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I don't know about you, but I completely nerd out at back to school sales. Which means I am trying to make a list before I go so I don't lose my mind and buy everything.

 

What is on your back to school supply list? Do you buy for the year? 

 

We are planning on following WTM for a lot this year, so I am buying binders, dividers, paper, pencils, a good family pencil sharpener {after a couple years of me sharpening ten million colored pencils for my DS(4) who breaks them with his mind}, erasers, coloring utensils (We have so many loose, but I like to get a fresh box when they are on sale as a special treat to start the school year), glue sticks and better scissors {also for DS(4)}.

 

Am I missing anything important or obvious?

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Things we buy every year typically:  a case of paper, page tabs (those flag thingies - love those things!), a box of 60 pencil crayons (they are always cheapest during back to school sales), glue, pencils, binders, notebooks...

 

Some things you might want that are typically cheap during back to school- a laminator, a hole punch, index cards, a ruler, a white board...that's all I can think of off the top of my head.  :)

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Here is my list....

 

Ruler(s) - don't need to buy any more of those

 

scissors - don't need to buy any more of those

 

glue sticks - don't need to buy any more of those

 

binders - don't need to buy any more of those

 

colored pencils - don't need to buy any more of those

 

pens of all colors - don't need to buy any more of those

 

crayons - don't need to buy any more of those, ever

 

eraser caps - don't need to buy any more of those

 

composition books - won't need to buy any more of these for awhile

 

wire bound notebooks - don't need to buy any more of those

 

pencils - don't need to buy any more of those, ever

 

tape - always need tape

 

thin point dry erase markers

 

white boards (one big one and then lap boards)

 

sharpie pens with fine point

 

case of printer paper

 

toner for printer

 

globe

 

notebook paper

 

pencil sharpener(s)

 

For the younger set: construction paper, grade appropriate writing paper, maybe bigger pencils, magic markers, paint, drawing paper, watercolor paper

 

As you can see, over the years I have been an enthusiastic shopper at the back-to-school sales.

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Normally I don't really need anything other than a small box of pencils and erasers, but this year I had a few items on my list. DS decided he'd rather use spiral notebooks instead of binders, so we bought plenty of those (color coded per subject). I found spiral bound index cards which will be perfect for Latin roots, and bound books of graph paper. If I'd bothered to look in my supplies drawer first, I would have realized we didn't need more mechanical pencils, erasers or sticky note index tabs. After cleaning out last year's binders, I was glad I didn't buy more notebook dividers or notebook paper. I still need more sheet protectors, but those are just for his portfolio so no rush. I've never seen them on sale anyway.

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We're pretty set for the year. My 9 yr old has already appropriated 1 of the 2 mechanical pencils I bought for school...so I'll probably buy another pack of 2 (or 4).

 

Paper - check.

Crayons - check.

Curricula - check.

 

Might need tape. Maybe this is the year I'll cave on the cute tape dispenser that looks like a chameleon...

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graph paper

ticonderoga black pencils

rulers

post it flags

red check pencils

reinforced lined  paper

reinforced hanging file folders, extra wide

storage crates to hang sturdy file folders in--each folder is a subject. Easier than binders for my kids. 

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This is the time of year when I stock up paper of all kinds, crayons, colored pencils, markers, pencils, erasers, & glue not so much for homeschooling but because I know now is when they are cheap and than I stash them a way and restock our art table as I see fit.  

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Do Better Bunders ever go on sale? I have fallen for them but the price, ouch.

I know they have already been on sale this summer. Maybe they will go on sale again. Also, Staples used to have a recycling binder program where you could bring in a used binder and get $2 off a new one. In the past, this program has run all summer.

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My new favorite supply that I even let my kids use:

 

Pilot Frixion Erasable pens in many colors (the "clickable" ones so I don't have to mess with caps) - I LOVE these things and don't know what I ever did without them.  They are NOT like your standard PaperMate erasable pen.  They erase with friction and erase completely!  So I let my girls use them for a lot of their school work -- even math.  (They erase better than most pencils even.)  I can't say enough good things about these pens.  :)  Unfortunately, I have only ever seen the black, blue and red pens in stores -- the set of pretty multi-color pens I always have to order online.

 

I would love to know, however, if there is a particular pencil cap eraser that holds up well because ours always fall apart so easily and won't stay on the pencil.

 

"...I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address..."    :)

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My new favorite supply that I even let my kids use:

 

Pilot Frixion Erasable pens in many colors (the "clickable" ones so I don't have to mess with caps) - I LOVE these things and don't know what I ever did without them. They are NOT like your standard PaperMate erasable pen. They erase with friction and erase completely! So I let my girls use them for a lot of their school work -- even math. (They erase better than most pencils even.) I can't say enough good things about these pens. :) Unfortunately, I have only ever seen the black, blue and red pens in stores -- the set of pretty multi-color pens I always have to order online.

 

I would love to know, however, if there is a particular pencil cap eraser that holds up well because ours always fall apart so easily and won't stay on the pencil.

 

"...I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address..." :)

These are my new obsession too. Just ordered a color set from Amazon.

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mechanical pencils

a set of felts and pencil crayons per kid - hoping if they each have their own set, they'll take better care of them!

better binders (also hoping for a sale)

electric sharpener (how does one lose this kind of thing?!)

geometry set per kid - just for fun :P

tape, tape, tape

 

A few other things that I'm sure will catch my eye and I won't be able to resist . . . :D

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Oh yes! The Frixion pens are great. I started letting the kids use them for copywork the last half of the year, Suddenly I had NO complaints about copywork!  :lol:

My new favorite supply that I even let my kids use:

 

Pilot Frixion Erasable pens in many colors (the "clickable" ones so I don't have to mess with caps) - I LOVE these things and don't know what I ever did without them.  They are NOT like your standard PaperMate erasable pen.  They erase with friction and erase completely!  So I let my girls use them for a lot of their school work -- even math.  (They erase better than most pencils even.)  I can't say enough good things about these pens.  :)  Unfortunately, I have only ever seen the black, blue and red pens in stores -- the set of pretty multi-color pens I always have to order online.

