Me oh my, yes it is! How did that happen?
I’ve been noticing the school supplies steadily appearing in local stores, and I go in on Wednesday to register my daughter as a returning student for first grade. That’s when we’ll get serious about shopping around here, in case they provide us with a list of needed classroom supplies at that time.
But we are absolutely, positively getting her a new lunchbox. I may well get it at ReusableBags.com rather than locally, since I want a good system for sending her lunch in without waste. Then again I may find something that will work with the containers we already have, and thus create even less waste. That would work for me.
Her old one was battered rather beyond reuse, as kids are prone to doing. It also reeked beyond my ability to wash it clean.
For kindergarten the teacher gave us a wishlist of supplies at the start of the year. No one was required to give anything, but it was quite clear that the classroom needed these things, as they were basics for the age, such as glue, pencils and crayons. I have no doubt it will be similar for this school year.
What kind of supplies does your school expect your family to provide, beyond the backpack and such?
My daughter will also be starting first grade
Last year they gave us a very long and annoying list of specific supplies that we had to provide; 3 folders, 2 glue sticks, 10 pencils, etc and the items were to be shared. What I bought wouldn’t necessarily be for my daughter. I didn’t complain about this list but I think other parents did because this year instead of the list we give the class $15 on the first day. This is a lot easier for me (I can’t stand shopping) and I think will end up costing less.
We mostly need new clothes (she has a dress code), shoes, winter coat and backpack. I ordered a couple of these things yesterday because I was worrying about it and then sent an email to my ex hoping he would take care of the rest of it - we’ll see how that goes.
Thanks for the post - it’s comforting to know I’m not the only one worrying about this at the end of July. Now if I can just get her to start working on her summer homework
Giving money makes some good sense, although I can see some people hating that. But it ensures that the school can provide equal quality to each child in the class, and can probably get better prices by buying in bulk.
And my daughter’s lucky. No formal summer homework. Just a reminder to keep them reading and writing every day.