Back to School Supply Lists Gripe

[Gil]

I looked at the School Supply Lists for 1st and 2nd grade at our local PS and its over the top!

 

They have paper, pencils, crayons, and notebooks, okay, sure, that's standard school stuff.

 

But why do kids need to bring paper towels, AA and AAA batteries, clay-dough, hand sanitizer, zip loc bags, kleenex tissues, a PACK of folders, reams of paper, headphones, 50-pack of pencils, thumb-drive, etc, etc, etc...

 

I mean, what the heck are they spending the tax dollars on if EVERY kid in the classroom is expected to bring enough to supply the entire classroom?

 

[mamaraby]

Funding is down so things that they would have typically purchased for the classroom use out of the school's funding now has to be brought in by parents.

 

When ds went to ps they did use much of what we brought in, but a lot of the notebooks came back hardly used.

 

And yes, there are some students who will not be able to bring in supplies and so I would suspect that's part of it with some of it.

[Mandylubug]

I learned when mine were in public school to hold off purchasing until I met the teacher at orientation and asked point blank what was truly needed. Typically the lists were generic supplies for the entire grade. Most of the time, I was told only a couple things in addition to pencils etc.

[OneStepAtATime]

I learned when mine were in public school to hold off purchasing until I met the teacher at orientation and asked point blank what was truly needed. Typically the lists were generic supplies for the entire grade. Most of the time, I was told only a couple things in addition to pencils etc.

This!  I remember vividly waiting until I talked to the teacher one year because the previous year the teacher ran out of storage space for the mountains of things everyone had to bring.  The teacher was so grateful and begged me to just wait.   She would send out requests for what was needed from that list later, once school was under way.  She said it was a logistical nightmare to have all the kids bringing mounds and mounds of school supplies on the first day of school, especially when most of it wouldn't be needed for weeks and some of it wouldn't be needed at all.  She had not created the list.  The school administration had.  And they never even asked her what she thought they would need.

[SKL]

Yeah, we encounter that here as well.  When I was a kid, it was exciting to gather together all the pencils, crayons, notebooks, paint shirt, gym shoes.  It seems a lot less exciting when the back-to-school bag is half full of Kleenex and hand sanitizer.  :P

 

I could go off on a tangent rant about the fact that my kids' teacher sent a homework letter ordering the kids to, among other things, buy and eat a can of Pringles so they could make a craft to bring to school.  :/   But I won't.....

[Dmmetler]

FWIW, in my former school specialist teachers don't request supplies separately, so some of the duplication may come from stocking the music room, art room, etc-for example, my district adopted a music curriculum that was heavy on reproduction masters, so rather than running copies for each child, I'd request some of those umpteen-zillion folders that were on the supply lists and make songbooks for each grade and each grading period, and change them as needed. I believe art depended on the supply list for basic supplies to keep in the art room so that teachers didn't have to pack up each kid's personal crayons, glue, scissors etc to take with them to art and lose on the way. Not sure what PE needed, but given the focus on journaling and cross-curricular writing, they probably needed more paper/pencils than you might expect.

 

I still think it can get ludicrous, though. I bought the 1st grade supply list for my local school for DD when we started homeschooling. We STILL haven't used all those crayons and glue sticks, and she's going into 5th!

[Arcadia]

Headphones is for computer lab so that kids use their own.

Kleenex is for all the sniffles and the boxes do get used up

Paper towels is to clean up the mess after Art, Language Arts and Science

Schools are big on using hand sanitizers

Reams of paper is for printing worksheets

 

No idea on why batteries are needed

[Tanaqui]

The zip-locks might be for putting things like the library book in, or storing art supplies, that sort of thing.

 

Remember, one reason they ask you for everything is because many, many parents will give nothing.

[Dmmetler]

Batteries are probably for portable audio players or other devices.

[TGHEALTHYMOM]

I have to buy art supplies for high school and supplies throughout the year... this is not great news.

[kiwik]

Ours seems reasonable compared to those lists. They have to supply white board markers, glue sticks, pencils, crayons, books, book bag and tissues plus a couple of other things. What I found hard was that in the first 2 years everything except the first lot of books went to a central supply. Ds7 wasn't impressed by having to give away HIS new crayons and pencils. Also a lot of stuff came back with little in it or random things. His maths book only had spelling tests for example. When we were kids we got to keep our pencils in our pencil case and our books in our desks. Everything else was bought in bulk. I'm sure wallpaper paste was a lot cheaper than glue sticks and I don't remember it being that messy.

