# Stupidest school supply **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 12, 2003, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-school-supply/194651 "2003-08-12T15:19:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![JimSox5](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5a626/32.png) [@JimSox5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimSox5)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-school-supply/194651/41 "2003-08-13T01:58:42Z")
HS Senior checking in about graphing calculators. . . All of my books from Geometry, Algebra II and up have been designed for graphing calculators, and so they are a huge part of the class. They go by Texas instruments, and they are severely overpriced and underpowered, in my opinion. I have my top-of-the-line Casio for $50 (as compared to TI’s $150 to $200) and can do more with it than any of the other kids. ---
**Author:** ![JimSox5](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5a626/32.png) [@JimSox5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimSox5)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-school-supply/194651/42 "2003-08-13T02:01:23Z")
Oh, btw, I’m now in College-level Calculus. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-school-supply/194651/43 "2003-08-13T02:03:32Z")
To those of you in college, or entering it…some people may think this is bad advice, others may not, but this works for me: Don’t buy all the “required” textbooks. If you are a book-learner, and you think you might really use them, go ahead, but if it’s just to “supplement” the lectures, consider using that wonderful new tool called the Internet instead. I am a biochemistry major, and for many of my classes if I needed to find out more about something that wasn’t adequately explained in class, I just googled it. Undergraduate courses cover the same material in pretty much every university (at least in many of the sciences) and there are MANY MANY webpages out there explaining what the basic amino acids are, or the basics of thermodynamics. Ask older students whether the prof tests you on material outside of lecture/lab material - if the answer is no, there is a good chance you’ll never need your textbook. For in-depth clarifications, GO SEE YOUR PROF! They like that, and it can benefit you. As an upper year student, I only spent a total of about 130$ in the past two semesters, since I only bought course notes (packages) and lab manuals. I take written notes on top of the bought printed ones, and write down EVERYTHING the prof says. It works, and saves me a LOT of money! Sorry for the hijack, but this IS a school supply thread! Slightly back on topic: my mom is a school teacher, and while she makes up her own list (And is quite reasonable about it, IMHO) you’d be amazed at how many kids don’t show up with anything they need. Many kids show up without even a pencil, or indoor shoes (which is a big requirement in grade school). My mom estimates she spends 100-200$ on supplies out of her own pocket EVERY YEAR for these kids - and that includes buying them shoes sometimes! ---
**Author:** ![Elza\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Elza\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elza_B)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-school-supply/194651/44 "2003-08-13T02:12:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Adoptamom\_II \* > \*\*We just discovered (after buying new Jansports of course) that our kids will not be allowed to use backpacks, nor will they have school lockers other than their P.E. locker! > > \*\* My cousin’s daughter’s middle school has done this, too - I’m doing her school shopping this year with her. They’re not allowed to carry any backpacks - they have to carry everything around with them. Personally, I think it’s complete and total BS. I was one of those kids who had a locker on the other side of the school from all of my classes - if I went to my locker in between classes, I’d have been late every time. So I had to haul all of my books around in a backpack - I would never have been able to carry them all. But when I take The Teenager shopping on Friday for her school stuff, we are not buying her a backpack. And her school sent home a list of what they can and can’t wear - most of it so basic, it almost doesn’t need to be said, but like my cousin said, some of these parents apparently don’t mind that their children are dressing like Mini-Sluts - but the school does. As far as the school supplies, my sister-in-law said that she’s requiring as few supplies as she can get away with - even though she’s teaching in a fairly affluent area. Unfortunately, the teachers aren’t given much of an allowance for their own supplies for their rooms, and end up paying for a lot of the kids’ stuff on their own. And I suspect the extra stuff is for the kids whose parents can’t afford to buy them school supplies or who simply don’t care to send their kids to school with the necessary supplies. Ava ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-school-supply/194651/45 "2003-08-13T02:20:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by JimSox5 \* > \*\*Oh, btw, I’m now in College-level Calculus. \*\* i’m a senior in hs, and in 2nd level college calculus. 😛 and 😉 … really though, less than 20 bucks for me… lil’ 2 dollar planner, reusing backpack and binder… some looseleaf paper, a couple notebooks, and some mechanical pencils and pens… i’ll have to pay 30 dollars to rent my TI-89 though… about compasses… the only year they were required, we used them about 3x a week… geometry… ---
**Author:** ![Siegfried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@Siegfried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siegfried)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-school-supply/194651/46 "2003-08-13T02:24:35Z")
I only really got a school supply list in elementary school. It was just general stuff like number two pencils (no mechanicals), erasable blue-ink pens (for grade five only), colored pencils, a binder, wide-ruled notebook paper, binder pocket dividers, and a box of facial tissues. Calculators were school-owned, construction and manilla paper were usually provided, and we never really needed the rest of the stuff mentioned so far (protractors, compasses, electronic spellcheckers, etc.). We were given a couple days notice before we needed poster board, and we always could count on foam board for science projects. There really wasn’t a requirement list in junior high and senior high school. By that point, you knew you’d at least need pencils, pens (regular blue or black), colored pencils, paper (wide- or college-ruled), and a binder. A class here and there might want a folder with two pockets and brads, more posterboard for special projects, foam boards for history projects. Calculators by this point were just scientific. On the flip side, we got a requirement list for physical education (buy the PE uniform and put together a small first aid kit for PE). By high school, you had come up with your summer reading book, latex gloves for the biology dissection project, and graphing paper for math and economics. When we needed graphing calculators, each classroom had a set for students who didn’t want to buy their own (put these couldn’t leave the room). Unfortunately for my parents, I took art in junior high and band from junior high to high school. Those were fun requirements. Art had things like felt tip pens, calligraphy pens, more colored pencils, watercolor pencils, number one and two pencils, artist’s eraser, scissors, glue, paste, sketchpads, more posterboard, required construction paper, graham crackers, eggs, powdered sugar, candy (the last four for the annual gingerbread house project), clay, paintbrushes, etc. For me, band had slide grease, valve oil, trumpet cleaning kit, music books, band shirt, mouthpieces, mutes, music stand, and a trumpet. Other people had cork grease, drumstricks, mallets, swabs, reeds, screwdrivers, ligatures, practice pads, and their own instruments if the school didn’t provide them. Now, in college, just stick with notebook paper, a small binder, mechanical pencils, and only the required textbooks. Everything else I get as I need it (such as bluebooks, scantrons, and all that). ---
**Author:** ![Blonde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Blonde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blonde)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-school-supply/194651/47 "2003-08-13T02:49:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MLS \* > \*\*Are you guys talking about public or private schools? I have never heard before of a public school requiring kids to buy anything. > … > > What would these schools do if the child did not have one or more of these required supplies? \*\* Public school here - an excellent one in a suburb just north of Dallas. Expensive supplies, but if you’re in this area you can afford the cost. However, as to your second question: Many children in the Dallas school district come from families who can’t afford supplies; there are planned free supply giveaways each year. Sadly, if you live in Dallas proper, you’re faced with paying for private schools (I figured about $200k to put my two kids through BEFORE college) - or you move to a suburb with a decent school system. We moved 8 months ago. There are a few great schools in Dallas, but they are far and few between. In the midst of selling our house, my 7 year old attended a DISD school for six months (very close to our house, extremely nice neighborhood) - I am still beating myself up as to whether the experience will scar him for life. It wasn’t a good experience. And, yep, the supply list was also very expensive to purchase. I would imagine all the major cities budget to give school supplies away. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-school-supply/194651/48 "2003-08-13T02:55:08Z")
My older two kids are homeschooled, so I buy whatever I deem necessary, whenever I think they need it. We pay about 200.00 per year, per kid, for curricula, and probably another 50.00/yr. total on pencils, paper, notebooks, etc. My youngest will be starting preschool in the fall, and all that is required is a backpack (for bringing home completed art projects, notes from the teacher, etc.), a box of tissues, and a season-appropriate change of clothes. The school supplies everything else (I did buy her a lunch box, because she was excited about the idea of picking one out herself). I don’t object to the box of kleenex. I know that kids this age get a **lot** of runny noses, and the school doesn’t supply tissues, so if parents don’t, teachers end up paying out of their own pockets. But I can tell you, I **don’t** miss school fundraisers! Always hated those freakin’ things! ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-school-supply/194651/49 "2003-08-13T03:10:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mnemosyne \* > \*\*To those of you in college, or entering it…some people may think this is bad advice, others may not, but this works for me: > > Don’t buy all the “required” textbooks. > > If you are a book-learner, and you think you might really use them, go ahead, but if it’s just to “supplement” the lectures, consider using that wonderful new tool called the Internet instead. \*\* I’m with you! I just graduated with my B.Sc. in Physiology and I only bought textbooks if the prof used them as the actual basis of his lectures (“so today we’ll look at chapter two…”), or if I knew it would be a good reference book for me to have later on. The Internet is faster, cheaper, and often more helpful than most textbooks! We also had at McGill something called NTC’s - Note taking clubs. A group gets together to split up the work of writing up and summarizing lectures… this is good because then you have notes for every lecture, even if you missed some, and sometimes having the lecture explained from someone else’s point of view really helps you to understand your OWN notes! Plus, the work you put into the lectures you sign up for pays off because you know that part of the material backwards and forwards. I don’t know if other colleges do this, but they should! And as for school supplies, I’m glad I don’t have to worry about glue sticks or scissors anymore. Poor Mom, she has about a dozen old geometry sets stuffed into drawers at home, none of them complete! She must be glad I’m finally all finished with university! But it ain’t over yet - i’m applying for Grad school!!! Hopefully I won’t be needing a geometry set there. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Q\_Dizzle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ecae2f/32.png) [@Q\_Dizzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q_Dizzle)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-school-supply/194651/50 "2003-08-13T03:50:29Z")
I work in an office supply store. You’d be amazed to see some of the things on the lists that parents bring in. The most annoying items are the ones that are clear typos, but the parent insists that they are actual items. I seem to remember someone getting very angry because a teacher asked for a 16 count pack of crayons (they only come in 12 and 24 count packs). A lady just the other day showed me a list that included “one 8 oz bottle of Elmer’s school gum.” She didn’t believe me when I told her that was probably meant to be glue. Back to school time is always the worst. ---
**Author:** ![Lynne\_kilii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lynne\_kilii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynne_kilii)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-school-supply/194651/51 "2003-08-13T03:59:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Isabelle \* > \*\* > And don’t get me started with the stupid fundraisers they do every year. I have 5 kids. I hated when all of them came home with stuff to sell. They were instructed NOT to go door to door but rather have your parents take the stuff to work. I swear people cringed when they saw me coming at the office. And of course I got stuck buying stuff. And the fundraiser stuff is all cheesy overpriced items. I would rather donate money then to have to buy or sell junk. \*\* You **can** just donate money. Works best with individual classes. If they’re doing a Spanish (or chior, or theatre) fundraiser, call and tell the teacher you’re not interested in fundraising, you’d rather _all your money_ go towards the school, and ask what would be an appropriate donation. ---
**Author:** ![Lynne\_kilii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lynne\_kilii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynne_kilii)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-school-supply/194651/52 "2003-08-13T04:07:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MLS \* > \*\* > The rule was, and as far as I know still is, that the state and local government is mandated to provide a free public education, and if the pupil has to pay for a required thing, it’s no longer free. If there was a school trip, that had to be free, too. > > What would these schools do if the child did not have one or more of these required supplies? \*\* At my (old) high school in an affluent Denver suburb, all teachers had to say something along the lines of “And if you think you’ll have trouble affording this, please come and talk to me after class.” That was for trips, supplies, such and such. So it _is_ free, but only if you really need it. ---
**Author:** ![Publius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@Publius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Publius)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-school-supply/194651/53 "2003-08-13T04:21:26Z")
**JimSox5, chaoticdonkey** : Out of curiosity, did the IB gnomes get you too? As a stingy high school senior, I try to avoid buying new school supplies at any cost. All of my straightedges are taped together in several places, and I believe the three-ring binder I’m using now