What school supplies do you find yourself needing?

[SamanthaCarter]

I've been seeing a lot of you gearing up for and finding good school supplies sales recently. We'd like to take advantage of some of these, but since I've only been doing this a year, I'm scratching my head about what we'll *actually* need. Our school supplies lists from our previous school were not very mainstream, so that's not a very good indicator. 

 

What do you use heavily? 

 

Can you post deals here as you see them?

 

We found last year that we will only ever use Ticonderoga pencils from here on out. Love those! Also, I thought that having DS do most of his work on notebook paper and storing it in a binder last year would be a good approach to his left-handedness (rather than notebooks), but I ended up with paper everywhere. We were not very disciplined at actually putting it in the binder. Keep trying? Other options? 

 

What about big stuff like globes, laminators, etc? What do you find yourself using a lot? Are there good places or times to find things like this?

 

Thanks!

 

 

[hepatica]

Just off the top of my head...

 

spiral notebooks (go through ton - loose leaf paper is a disaster around here)

pencils and erasers (big erasers)

Sharpies in lots of colors

dry erase markers

glue

rulers (because we always lose these)

 

[itsheresomewhere]

Black Warrior pencils ( these pencils rock)

Erasers ( pentel hi polymer)

Paper 

Glue sticks

Dry erase markers 

 

I go through index cards like water but thanks to office depot closing near me- bought a ton at 5 cents each.  These may last until next school year. 

[foxbridgeacademy]

Mechanical pencils, I think they eat them when I'm not looking.

 

Since the office supplies section of the store is my favorite I tend to buy a lot of things we don't need, like spiral notebooks that we use only the first 10 pages of.

[Mrs. B]

Yes, mechanical pencils. I hate keeping pencils sharpened.

[foxbridgeacademy]

Yes, mechanical pencils. I hate keeping pencils sharpened.

Like I can even find one of the dozen pencil sharpeners we own.

[Arcadia]

I ran out of binders because kids like their stuff nicely sorted and filed. We ran out of index cards because this is our first year using them for revising German so we damaged quite a few.

 

I still have a stock pile of spiral notebooks, reams of blank paper and a stockpile of filler paper.

 

My kids still prefer pencils so I have a stockpile of pens.

 

We like to have more erasers than we need so I buy more if the Pentel polymer ones are on sale.

 

We use the globe at the library. Did not need a laminator.

[Farrar]

Every year...

 

comp books

note cards

dry erase markers

new colored marker pens

pencils

glue sticks

two Staples Better Binders for portfolios

 

It hasn't changed in the last couple of years. Though I don't always buy at "school supply" time. I usually just pick up dry erase markers as we run out, for example. But some things are sooooo much cheaper, like comp books, that I try to stock up.

 

ETA: School doesn't start until nearly September here though, so no sales yet.

[happypamama]

We use, although I didn't buy all of these things this year:

Printer ink, printer paper

ProClick and spirals, laminator and pouches

Pencils (although the cheap ones work fine for us), pencil top erasers, old school pencil sharpener

Scissors -- big ones since my pair disappeared, kid scissors, lefty kid scissors

Drawing pencils, erasers for those

Regular colored pencils for map work

Markers, crayons, cheapie water colors

Post it notes

Big erasers

Composition books

3-ring binders with the clear pocket for a card stock label for their portfolios

Desk organizers for books

Bookends for books on open shelves

Page protectors

Cardstock

Watercolor paper, nice drawing paper

Ballpoint pens -- I'm partial to a particular kind

Index cards

Dry erase markers and small dry erase boards

Glue and glue sticks

Felt

Clear stackable supply boxes with colored lids

Sticky flags or slim post it notes or magnetic clips for marking pages in books

Paper clips, staples, stapler

Reinforcements for binder pages

Some loose leaf notebook paper, especially in special sizes for new writers

Clipboards

Green hanging files

[happypamama]

Oh, for a globe? We have US, world, and Bible atlases, plus US and world wall maps, so for a globe, I didn't care if it was a little out of date. My ILs had one from the eighties or something that they no longer needed, so we use it. Once in a while I need to tell the children that a country is different now, but for illustrating the earth's rotation or the concept of time zones or for showing mountains and whatnot, it works just fine. They use the atlases or wall maps for map work since those are more detailed anyway. (And it helps to show them how the world has changed in just 25-30 years since Mom and Dad were kids.). So ask around or check yard sales.

[happypamama]

For the lefty, composition books might be easier for him to use backwards. I also used my ProClick to make backwards booklets for my leftybaby, who is newly four, to use for drawing.

[73349]

I had to buy glue sticks because one was not closed properly and dried out, and also a large ink pad for stamps. I have printer paper, cardstock and ink, and we are still good with DS's One and Only True Pencil (he will not even use others from the same box; it's a Faber-Castell triangular one), Pencil Sharpener (because it's yellow!), and Eraser (a big white one by Staedtler).

 

Fortunately, ProClick spines are reusable, or I'd need more. I use my ProClick much more often than my laminator.

[Aurelia]

Pencils

Erasers

Graph paper (we use it for English as well as math)

3 ring binder (usually 1 or 2 a year)

 

 

This year, I think I'll need to buy some more colored pencils. It will be the first year since DD was 5. And new scissors. Her hands are now too big for the little "kiddie" scissors we've had for years.

[AdventuresinHomeschooling]

Notebooks, a few binders, lots of pencils, crayons, construction paper, copy paper, colored pencils or markers, art supplies, ruler, index cards, glue sticks and glue, pencil box, washable paint and brushes.

 

This year, I am also adding a wall mounted pencil sharpener as I am sick of hunting and unclogging the cheapo ones.

[SamanthaCarter]

I don't know anything about pro click....off to look. 

[Critterfixer]

Erasers for mechanical pencils, copy paper, drawing paper, composition notebooks and pushpins. 

 

[Guest]

Just off the top of my head...

Sharpies in lots of colors

 

But what do you do with these?!? I mean, I see them everywhere, and for the life of me, can't justify buying them! I have a black one that we write our names on things occasionally, but what's with all the colors and huge sets? I must be missing something. Please tell me, because I want to buy them every time I see them!!!

[prairiewindmomma]

maped pencil sharpeners

black warrior pencils

printer ink

watercolors

post-it notes

[Guest]

I've been seeing a lot of you gearing up for and finding good school supplies sales recently. We'd like to take advantage of some of these, but since I've only been doing this a year, I'm scratching my head about what we'll *actually* need. Our school supplies lists from our previous school were not very mainstream, so that's not a very good indicator. 

 

What do you use heavily? 

 

Can you post deals here as you see them?

 

We found last year that we will only ever use Ticonderoga pencils from here on out. Love those! Also, I thought that having DS do most of his work on notebook paper and storing it in a binder last year would be a good approach to his left-handedness (rather than notebooks), but I ended up with paper everywhere. We were not very disciplined at actually putting it in the binder. Keep trying? Other options? 

 

What about big stuff like globes, laminators, etc? What do you find yourself using a lot? Are there good places or times to find things like this?

 

Thanks!

 

I am terrible about buying school supplies just to go and buy school supplies. I wuv school supplies. :001_wub:

 

As the kids are getting older at least we are starting to actually use some of this stuff.

Every year we get new:

Crayons/Colored Pencils/Markers

Wide Rule notebook paper (or whatever kind of paper they use at their age)

Pencils (Target has some cool looking ones where the pencil wood is a different color than the body - TERRIBLE pencils, I don't know what they are, but they aren't pencils. Blech! Now the Black Warriors - we fight over those. And the Ticonderoga Noirs are MINE.)

Erasers

Scissors

Glue sticks (because I think we have probably gone through exactly 1 since we started homeschooling 5 years ago...yeah.)

Dry erase markers

3 ring binders

Binder tabs

This year, I bought them some spiral notebooks for the first time and I think we'll use those.

Inevitably, we buy a kitten or puppy notebook folder...which I never see again

 

I guess I buy a lot throughout the year, too - sticky notes, printer paper/ink, whatever we run out of.

 

As far as "bigger" things -

definitely look at the laminator. :001_wub:

Classroom Friendly Pencil Sharpener :001_wub:

 

Oh, and I bought a new tape dispenser this year. I didn't need one. But it was teal and that matches my office, so yeah.

[strawberryjam]

Things we go through the quickest...

 

Lyra Pencil Crayons

Staedtler Pencils

Looseleaf Paper

Printer Paper

Printer Ink Cartridges

Page Protectors

Post-It Notes - book flags

Acrylic and Tempera Paints

The "Best Ever" Binders from Staples (Staples brand)

[tammyw]

spiral notebooks - it's our main thing for any kind of writing including math. I just bought 16 more, but have tons in the cabinet still. We go through these A LOT.

 

pencils for math only. They always seem to get lost!

 

pens. So many. We all prefer to write with pen over pencils.

 

tape. I buy in bulk at Costco. Not sure if it's cheaper, but it saves my sanity when it constantly runs out.

 

printing paper. Buy a case at a time at costco (again, probably not the cheapest).

 

Those are really the BIG things here. We have a lot of other stuff, but this is the stuff we always need more of!

[Maela]

Ticonderoga pencils
Pink erasers
Pencil grips
Bic paper-mate (is that the name?) blue pens
Crayola crayons
Crayons colored pencils
Crayola thin and thick washable markers
Post its and sticky bookmark tabs
Black medium and fine tip Sharpies
Various colored fine tip dry erase markers
Small $1 section at Target white boards
Various colored highlighters
Staples
Printer paper and ink
Glue sticks and liquid Elmer's glue

a couple of composition books

a couple of folders for the kids' loose papers in their school boxes 

manila file folders
We can get construction paper, index cards, and lined paper for free from our charter school.

 

I keep coming back to add stuff as I remember it.  :-)

[Critterfixer]

I don't know what one does with sharpies in a lot of colors, but I love my silver ones. They show up great on black notebooks. Yes, the teacher's notebooks are always black. :001_smile:

[Zoo Keeper]

Pencils, pencils, pencils.  My children are beavers and eat them. 

 

Comp notebooks and binders and notebook paper.

 

Paper and ink  for the printer

 

Those paper folders with pockets and fasteners on the inside.

 

Packing tape to repair books

 

Those sticky tab things to mark our place in the books

 

Dry erase boards--lap sized 

 

Dry erase markers and a good eraser or two

 

Coffee for mom. :001_smile:

 

 

[vickjul]

My kids are young (7, 4, and 1), and both girls would happily spend hours each day crafting and creating. With their interests in mind, I stock up on ...

copy paper ($5 for an entire box? Thank you, Staples!)

construction paper ($9.98 for 500 sheets at Walmart.com)

Paper Mate 1.3 mm mechanical pencils ($3.89/8-pack at Amazon.com)

Dixon Ticonderoga Tri-Write pencils ($2/12-pack at Walmart)

Pentel white erasers ($2/3-pack at Staples)

Mead Primary Journals (discontinued by the manufacturer, so I grimaced and bought five at full price while they were still available)

glue sticks ($0.10 apiece in store at Staples or 4/$1 online -- we go through at least two a month ...)

I need some cheap wooden rulers that the kids can use for straight edges and a couple of a three-ring binders for co-op classes, but cheap school supplies aren't out in our stores yet. I'd also like to pick up a couple more pairs of kid-sized Fiskars and some Scotch tape.

 

I stocked up on 120-count boxes of crayons last year when Kmart was clearancing them out for less than $2/box, but may pick up a couple of 24-packs to replenish some of the basic colors.

 

I also ordered gallon jugs of white and liquid glue, along with 16 oz. liquid watercolor and tempera paints from an educational wholesaler last year, so we're still well-stocked on those.

[hepatica]

But what do you do with these?!? I mean, I see them everywhere, and for the life of me, can't justify buying them! I have a black one that we write our names on things occasionally, but what's with all the colors and huge sets? I must be missing something. Please tell me, because I want to buy them every time I see them!!!

 

I think we must be a color obsessed family because we use them for everything. I buy the regular, fine and extra fine varieties. I use them to make various lists and checklists (guitar practice sheets, reminders for the kids, grocery lists etc,). There are probably a dozen sharpie lists posted in various places in the house as we speak. We also use them for school. We use them when we do Bravewriter writing activities (like seeking out cool new words and posting them all over the house), or when we are marking up a paper for revision (we will use different colors for different emphasis - spelling, grammar, content revisions), or when we are doing history timelines or flashcards, or number charts, or nature journals. They are also great for art projects. My children always choose a colored marker to check off their work for the day. I know they are in constant use because I am constantly picking them up. Mostly, I just keep them in mason jars on the homeschool table. 

 

I think I really love them because I banned them from the house when my children were smaller. When my oldest was two and potty training, I found her one day sitting naked on the little potty in the bathroom completely covered in green sharpie. While I thought she was dutifully and quietly sitting on the potty, she was actually decorating everything within reach (the walls, the floor, the potty and herself). In retrospect, it was hilarious, although I don't remember feeling that way at the time!

[RootAnn]

Things I always need to replenish (*these vary with your kids' ages):

Glue* - usually 1 or 2 bottles & about 1,345 stick glues

Dry Erase Markers - usually at least one pkg of just black & several pkgs of colors

Post It Notes - mini & regular size

Post It Tabs / Flags - the cheaper ones & the really heavy duty expensive ones

Markers* - at least one 8 or 10 pk per kid

Colored Pencils - one Prismacolor 24 pk per kid per year

Pencil-top erasers - at least three pkgs of the good kind

Scissors - not sure what the kids do with these, but there are never any when you need one. 

Tape

Paper - lots & lots of paper

 

We have a metric boat load of pencils & I got everyone mechanical pencils last year (which means we can't find any of them now). DD#1 only uses pens & she goes through about two pkgs per year of a colored variety.

[Guest]

I think we must be a color obsessed family because we use them for everything. I buy the regular, fine and extra fine varieties. I use them to make various lists and checklists (guitar practice sheets, reminders for the kids, grocery lists etc,). There are probably a dozen sharpie lists posted in various places in the house as we speak. We also use them for school. We use them when we do Bravewriter writing activities (like seeking out cool new words and posting them all over the house), or when we are marking up a paper for revision (we will use different colors for different emphasis - spelling, grammar, content revisions), or when we are doing history timelines or flashcards, or number charts, or nature journals. They are also great for art projects. My children always choose a colored marker to check off their work for the day. I know they are in constant use because I am constantly picking them up. Mostly, I just keep them in mason jars on the homeschool table.

 

I think I really love them because I banned them from the house when my children were smaller. When my oldest was two and potty training, I found her one day sitting naked on the little potty in the bathroom completely covered in green sharpie. While I thought she was dutifully and quietly sitting on the potty, she was actually decorating everything within reach (the walls, the floor, the potty and herself). In retrospect, it was hilarious, although I don't remember feeling that way at the time!

Do they not bleed through regular paper? I always thought they did. I'm going to try my black on some regular paper and see what happens. I love color, too!

[hepatica]

Do they not bleed through regular paper? I always thought they did. I'm going to try my black on some regular paper and see what happens. I love color, too!

 

Yes, I guess so. I suppose most of the things I am using them for are one-sided, or are on thicker paper.

[mmasc]

But what do you do with these?!? I mean, I see them everywhere, and for the life of me, can't justify buying them! I have a black one that we write our names on things occasionally, but what's with all the colors and huge sets? I must be missing something. Please tell me, because I want to buy them every time I see them!!!

If you need a really good 'school excuse' to buy them, ;) we use them for map tracing. My DS7 *loves* getting to trace maps with them, because sharpies are otherwise not allowed in his hands! They do bleed through paper, but we always just have one sheet of copy paper over the map we're tracing, so no big deal.

[mmasc]

I love school supplies! Before we start next month, we'll need:

 

Rulers (always break or go missing)

2 index card boxes

Protractor

Highlighters

 

Hmmm...I guess that's all we actually *need*.

But I plan to also get:

Staedtler pencils (simply because I've never tried them!)

Maybe even some black warriors (see reason above) :)

 

I really want a swing arm paper cutter, but I'm too nervous to have one in the house. I'm so tired of trying to cut Progressive Phonics books straight with scissors!

[kirstenhill]

Enough pencils, glue sticks and crayons that the check out clerk asks, "Are you a teacher?"

 

Besides that folders, notebooks and/or composition books. Scissors, because my kids keep breaking or losing them. Ditto on the rulers. Usually regular markers and dry erase markers.

[almondbutterandjelly]

If binders don't work for you, try cute folders.  Sometimes those are more motivating, and the littles aren't scared of pinching their fingers. 

 

Composition notebooks are fantastic for lefties.  We use them for everything.