 

Ps. Gil you have sorted something about maths with the school? First and second grade won't exactly be a challenge and unchallenged kids can develop unhelpful coping behavoirs.

[Gil]

The zip-locks might be for putting things like the library book in, or storing art supplies, that sort of thing.

 

Remember, one reason they ask you for everything is because many, many parents will give nothing.

The quickest way to ensure that I buy nothing or bare-minimum, is to ask me for a ridiculous amount of cr@p. I'm not buying any of that junk. The boys are taking paper, pencil, book-bag and a lunch.

 

[Nart]

My kids' public school doesn't have any supply list. The teachers send home a wish list of things they would like such as labels, playground supplies like balls and jump ropes, and sheet protectors. It is a middle class school in California. The school supplies all the crayons, pencils, scissors, etc.

[SKL]

In my case, this year's list (3rd grade) was more reasonable than last year's.  Last year they had to have crayons, colored pencils, colored markers, AND dry-erase markers.  And glue sticks plus glue-all. Etc.  I'm not sure they even used all of that, and even if they did, surely they could have gotten by on only half of that list?

[beishan]

We just purchase the toolkit from PTO and it will be delivered to classroom directly if parents are not able to pick up from school during designed time frame. I paid $26 for third grade supply and only need to buy 4 tennis balls (for kid's chair) on top of what's in the toolkit. Easy choice for working parents. Teacher did return whatever is not used at the end of year.

[Arcadia]

For my district, from 1st grade the stationary items are to be labeled and stays with the child. Only Kleenex, paper towels and hand sanitizers are communal. The district gave $100 per class for k-5 for school supplies for teachers to buy from any store.

[Roadrunner]

Our elementary school doesn't ask for anything at all. In fact they send home pencils with the school logo. They do however fundraise for cash twice a year. I preferred to give cash than have my kid sell cookies. 

[kiwik]

That's how I feel.

 

Oh and what I've heard in addition to this is that a lot of teachers just put the stuff into a community closet. So the stuff you buy your kid might not be the stuff your kid gets. So you might have bought the crayons and markers that work and they might end up with the dollar store crap. THAT would make me beyond angry.

At the junior levels our school specifies brand. Cheap pencils are a nightmare for all concerned so everyone has to get the same and share. When they are hold enough to keep their own it is worth getting nice colouring pencils but they still specify brand for glue sticks and general pencils. The whiteboard pens were used for writing lessons on a white board. Our Y1 teachers used hand sanitizer on the kids but not after that I don't think. To be honest I don't remember problems when I was a kid except when our area had a hepititus outbreak.

 

I would expect a book list. They need the basics and I think the tissues are a good idea.

[Laura Corin]

As far as I know, in the UK pupils just bring the things they will use themselves: pencils, pens, rulers,etc.

 

L

[stripe]

What people do is hit up the Back to School sales at Staples, etc. and get the cheap poor quality stuff.

 

well, I see plenty of "name brand" items in the back to school sales -- crayola pencils and crayons, elmer glue, scotch tape, mead notebooks, regular quality scissors and rulers. I seriously doubt anyone is buying Waldorf approved beeswax sticks to put in the communal bin. When the list is that long and stores are having sales, why pay full price?

 

I think it's ridiculous to put whiteboards in the classroom and then expect students to pay for markers. Or for teachers to be buying them. That seems to expose the schools as trying to "show off" their technology while being unable to pay for it. Is it any wonder half of Americans have more debt than savings?! It's all about showing off! This is what we are encouraging.....And can anyone explain the zip bags? What are those for?

[Dmmetler]

A lot of math books for lower grades come with a ton of punch out paper pieces to use as manipulatives, so that's one purpose. Same with other subjects, especially in primary. To hold crayons, because the boxes don't hold up to little hands. To cover pages with plastic instead of laminating...stuff like that.

 

I don't know why you'd need a box per child, but a few boxes for a class of 30 are understandable.

 

 

 

 

[Arcadia]

And can anyone explain the zip bags? What are those for?

My older had a blast in public school kindergarten when they made ice-cream in zip-loc bags for their science lessons in school. I helped by donating big packs of ice and rock salt and other parents help donate milk, vanilla extract.

 

For day to day the gallon size ziploc bags are for miscellaneous items but his teacher doesn't ask for a box per child.

 

I agree the expo whiteboard markers are a big cost to the kindergarten teachers. His 1st grade teacher use the OHP.

