How many times per school day does your elementary-aged child break their pencil tip?

[twoforjoy]

I don't know if the problem is the pencils, my DS, or my expectations, but it seems to me that the number of broken pencil tips we deal with each day cannot be normal.

 

So, a poll.

Edited November 3, 2011 by twoforjoy

[SailorMom]

LOL....

mine aren't elementary anymore, but geez - it must have been 5 or 6 times back then!

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

I found that if I spend a little more money and buy the Ticonderoga pencils, they aren't as easy to break the tips. If they use a different kind of pencil, they snap the tips off about every 5 minutes.

[JudoMom]

Broken tips? Not a problem here. Of course, it is very hard to break pencil tips when all of the pencils are lost.

[Tap]

None, to a rare one. Sorry, but it isn't an issue here.

 

We use Black Warrior pencils and a good quality sharpener.

[Parrothead]

We have more of an issue with dull pencil tips than broken pencil tips. We are at the pencil sharpener several times a day to refresh tips, but not because they are broken.

[Tigger]

We've only used Ticonderoga pencils, so DS usually doesn't have an issue with broken tips....happens rarely, maybe once a month?

[MsAlimar]

I'm not sure how to answer because it depends on the type of pencil she is using. If she is using a mechanical pencil she can be snapping tips all over the place. If it's a regular pencil then she only snaps it when it is first sharpened. My dd presses too hard and so duller pencils seem to work better because they can take the pressure without breaking.

[elise1mds]

We use the good pencils (Ticonderoga, etc.) but still have at least one or two broken tips per day. DS is dysgraphic and no matter what I do or demonstrate or encourage, he still pushes way too hard. However, having an electric pencil sharpener has definitely lessened the frustration that used to come when a tip broke.

[ElaineJ]

Yes, this drives me crazy! I voted 5+. So is there a certain of pencil that reduces this problem? We waste so much time sharpening pencils and cleaning up the shavings off the schoolroom floor. :glare:

 

Elaine

[butterflymommy]

We get the broken tips and "vanished" pencils. How can the durn thing DISAPPEAR when they kid hasn't even gotten out of their seat? Do they eat pencils or something?

[Ellyndria]

I found when I was younger, that if I sharpened the pencils until they were super sharp, that the tips broke much more easily. So now when I sharpen pencils, I stop just before they are super sharp.

[Daisy]

I buy the black Ticonderogas and my son still breaks the tips multiple times a day. We use a white board as often as possible because I get so tired of it.

[mom2att]

I have a pencil breaker/dropper/loser. He also regularly breaks off the eraser, which we replace with a cap eraser, and then I have to constantly remind him to keep the cap out of his mouth. He's 8, and I am hoping he will grow out of these difficulties some day. With my other children it was not an issue.

[MomsintheGarden]

We use the Ticonderoga pencils (large pack from Costco) and don't have too much of a problem with broken tips. I voted 1-2x/day.

 

What I do have a problem with are dc rolling their pencils back and forth on the table. GAH! That makes me nuts!

 

When Reg and I are old, and all the children are gone, we will find the land of the lost pencils. I'm sure of it.

[abbeyej]

Strategies: Good quality pencils (cheap pencils make life difficult), a decent sharpener, don't over-sharpen... With a very young child, pushing too hard and breaking the point occasionally is just something that's going to happen, but it'll happen less often with good quality pencils that aren't over-sharpened. If the pencil tips are breaking inside the wood and falling out, it's either because of poorly made pencils or even okay pencils that have been dropped too many times. If the point is just breaking off while writing, it's too-sharp pencil plus too much pressure in writing.

 

I would expect too much pressure / occasional breakage from pre-K through first grade. 2nd for a child with fine motor challenges. I would consider a 3rd-grader+ who broke pencil tips more than once in a blue moon to be showing carelessness or even intentionally disrupting the school day, and I would respond accordingly. (This assumes, of course, good pencils, decent sharpener, and the child has been taught how to sharpen to a reasonable point.)

[Denisemomof4]

I want to say 5,000 but I'm wondering if that might be a slight exaggeration?

[Denisemomof4]

Broken tips? Not a problem here. Of course, it is very hard to break pencil tips when all of the pencils are lost.

 

oh, I answered and voted wrong! (voted 5 - 6) THIS is much more accurate.

[Lara in Colo]

We switched to the expensive Papermate re-fillable mechanical penciles with .9mm lead---no breakage, but I keep VERY tight controll over the wherabouts of said pencils!

[Lovin Learnin]

We stick to mechanical pencils. If/when the lead breaks I'm never aware of it.

[Coffeemama]

We have more of an issue with dull pencil tips than broken pencil tips. We are at the pencil sharpener several times a day to refresh tips, but not because they are broken.

 

:iagree:This is how is goes in our house...usually just with my son...

[SkateLeft]

It's an issue for us this year, because I bought cheap pencils from the office supply store, instead of the higher quality pencils I usually buy.

[rwjx2khsmj]

I thought that buying mechanical pencils would help with the broken tips/pencil sharpener issues that seemed to take up so much time in our school day.

