into the cafeteria. Do other schools have the time to send all the kids into the bathrooms to wash their hands before lunch? Does your child's elementary school send them all to wash their hands on the way to lunch? That would take half the lunch time slot at a crowded or big school. There are only a few sinks in the bathroom.
So if you say no sanitizer, your kid will just be skipped in line and eat with dirty hands. Just FYI.