[kahlanne]

This year was not as bad as previous years. Our school lists had some things that I understood but others that aggravated me. My son is a freshman in highschool and had to buy large pack of jumbo expo brand markers, mechanical pencils for one class as she doesn't like hearing a pencil being sharpened, regular packs of pencils for the other 7 classes because mechanical makes a mess and runs out of lead, colored pencils, box of red pens, pack of colored pens, YELLOW large post it notes (aggravating because most are multicolored and well...really...yellow..really!), a red folder with prongs, a yellow plastic folder with prongs, paper towels, tissues, ziploc bags (why for a high school age child?), loose leaf paper, binders, composition notebook, 2-one subject notebooks, sharpener, graph paper, highlighters, and wet wipes. The majority of this is given to the teacher to hand out during the year as needed. Along with the supply list, we pay $5 computer fee, $30 school fee, $15 spirit shirt fee (if you don't purchase it you are not allowed free dress every Friday and must wear complete uniform), and another fee that I can't remember. I paid a total of $65 at the start of the year. To play football we had to pay $200 fee plus sell $211 worth of fundraiser cards. We don't have family in the area and all our friends have kids selling the same cards so we had to purchase the cards. The coach wanted all the kids to have the same cleats which was another $95 fee. There was a $10 fee to give a physical to the kids before season or we could see our own doctor. There was another fundraiser but my son didn't participate in it. I felt we have done enough and it was optional. Even with all this expense, my son was given a jersey with holes like it was mauled by a bear and an old chin strap. They ran out of new ones. We purchased him a new one. We fought the school to allow our purchase of season tickets to the highschool games to include the freshman games. Previous years they were separate which I cannot understand. We paid $420 for season passes for the 6 of us without realizing we would have to purchase tickets on sight to the freshman games at a cost of $55 per game for our family. Ridiculous. Thankfully that was changed but not without much arguing. If you are driving at the school you have to pay $25 parking fee for close parking and $10 for back lot parking. However when they have tests or special days where there are speakers or multiple adults attending, a few times a year, the front parking goes to guests and the back lot becomes first come first serve. If you can't find a space you must park on street regardless of your parking pass. We are always asked to purchase our own reading books during the year but most all fees are covered at the beginning of the year.

 

Last year I sent ds to school with the required 50 pencils, pre-sharpened.  He had one in his bag  for use during school and the others were given to the teacher. At the end of the day she took up all the pencils. When questioned how they would do their homework, her reply was to have the parents buy duplicates of each supply for home use whether it be colored pencils, pencils, pens, markers, etc. Talk about aggravating!

 

I did have a teacher give me several supplies left over from their class last year. She said the excess is ridiculous and they have no where to store it. They clean the closets and rooms at the end of the year and donate it all to goodwill usually.

[vonfirmath]

I agree with you.  It's very strange.  Growing up we didn't have super fancy things in school, but we didn't have to bring anything other than maybe a back pack and some pencils.  In some grades pencils were supplied too.

 

This has become so pervasive, that I have seen advertisements from Ziploc about them being the official parter of the back to school list.  Something like that.  I often see lists with large boxes of Ziploc bags.  What on earth for?

 

I've heard that supposedly some teachers request large packs of things hoping to make up for those who don't send any supplies.   I just don't understand why there is zero money in the school budget for stuff like paper and pencils. 

 

Here is what Ziploc bags are used for in DS's classes. I think they are legitimate school supplies

 

Every day bringing home his reading book.(They switch out the books once a week. But those Ziploc bags get worn out!)

 

Keep craft supplies together to hand out to each child together.

 

Keeping Playdough, clay, etc from drying out

 

Math manipulatives

 

Science experiments

 

[stripe]

Here's an idea from Nevada: bars and brothels raising money for schools

http://www.npr.org/2014/08/13/340153416/forget-the-bake-sale-some-of-schools-funds-come-from-bars-and-brothels

[eloquacious]

As a parent with limited resources, I understand... Truly, I do. As a former public school teacher who used to have to bring hundreds of dollars worth of school supplies (and classroom hygiene/organization supplies) with me, paid for by my own money, I must say that there is generally a reason for most of the supplies. By all means, wait until you've spoken to your child's teacher(s). Last year I was frustrated by the communal nature of some supplies, as well, but I got over it quickly enough. Incidentally, this is why our school requests certain brands of supplies. (Crayola crayons, Mead index cards, etc.) others may be cheaper, but this ensures that all children are using the same ones.