 

You'd be amazed at how quickly those skinny little leads can break and the whole pencil emptied of lead.

 

We are back to regular pencils and a manual pencil sharpener. I'm hoping that removing the electric sharpener will take the fun out (and the noise).

[justasque]

I've found cheap pencils break more often.

 

To limit pencil interruptions in general, I bought a huge box of quality pencils and sharpened all of them. I keep them in a cylindrical tin that once held those lovely Pirouette cookies. (I think they are Pepperidge Farm? They come in flavors like chocolate hazelnut. They are long thin sticks, about twice the thickness of a pencil; the cookie is wrapped around the filling. Lovely and elegant with a scoop of ice cream.) I simply put the tin on the table when we are doing school, or during my math class, and if a pencil fails the student takes a new one and moves on. Now and again we re-sharpen all of the pencils. When we tidy the house, all pencils go back in the tin.

 

So the answer: Lots of quality pencils, already sharpened, plus chocolate. :D

[Amy in NH]

None, to a rare one. Sorry, but it isn't an issue here.

 

We use Black Warrior pencils and a good quality sharpener.

 

:iagree:

 

Love the Black Warriors.

 

Our problem is dropping the pencil on the floor. :glare:

[Punks in Ontario]

It happens, but not too often. We keep a cup of pencils on the table so they only have to pick up a new pencil if theirs is too dull or broken. That way it won't be an excuse for dawdling.

[higginszoo]

1-2 per elementary child per day. Then the older ones will have them every few days.

[cdrumm4448]

We use Ticonderogas and they don't break much. I am also prepared.

 

[missmoe]

Broken tips? Not a problem here. Of course, it is very hard to break pencil tips when all of the pencils are lost.

 

LOL! We can find pencils--just not the pencil sharpener!

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

All. day. long First I thought it was the pencils I bought. So I threw them all away (a TON of pencils) then bought all new ones. Now I think its a way of stalling :toetap05:

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

We use Ticonderogas and they don't break much. I am also prepared.

 

 

 

You can't have curriculum in your pictures and not tell us what it is. My eyes are tired of straining. Spill it :toetap05:

[AvasMom]

I'm really tempted to post a follow-up thread asking how many times a day your child drops his/her pencil. Aye aye aye. Drives me nuts.

[chepyl]

We get one or two a week. I expect more when he gets bored.

[chepyl]

I'm really tempted to post a follow-up thread asking how many times a day your child drops his/her pencil. Aye aye aye. Drives me nuts.

 

This happens more than broken pencils.

[livingnlearning]

I'm really tempted to post a follow-up thread asking how many times a day your child drops his/her pencil. Aye aye aye. Drives me nuts.

 

:iagree:

[In the Rain]

We might have one broken lead a week. We mostly use Black Warrior pencils and a hand crank vacuum mount pencil sharpener.

 

My 7yo used to break mechanical pencil lead like crazy. I switched her to pencils that use .7 or .9 lead. It made a HUGE difference! 10 yo Dd can use .5 lead without trouble.

[vonfirmath]

I love these pencils: http://www.amazon.com/Recycled-Graphite-Newspaper-Newsprint-40-Pack/dp/B0044U8BFS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1320345459&sr=8-2

 

o'bon

Anyone tried them in a homeschool/all day setting? I'm gifting some to my sister;'s kids this weekend

[JessReplanted]

I voted 1-2, but really, it doesn't happen often.

 

We seem to have more of an issue with keeping the pencils sharp.

[JennyD]

Don't even get me started about pencils. Between the breaking, and the dropping, and the dropping, and the sharpening, and then the pencil is too short to use ....and did I mention the dropping?

 

I bought a giant box of those Handwriting Without Tears short pencils, but I'm starting to think that maybe something else would be in order.

[Aggie]

I've found cheap pencils break more often.

 

To limit pencil interruptions in general, I bought a huge box of quality pencils and sharpened all of them. I keep them in a cylindrical tin that once held those lovely Pirouette cookies. (I think they are Pepperidge Farm? They come in flavors like chocolate hazelnut. They are long thin sticks, about twice the thickness of a pencil; the cookie is wrapped around the filling. Lovely and elegant with a scoop of ice cream.) I simply put the tin on the table when we are doing school, or during my math class, and if a pencil fails the student takes a new one and moves on. Now and again we re-sharpen all of the pencils. When we tidy the house, all pencils go back in the tin.

 

So the answer: Lots of quality pencils, already sharpened, plus chocolate. :D

 

Those are the BEST! You can forget all your pencil troubles if you have a tin of those!:D

 

Don't even get me started about pencils. Between the breaking, and the dropping, and the dropping, and the sharpening, and then the pencil is too short to use ....and did I mention the dropping?

 

This is how I figure it: every time ds drops a pencil, it costs me time. My time is worth money (in my mind, anyway), so he has to pay me every time a pencil leaves the table. He doesn't drop his pencil any more. It's a Miracle!

:lol: