One of my biggest pet peeves is listening to parents complain about buying school supplies for their children at back to school time. I know it is expensive, but this is for your child's education. The following are actual things I have heard parents say while I've been doing my own back to school shopping.
I can't believe the teacher wants a specific kind of pencil!
What will the teacher do if we don't buy that kind of pencil? Say our kid can't write!
I can't believe how many pencils this teacher thinks our child needs!
I don't know why they need so many glue sticks (or other items on the list). At our house, one glue stick lasts for more than a year.
If the teachers taught the students to care for materials they wouldn't need me to buy so many.
Do these teachers think we are made out of money?
Did you see how many things are on this list?
Really, they only want crayola brand? Of course they do. The store brand should be good enough.
I bet they won't even use all these folders. Probably the teacher is just taking all of these things home for her own use.
What do they need ziplock bags for???
Three boxes of tissues? Really? I'll just send tissues with my child each day.
I always wonder what the children think when they hear their parent talking like this.
Does the child think teachers are stupid to ask for supplies?
Does the child think their own education isn't worth buying the items on the list?
Does the child think that their parent thinks the teacher and school are stupid?
Does the child think their parent doesn't think they are worth the $100 - or whatever the final total is for school supplies?
I'm sure these parents have no idea that the message they are sending their child is:
Teachers/schools are stupid
My child's education isn't worth the more expensive pencils.
It is hard for me to be quiet when I hear parents complaining. I sometimes have to leave the back to school department and come back later.
Trust me I buy lots of school supplies too.
I bought for my girls.
I buy school supplies for my granddaughters - it is always a fun shopping trip.
I buy supplies for my classroom too.
Teachers ask for brand name items because they usually are better. Saving fifty cents or whatever the difference is between the price for the item requested and the cheaper brand is just not worth it. Have you ever tried coloring with those off brand crayons? Some of them stink too.
Check out the lovely cheaper pencils in the picture above. The leads break and often they don't sharpen in our pencil sharpeners. I've had students who have to throw the pencil in the trash because the lead continually breaks or the pencil only sharpens on one side. I'm always glad I have some pencils to share.
Yes, I know how much the supplies cost.
Your child's education is so important to me that I will spend my money to make sure your child is successful.
My wish is that every child would have parents who value education and wanted to make sure their child was prepared to do their best and had the best supplies for their job of learning.