 

Food for thought: http://www.mommyish.com/2014/08/13/parents-complain-about-school-supply-cost/

 

Incidentally, this year our lists were a bit simpler (no requests for sanitizer, paper towels, and so on) and I brought a six boxes of tissues, just because I knew they'd be needed and would no doubt soon be requested, anyway. I even sprung for the "virus killing" ones, even though I don't know if they work. Much like my experience waiting tables means I can never be a truly bad tipper, my experience as a teacher means I will gladly give as much as I am able to support my son's teachers.

[mathnerd]

I have volunteered extensively in my local PS (California, where they have no funding for anything, it seems). And please believe me when I tell you that they need all the items on your list and more. On top of the hours I spent doing free labor (which I took off my day job), they also sent home work for me to do (not mandatory, I volunteered), asked for $65 for class supply per child, $$ for field trips (one of which was to the local fire station, so free) and $350 for all the art, craft, music, PE programs, librarian salary etc that the government refused to fund and the super aggressive PTA took on. And this is in addition to the money they collected from fundraisers, movie nights, carnivals etc for supplies for the kids and library books. And then, they asked for markers, Lysol wipes, tissues, crayons etc again midyear in addition to supplies for Halloween, Valentine's etc etc.

The last priority for spending tax dollars in the school system is for classroom supplies in our district. Sorry that you are frustrated, but that is the reality we are all living with right now. I am only knowledgeable about the elementary school system, not sure how much middle and high schools need.

[vonfirmath]

I spent $30 for DS's 2nd grade supplies. And that is with getting doubles of some to have at home. They asks for Ziploc bags from some kids in the school (Split up by grades and girl/boy. So over the whole school they get enough for the school's needs. Different years you buy different stuff), whiteboard markers, and Kleenex. I will get more tissues at Christmas time. Sure, toilet tissue could be used as well, and cheaper -- but then parents complain "They are making us bring TOILET TISSUE"? Asking for tissue boxes is probably more productive.

 

 

They have never asked for Lysol wipes and we have not had any problems with disease so I don't really think those are "Necessary" even in today's world. In 1st grade he needed watercolors. But they were returned at the end of the year, unopened. So obviously his teacher did not need them.  I will hold onto them to send with DD, perhaps.

 

I wish they asked for colored pencils. At 2nd grade my son is starting to be more interested and I'll get him some if it appears he'll be allowed to use them. But I'm sure they ask for crayons because crayons are cheaper (25c - 50c a 24pk)

 

[Arcadia]

I wish they asked for colored pencils. At 2nd grade my son is starting to be more interested and I'll get him some if it appears he'll be allowed to use them. But I'm sure they ask for crayons because crayons are cheaper (25c - 50c a 24pk)

Ours ask for crayons and markers. The thing with color pencils is that it needs sharpening.

 

The Lysol wipes are used after art to get any accidental paint stains off the tables.

[Tanaqui]

I think it's ridiculous to put whiteboards in the classroom and then expect students to pay for markers.

 

 

Here, the students work off of whiteboards. All the time. Which then makes the dozen or so marble notebooks rather superfluous. (Seriously, even in the fifth grade. The teachers seem to think handling all those notebooks, not one of which will ever get filled up, is less confusing than one neat binder.)

[wapiti]

This year, our charter school went to fees instead of school supply lists.  So, for five kids in K-6 (including a substantial fee for each of my two 6th graders who will go on a camping trip), fees totalled more than $2k.  I was annoyed but then reminded myself that it's still cheaper than sending even one kid to a private school (like my oldest, who has both a very hefty tuition and a school supply list and ipad insurance).  Plus, I didn't have to shop for anything at all, which was great because we got back from vacation two days ago and they started school this morning.

[LLMom]

I just keep thinking toilet paper will be next.  It's crazy.  Never brought that kind of stuff to school when I was a kid.  

[Hamburger Mom]

As a former ps teacher, I honestly don't mind the long lists. I try to give them the benefit of the doubt. But even I was surprised by the 30 glue sticks on my K'er list. 30!

[Dmmetler]

As a former ps teacher, I honestly don't mind the long lists. I try to give them the benefit of the doubt. But even I was surprised by the 30 glue sticks on my K'er list. 30!

Are they doing Sing, Spell, Read and Write and Saxon math? When my DD was in K, they asked for a lot of glue sticks, and when those pages started coming home, I realized why. Tons and tons of cut out and glue stuff. Which, given my DD's delayed fine motor skills, actually was a blessing in some way-she didn't learn anything new in reading or math, but she did get better at cutting and gluing.