 

For your kids' ages, I was still buying crayola crayons, fat crayola markers, thin crayola markers, crayola twistable colored pencils, elmer's glue, scotch glue sticks, pink pearl erasers.  A good tape dispenser.  A good stapler (swingline).  Plenty of lefty scissors.

 

Now that my kid is older, I love sharpie highlighters, a wide variety of dry erase markers, (we have giant whiteboards -- thank you, Home Depot), those post-it notes that are sticky across the whole thing, regular post-it notes, cute binders, cute composition notebooks.  Hmm.  What else?  Dividers for binders (a good place to use your sharpie markers by the way).  Ticonderoga pencils.  Those erasers that go on your pencil once you've used up it's own eraser.

[Maela]

My kids are young (7, 4, and 1), and both girls would happily spend hours each day crafting and creating. With their interests in mind, I stock up on ...

Yes, I have a daughter that loves creating things!  We go through so. much. construction paper and tape it's crazy!  Thankfully, I can get the paper free during the school year.

[Tanikit]

My girls are still young so they use pencils still. I have far too many school supplies lying around:

 

pencils

sharpeners

erasers

rulers

felt tip pens - jumbo and normal

crayons

pencil crayons (though my kids like felt tip pens better, they sometimes go through the workbooks we are using and then we can't see what is on the next page)

tempera paint - now I just replace whatever has been used up

exercise books - unruled, normal lines and Irish lines

glue

scissors

punch (I file loose scraps of paper for anything printed)

stapler

printer cartridges

maths kit - set square, protractor, compass etc

whiteboard markers

paper for the printer - lots!

stickers - one day perhaps my kids will not need/want these, but they like pretty face stickers in their books now and then

[RootAnn]

And someday, I need to look into a ProClick, but I have so many questions first ....

 

Oh! I needed to replenish my supply of sheet protectors, laminator sheets, colored & white cardstock, and some other 'craft' supplies.

[rimk3]

Do they not bleed through regular paper? I always thought they did. I'm going to try my black on some regular paper and see what happens. I love color, too!

 

There are "no-bleed" varieties.  I use sharpie pens in my commonplace book and I use both sides of the paper.  They don't bleed, but depending on the thickness of paper, you can see some of the darker inks.  The retractable no-bleed fine point sharpies are my favorite for journal/notebooking writing.

[rimk3]

Ticonderoga Black Pencils

Retractable Sharpie Pens

PaperMate Felt Tip Pens

Bulk Watercolor Paper

Colored Construction Paper

Sketch Pencils

Drafting Erasers 

Prismacolor Colored Pencils

Watercolor Pencils and pocket watercolor sets and field watercolor notebook

Wire Study Stand.  So nice for copy work 

Primary comp notebooks, Comp Notebooks, Scout Grid notebooks, and Legal pads (all work for my lefty)

Book Darts  we love these!  When there are so many books being read in one house, it's nice to always have a bookmark and know the exact place we left off from.  Plus they look really pretty in the little bowl on our end table.   :001_smile:

[happypamama]

And someday, I need to look into a ProClick, but I have so many questions first ....

 

Oh! I needed to replenish my supply of sheet protectors, laminator sheets, colored & white cardstock, and some other 'craft' supplies.

Yeah. I thought the same thing about the ProClick. Then I asked about it here, and nobody really talked me out of one. Now I have all these cute little booklets. Haha!

[RootAnn]

Book Darts  we love these!  When there are so many books being read in one house, it's nice to always have a bookmark and know the exact place we left off from.  Plus they look really pretty in the little bowl on our end table.   :001_smile:

 

Love how you linked everything to make it easier for others to figure out what you are talking about.

From a bookmark standpoint, we use either the Post-It flags / tabs or the i-clips magnetic markers.

[alisoncooks]

For the upcoming year I've already bought:

• LOTS of colored pens (we use them with CLE LA/Reading to spice it up)
• a handful of spiral notebooks...didn't really need them but, I mean, back-to-school!  Must buy notebooks!
• the $5 box of paper from Staples.com

 

Need to pick up:

pink pearl erasers

ink cartridges 

 

Otherwise, I think we're still set from last-year's purchases...