 

I would love to know, however, if there is a particular pencil cap eraser that holds up well because ours always fall apart so easily and won't stay on the pencil.

 

"...I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address..."    :)

 

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My new favorite supply that I even let my kids use:

 

Pilot Frixion Erasable pens in many colors (the "clickable" ones so I don't have to mess with caps) - I LOVE these things and don't know what I ever did without them.  They are NOT like your standard PaperMate erasable pen.  They erase with friction and erase completely!  So I let my girls use them for a lot of their school work -- even math.  (They erase better than most pencils even.)  I can't say enough good things about these pens.  :)  Unfortunately, I have only ever seen the black, blue and red pens in stores -- the set of pretty multi-color pens I always have to order online.

 

I would love to know, however, if there is a particular pencil cap eraser that holds up well because ours always fall apart so easily and won't stay on the pencil.

 

"...I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address..."    :)

 

Just ordered a set of these pens on Amazon. The set I ordered actually has BROWN! Nobody ever has a brown pen, and sometimes you just need brown. The things you learn on this board . . . thanks!

 

Staples has a red cap eraser that I have found to be decent. It's their own brand. Not great, but better than the cheapie colorful ones at Wal-Mart.

 

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My new favorite supply that I even let my kids use:

 

Pilot Frixion Erasable pens in many colors (the "clickable" ones so I don't have to mess with caps) - I LOVE these things and don't know what I ever did without them.  They are NOT like your standard PaperMate erasable pen.  They erase with friction and erase completely!  So I let my girls use them for a lot of their school work -- even math.  (They erase better than most pencils even.)  I can't say enough good things about these pens.  :)  Unfortunately, I have only ever seen the black, blue and red pens in stores -- the set of pretty multi-color pens I always have to order online.

 

I would love to know, however, if there is a particular pencil cap eraser that holds up well because ours always fall apart so easily and won't stay on the pencil.

 

"...I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address..."    :)

 

Arrowhead eraser caps.

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This is our first year doing "math where you have to write out the problem yourself."  I've bought 10 packages of notebook papers, and I hope it's enough.  Our stores don't seem to care it year-round.

I also ordered a rubber brayer for an art project.

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Graph paper

Erasers

Red pens

Composition notebooks

Binders

Pencil pouch

Highliters

Adult size scissors (my baby is too big for little kid's scissors anymore *sniff*)

Art-quality crayons and map pencils (sooo much nicer than the Crayola and Roseart stuff)

 

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My new favorite supply that I even let my kids use:

 

Pilot Frixion Erasable pens in many colors (the "clickable" ones so I don't have to mess with caps) - I LOVE these things and don't know what I ever did without them. 

 

You have me intrigued.  I added these to my supply list.  I <3 colored pens.

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My new favorite supply that I even let my kids use:

 

Pilot Frixion Erasable pens in many colors (the "clickable" ones so I don't have to mess with caps)

 

Just don't let their homework sit in a hot car.   ;)

 

You do know (or maybe others here don't know) that the Frixion pens are disappearing pens (the friction from rubbing makes the ink dsappear).  All you need is some heat (blow dryer).  But, you can always get what you wrote back by putting it in the freezer.  So...there's another fun thing the kids can experiment with.   :001_smile:

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Just don't let their homework sit in a hot car.   ;)

 

You do know (or maybe others here don't know) that the Frixion pens are disappearing pens (the friction from rubbing makes the ink dsappear).  All you need is some heat (blow dryer).  But, you can always get what you wrote back by putting it in the freezer.  So...there's another fun thing the kids can experiment with.   :001_smile:

 

These pens were on my maybe list.  Now we NEED them! 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Also, don't leave the pens themselves in a really hot car for any length of time.  We were on vacation in Florida and my entire set of pens just stopped working.  I don't remember leaving them in the car, but I did have them outside in the sun with me frequently and for long periods.  I threw them away and bought new ones.  Now I'm wondering if I could have just put them in the freezer to get them working again.  :)

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Just don't let their homework sit in a hot car.   ;)

 

You do know (or maybe others here don't know) that the Frixion pens are disappearing pens (the friction from rubbing makes the ink dsappear).  All you need is some heat (blow dryer).  But, you can always get what you wrote back by putting it in the freezer.  So...there's another fun thing the kids can experiment with.   :001_smile:

 

IT comes back -- but "paler" -- it does not look the same as first written.  I would not use these for anything that needed to last the ages.

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I just bought a ton of 3-prong folders.  I'm making "workbooks" out of these.  I'm sick of having a ton of worksheets all over the schoolroom since they never make it into their binders.  I'm also making some books with PDF teacher's guides and some public domain books I'll be using.  I have them color coded so each child has a blue copywork book, orange dictation book, etc.

 

My usual supplies:

  • scissors (I seem to buy a new pair each year)
  • glue sticks
  • bottle of glue
  • pencils (I bought 100 pencils from Starfall along with some phonics books)
  • post-it flags--these are soooo much better than bookmarks!  Our bookmarks never stay in place.
  • graph paper and copy paper
  • I tend to buy art supplies throughout the year from Hobby Lobby or Rainbow Resource, but often pick up some crayons or color pencils from the back-to-school sales

This year I picked up some geometry sets (protractor, compass, divider, ruler) from Amazon and some wooden rulers from Walmart.  I also picked up a nice set of highlighters since I was down to one sad, yellow highlighter.   

 

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