Pencil- WOES!!!

[purplejackmama]

Is my family the only family that has MAJOR pencil struggles?!? What is the deal? Either we lose them (ALL) or they constantly break.

 

I thought Ticonderoga pencils were the gold standard, but even those break. all.the.time.

 

Suggestions for keeping pencils from going M.I.A. and for a brand that doesn't break.

 

Thanks!

[BakersDozen]

We bought a large lot of Ticonderoga two years ago and were sorely disappointed as we also thought they were the gold standard in pencils. :glare: I have no suggestion as to ones that don't break. I know some suggest using the mechanical pencils but those caused great frustration as they broke just as easily. Pencils are the last supply I have to buy and I have put off doing so because I know I'm probably throwing my $ away yet we obviously need something to write with!

[Princess Peach]

We don't have a problem with the lead breaking while writing, but we do have an issue with trying to sharpen them and the lead breaking off or pulling out. Happens with Ticonderoga, too. We have tried the mechanical pencils, and they are better (obviously no sharpening needed), but still not a great fit, especially for my youngest.

 

So, I am all ears on the answer to this question. :bigear:

[PinkInTheBlue]

:iagree:

 

I have been considering starting this exact thread for a few days. Pencils nearly make me crazy. We've tried Black Warrior, Ticonderoga, some "made in the USA" brand I found, multiple mechanical pencils... They all drive me crazy.

 

The wooden pencils are nearly ALL filled with cracked leads inside. At first I thought my guys just weren't being careful enough with them but after driving them and me crazy, it's not them. The mechanical pencils are always snapping while they write and those tiny leads go flying off and ALWAYS end up under the chair legs to write all over the floor when you move the chairs.

 

I despise pencils! If anyone has ANY good experience or ideas, I know I would be so very interested and grateful. This year I've just bought bunches of boxes of cheap Target pencils because I figure it's doesn't really matter anyway. I'm destined to hear the grating sounds of the electric pencil sharpener all year.

[purplejackmama]

AH, hearing everyone else's pencil drama stories has put a smile on my face. I thought is was just us. :001_smile:

[Lara in Colo]

I haven't figured out pencils yet, butI did finally stop the scissor issue. I bought two pairs for the classroom (momma and children) labeled them, and told the children if I EVER look up and cannot see both sets, I won't cook dinner--for anyone. I told then if ANYONE sees scissors, they had better get them to the table BEFORE I see them missing--no dinner.

It's been two weeks--I can always find the scissors.

 

I'm thinking of starting something like this for crayons and pencils, just haven't quit figured it our yet. I am really tired of crayons under the couch (melted from the furnace into the carpet). I think a pencil box for each with one pencil and and one set of colors with their name on it. I just haven't thought of the punshment for non compliance. If I can keep the stuff for more than one month, I'll move to mechanical pencils. My biggest problem with wooden pencils is the lead breaks off in the sharpener and by the time the pencil has a point that is useable, the pencil is mostly gone and the sharpener needs to be emptied, that and *someone* seems to remove the erasers, leaving a bare stump of wood. Grrrrrrr.

[Cinder]

Pencil woes here, too. Mirado Black Warrior is better, but hard to find. And not so much better that we'd go out of our way to track them down. We usually just go with cheap mechanical pencils. Papermate is a favorite. Rosearts are fine, too. Go with at least 0.7mm leads--0.9mm might be better but aren't as easy to find. My kids seem to think the lead needs to stick out a bit. I keep telling them they're putting the leads out too much--that's why they're snapping. Nothing works. For a long time ds would only do his work in pen. Even math. Now that he's older he seems to have a better feel for how to use a mechanical pencil without constantly snapping the leads.

 

Another thought--maybe your pencil sharpener is getting dull. A dull sharpener will tend to snap the pencil leads rather than sharpen them. Might be time for a new sharpener.

[joannqn]

I've heard that these work well. There is a review from a teacher about crummy pencils that don't sharpen well and break all the time saying that these don't. I'm planning on trying them this year.

[dangermom]

We have about 3 billion pencils, enough to supply all the children in India and China. But nobody can ever find a pencil around here. :glare:

[mommaduck]

I've also found that pencils last longer and sharpen with less problems when I use the "big/wider" sharpener on normal sized pencils.

[heartosunshine]

We now use mechanical pencils & the kids have learned not to press so hard while writing. We were all getting sick of sharpening, sharpening, sharpening (with the lead coming out each time) and ending up with a stub of a pencil!

 

I have a designated drawer for all pens, pencils, etc. That seems to help but we still lose quite a few. :glare:

[Ellyndria]

Um... I'm not sure if I'll be any help, but we don't have pencil issues.

 

I have the Ticonderoga Noir pencils (shiny silver on the outside), and the breast cancer Ticonderoga pencils as well. I have been using the same three pencils for the past two years. My Noir one is about half it's original length, and while I want to see how small I can get it, I also wish I would lose it so I could get a nice, shiny, new pencil out and use it. :tongue_smilie:

 

As far as DS, I'm not sure I'll be much help there either. He has about 10 random pencils. I bought him some pencils with Marvel Heroes on them last year from Walmart, I don't know the brand. I don't like the wood on them where it's sharpened, it's not very smooth, but they work well enough. He also has random pencils that people have given him, with Spiderman, Ironman, pencils from the summer reading program at the library, science center, etc, and most of them are decent. A couple of his have gone missing, but I could probably find them if I cleared the mess off his table. Last year I cleared out a few of the pencils that he was not attached to, including a couple of bad ones that didn't sharpen well, just because there were getting to be too many pencils.

 

However, when pencils fall here, they fall onto carpet, not a hard floor. Maybe that makes a difference?

 

I also use a hand sharpener and I only sharpen them until they're nice enough to write with, I don't sharpen them to be super sharp and pointy. When they get too pointy, that's when they break. Also they don't write as well if they're practically as sharp as a needle anyway. If they get too pointy, sometimes I will intentionally break the tip a bit and resharpen, or scribble with it until gets a tad dull. I practically have pencil sharpening down to a science. :p

 

My hand sharpener is just a cheap one from Target... it says "i-gloo" and "Maped" on it.

Edited July 29, 2011 by Ellyndria

[Princess Peach]

Anyone ever use erasable ink pens? I'm wondering if that may be the answer? Boycott the pencil altogether! :D

[kesmom]

I think Ticonderoga changed the manufacturing location a few years ago and the quality has gone down.

[Cinder]

Anyone ever use erasable ink pens? I'm wondering if that may be the answer? Boycott the pencil altogether! :D

 

Tried it. The ink is sticky and doesn't actually "set" so it can smear later. That's when ds switched to just regular pens.

[Riverland]

The only type of pencil I will by anymore is the Papermate Clear Point side click mechanical pencil. It is the only pencil we have found, regular or mechanical, that consistently works.