[kwg]

When I taught we used ziploc bags to send home books, flash cards, and games.  We used them to store many of the same items in the class also.  We had phonics cards and math manipulatives also that  we stored.  We also had communal supplies which many kids hated.  

 

30 glue sticks?!?!  wow. LOL.

 

 

[Caroline]

As a former ps teacher, I honestly don't mind the long lists. I try to give them the benefit of the doubt. But even I was surprised by the 30 glue sticks on my K'er list. 30!

 

Yes, 30 glue sticks sounds excessive to me, too. 

 

I wish Mead would make composition books with half the amount of pages. I know why teachers like composition books--they stay together all year, they work nicely in tote trays and desks, and don't get hung up on things like the spiral bound ones do. I think if they were made with 50 pages instead of 100, it would be better. Maybe I should suggest it to Mead. 

 

I have my students use a composition book in my freshman math class. I teach accelerated freshmen, almost all boys. 14-15 year old boys have troubles keeping stuff together. Things get crumpled up in back packs. The composition books don't crumble. We do glue things in and make pockets and stuff. It really helps them stay organized and teaches them organizational skills. (It helps to teach them note taking procedures, too, but I could do that without a composition book.) My students do use the whole book by the end of the year.

[Jennifer N.]

Every year one of my kids starts Kindergarten, we have to send in 40 glue sticks, along with the rest of the supply list.

 

I was shocked about the 40 glue sticks when I got the supply list for my first child because when I taught in public school, I wasn't allowed to send home a supply list.  The school gave me a $100 budget for supplies plus I supplemented with my own money.  The rest of our list seems reasonable.

 

About those composition notebooks though..  I wish they'd just use binders too as someone mentioned before.  I see the point about glued in papers not falling out but what a waste of time and glue in my opinion.  You know the reason I think they do the composition notebooks?  At least in my area.  Teachers aren't given workbooks anymore for the main subject areas and they are expected to have students keep "journals" in all these different subject areas.  So I think some teachers/schools have adapted by photocopying worksheets, gluing them in composition notebooks and wahlah, there's a journal.

 

Admittedly, it's been almost 10 years since I was in the classroom as a teacher but workbooks were a bad word back then.  Journals were all the rage (and expectation).  Funny, it's the homeschooling world that has opened my eyes to the beauty and value of a quality curriculum with a textbook and workbook.  I was never given textbooks or workbooks of any kind (I taught 1st and 2nd).  My kids get Zaner Bloser handwriting workbooks which are really nice but they sometimes don't get used!  My daughter came home with a nice brand new Zaner Bloser K workbook this year plus a really nice phonics workbook, unused.  And lots of half filled/partially filled comp books.

[MistyMountain]

My kid's lists aren't too crazy and most stuff can be found really cheap. They each had like 1 or 2 items like paper towels or tissues on their list. I remember having stuff like that on my list when I went to school. We do have to buy them gym shoes that stay at school though and that can be expensive for families.

 

We have an event where they give away school supplies and coats to kids in need but I heard that people start showing up super early and they run out fast. A facebook group has been collecting backpacks and supplies too but they had more people in need then supplies too but they were able to help most people that needed it. Since my kids go to an alternative public school their list is a little different and it probably varies in neighborhood schools too which makes it hard.

[athomeontheprairie]

This year, our charter school went to fees instead of school supply lists. So, for five kids in K-6 (including a substantial fee for each of my two 6th graders who will go on a camping trip), fees totalled more than $2k. I was annoyed but then reminded myself that it's still cheaper than sending even one kid to a private school (like my oldest, who has both a very hefty tuition and a school supply list and ipad insurance). Plus, I didn't have to shop for anything at all, which was great because we got back from vacation two days ago and they started school this morning.

What do they do if you CAN'T pay? For my family, money is tight, and that is more than we bring home in a month. It isn't possible.

[Little Nyssa]

Our school district takes great pride in supplying everything for the kids.

However, I do see local charitable societies still asking people to donate 'for school supplies.' I also see stores like Dollar Tree urging their customers to buy extra supplies to go in a donation box-- why?

[vonfirmath]

Our school district takes great pride in supplying everything for the kids.

However, I do see local charitable societies still asking people to donate 'for school supplies.' I also see stores like Dollar Tree urging their customers to buy extra supplies to go in a donation box-- why?

 

Perhaps they help the school districts? Or kids in other school district that don't supply everything.

[Arcadia]

However, I do see local charitable societies still asking people to donate 'for school supplies.' I also see stores like Dollar Tree urging their customers to buy extra supplies to go in a donation box-- why?

Some of the local charities here pack new donated backpacks with school supplies to give to foster children and to people who income qualify.

 

Teachers ask for donations from charities too.

[wapiti]

What do they do if you CAN'T pay? For my family, money is tight, and that is more than we bring home in a month. It isn't possible.

 

There is a way around it but I don't know what it is; certainly there are free- and reduced-lunch students.  I'd guess that the fee amounts take into account that some number of students will not be paying the fees (wild speculation).

[shawthorne44]

That's how I feel.

 

Oh and what I've heard in addition to this is that a lot of teachers just put the stuff into a community closet.  So the stuff you buy your kid might not be the stuff your kid gets.  So you might have bought the crayons and markers that work and they might end up with the dollar store crap.  THAT would make me beyond angry.

 

I remember back in the dark ages of my elementary school years I brought the nifty box of a great many crayons and the teacher wanted to dump MY crayons in a large bin for everyone to use.  Which made NO sense to me even then.  People, but kids in particular, don't treat community property the way they do their own.  I remember my father coming to school and making a fuss and I got to keep my crayons. It made coloring time so much more pleasant because I didn't spend most of my time digging through the bin for the right color.  I don't know if this is still true, but you had to buy a large box to get a "Flesh" color.  

[shawthorne44]

...

I did have a teacher give me several supplies left over from their class last year. She said the excess is ridiculous and they have no where to store it. They clean the closets and rooms at the end of the year and donate it all to goodwill usually.

 

Why can't they just store them in the classroom?  Anything that might go bad, send them home with the kids.  

[Arcadia]

Why can't they just store them in the classroom? Anything that might go bad, send them home with the kids.

Here teachers do not get to keep the same classrooms because they do get reassigned around March/April when the first round of pink slips go out.

 

The teachers here just bring a rolling cart and milk crates and bring all home during the last week of school. They bring all back the week before school starts. It's hard to send communal supplies of half used school glue and crayons back with the kids.

 

My boy did bring back all his personal stationary supplies on the last day of school in 1st grade. Crayons, markers, scissors, notebooks, pencil box and what nots sits in his desk's drawer during school year.

[RoundAbout]

My son just started PS for the first time as a second grader and none of that stuff was on the list except a box of tissues. Everything else was the usual items I remembered from my school days - pencils, scissors, erasers, colors, a ruler, a few folders, a few notebooks, etc. I'm sure some of it is communal and some for the student themselves, but nothing weird, expensive, or unreasonable. The teacher said not to worry if we couldn't get it all in time and made it clear that money was available for students who couldn't afford it.

[Reefgazer]

When we were in public school, I was one of those parents that bought everything on the list the school sent out, and had it in a bag to the teacher by the first day of class.  Our last year of public school a list came home that required 80 (80!) glue sticks for one child to bring in.  I finally said enough, stocked by own kid's book bag and decided to just refresh his book bag every Sunday night with whatever he was low on.  Just got tired of funding everyone else and God only knows what.......

[SKL]

I have a few minor gripes now that school started.

 

The kids had to have two accordion files.  The teacher sent a letter home around July 31 with homework assignments for the first day.  It would have been nice if she had also included in that letter how she wanted those accordion files labeled.  Instead my kids & I wasted precious time labeling them "the obvious way" only to find out, on the 2nd day of school, that the teacher wanted it a different way.  So we had to do it all over again under time pressure.  There were a couple of other things like this as well - why not tell us beforehand when we probably have more time?

 

The second thing:  my kids have started pestering me to hurry up and buy them Bibles already, as they are having to share with their classmates.  I pointed out that Bible was not on any of the ~100 sheets of paper I received before and after the first day of school.  My kids said, "maybe it was mentioned during the parent meeting you missed."  (I emailed the teacher asking her to catch me up, but she never did, and the Bible requirement never made it to my ears/eyes.)  Now we're 2+ weeks in and I still have never seen a request for my kid to have a Bible at school.  So I am not in a big hurry to buy them.

 

A little teacher communication goes a long way ...

[vonfirmath]

Maybe it was expected that 3rd graders in a religious school would have a Bible already so it never occurred to the teacher that they would not?  Though I would expect the teacher to notice your kids were always sharing and gently inquire if you had Bibles available or needed help acquiring them at some point.