[Mommy22alyns]

Older kids here:

 

College rule loose leaf paper

Ticonderoga Noir pencils (they now will not touch anything else)

Spiral notebooks

Index cards

Highlighters

Colored gel pens

BIC blue pens

White Out

 

We're already stocked up on glue, cap erasers, Sharpies, we just replaced our Expo markers, sticky tabs... I can't think of anything else ATM.  They might need new Prismacolors.

[Junie]

Can someone explain what is special about the Ticonderoga pencils?  Thanks.

[rainydaybaby]

This year we just needed a 3-inch binder with dividers, filler paper, a box of 64 crayons, a ruler, and some tape. Well stocked on everything else. I like to keep it simple to save space and avoid clutter.

[sarahbobeara]

Can someone explain what is special about the Ticonderoga pencils?  Thanks.

 

IMO, it's the ERASERS on these pencils that are so amazing.  I don't know why but they erase so much better than any other pencil.  

[sarahbobeara]

For us, we're kind of stocked up on everything already, but here's our list:

 

scissors (had a few pairs break last year)

clicky erasers (looks like a pen but it's white adjustable eraser...DS loves them!)

looseleaf paper (spiral notebooks drive me crazy, and we are binder people)

 

Truthfully though, I could go through the office supply store and buy tons of stuff and then have no where to put it all!

[Joyful Journeys]

My kids are young (7, 4, and 1), and both girls would happily spend hours each day crafting and creating. With their interests in mind, I stock up on ...

 

copy paper ($5 for an entire box? Thank you, Staples!)

construction paper ($9.98 for 500 sheets at Walmart.com)

Paper Mate 1.3 mm mechanical pencils ($3.89/8-pack at Amazon.com)

Dixon Ticonderoga Tri-Write pencils ($2/12-pack at Walmart)

Pentel white erasers ($2/3-pack at Staples)

Mead Primary Journals (discontinued by the manufacturer, so I grimaced and bought five at full price while they were still available)

glue sticks ($0.10 apiece in store at Staples or 4/$1 online -- we go through at least two a month ...)

 

I need some cheap wooden rulers that the kids can use for straight edges and a couple of a three-ring binders for co-op classes, but cheap school supplies aren't out in our stores yet. I'd also like to pick up a couple more pairs of kid-sized Fiskars and some Scotch tape.

 

I stocked up on 120-count boxes of crayons last year when Kmart was clearancing them out for less than $2/box, but may pick up a couple of 24-packs to replenish some of the basic colors.

 

I also ordered gallon jugs of white and liquid glue, along with 16 oz. liquid watercolor and tempera paints from an educational wholesaler last year, so we're still well-stocked on those.

I did not know the Mead journals are discontinued!! Yikes, I may buy a big 12 pack they are totally perfect for our needs.

[mamaraby]

Blank books at Target in the dollar section. They were $3 for a 3-pack of hardcovers, a 3-pack of taller softcovers, or an 8-pack of wider/shorter book. My dd's been after me to help her make her own books and this way I don't have to learn book binding!

 

Otherwise, just some mechanical pencils (1.3mm for the lower elementary, .7mm for ds), some thin markers, some loose-leaf graph paper, glue sticks, and page protectors, I also had to buy a new stapler to replace the nice metal swingline one my kids broke, a new tape dispenser to replace the one the kids broke, and some of the Crayola twistable colored pencils.

[mmasc]

Blank books at Target in the dollar section. They were $3 for a 3-pack of hardcovers, a 3-pack of taller softcovers, or an 8-pack of wider/shorter book. My dd's been after me to help her make her own books and this way I don't have to learn book binding!

 

Otherwise, just some mechanical pencils (1.3mm for the lower elementary, .7mm for ds), some thin markers, some loose-leaf graph paper, glue sticks, and page protectors, I also had to buy a new stapler to replace the nice metal swingline one my kids broke, a new tape dispenser to replace the one the kids broke, and some of the Crayola twistable colored pencils.

I bought those books from target this week too. I can't believe the great price on them! I ordered some last Christmas and they were not that cheap! (I got them from somewhere else though)

I love good finds like this. :)

[mamaraby]

I bought those books from target this week too. I can't believe the great price on them! I ordered some last Christmas and they were not that cheap! (I got them from somewhere else though)

I love good finds like this. :)

 

They were an amazing price!  So worth me not having to conquer book binding.  I'm thinking of going back and buying whatever is left today.