dates to the Clinton Administration. I’ll probably have to buy another box of pens and pencils this year, and maybe a spiral notebook or two, but that should be it. I do, however, own one of those expensive graphing calculators, and I find it to be a great time-saver. I don’t know anyone who uses them to fake their way through calculations that they don’t understand, but I don’t know anyone who _doesn’t_ use them to expedite what would otherwise be wasteful minutes (and sometimes several pages) of calculations that they could do in their sleep. ---
**Author:** ![Kricket](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f14d63/32.png) [@Kricket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kricket)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-school-supply/194651/54 "2003-08-13T04:30:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bouv \* > \*\*Wow, I think my total “required” items to buy while in school was…nothing. I seriously don’t remember in either elementary or HS the teacher making me or my parent buy supplies. > \ > I guess that with declining school budgets, though, these kinds of things are harder and harder to have supplied by the school. > > (Hell, in HS, each room even had their own supply of tissues that the school provided!) \*\* I noticed your location, and I have a quetion to ask you. I took a friend of mine school supply shopping with me. He was totally suprised and appalled at the things I had to buy and the amount of money I had to spend supplying five children. I said, just wait till I get to pay the school fees! I thought he was going to pass out. See, he grew up in Vermont and swears that his parents never got him school supplies or paid school fees. We actually had a bit of a tiff over it. He couldn’t believe in Iowa you have to pay for school and I couldn’t believe that in Vermont you don’t. So, any answer? Is it the whole state or just the county he lived in. Brattleboro. If it’s the state, then heck, I’m moving! Sorry for the slight hijack. My sister and I were discussing this subject today with a friend whose children are attending an on base school. I will compile the list and post it tomorrow. Some strange stuff between the three of us. Q Dizzle, I would swear that I have a 16 pack of crayons.(I could be wrong) I will have to rumage through the bags tomorrow and take a peek. I have to put the bags in my closet so the heathens don’t tear into them and lose/use half the stuff before school starts. ---
**Author:** ![Trigonal\_Planar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/0ea827/32.png) [@Trigonal\_Planar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trigonal_Planar)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-school-supply/194651/55 "2003-08-13T04:49:09Z")
The elementary school and HS I went to NEVER had lists of materials. It was either assumed that students/parents were smart enough to know that glue, notepaper, etc. was a necessity, OR the teacher would, prior to the given assignment, just indicate “oh, and you’ll all need glue sticks next wednesday…” Man, the whole idea of getting a list is so weird :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-school-supply/194651/56 "2003-08-13T11:16:24Z")
IB Bug? ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-school-supply/194651/57 "2003-08-13T11:23:19Z")
I’ve just come back from clothes shopping with flodjunior, and we saw something in the window of a store that at least deserves a mention. It was a backpack, advertised for “first through fourth graders”. Cute little thing, two shades of blue with a kitten embroidered on the flap. And on one of the shoulder straps… a _cell phone pocket_ :eek: I’m getting terribly old, aren’t I? ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-school-supply/194651/58 "2003-08-13T12:51:41Z")
When I was in high school, we never got a supply list. The parents bought the obvious stuff, papers, folders, etc. My son is in private school this year, and all we have to buy are the textbooks, his uniforms, and a laptop. His lunch is even included as part of his tuition. ---
**Author:** ![AngelicGemma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/439d5e/32.png) [@AngelicGemma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelicGemma)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-school-supply/194651/59 "2003-08-13T13:09:50Z")
In high school they told you what you might need, but they never gave you a list. Except before your first year there, when they gve you a list of what you would need for your uniforms. I sure miss those things…NOT! ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-school-supply/194651/60 "2003-08-13T13:59:01Z")
In grade school, in the Chicago public schools, the one thing I remember having to bring was - I’m not sure of the correct name for it - an egg tray? A little white plastic thing with six deoressions. The teachers would dole out little dabs of tempera paint from thise big jars. And in the high schools, all books were provided. Now, in public school in a Chicago suburb, in addition to a lengthy supply list, student fees, and activity fees, my high schooler has to buy a couple hundred dollars worth of books. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-school-supply/194651.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-school-supply/194651.md?page=4)