During my husband’s first year of teaching, he came home more than once to tell me that the school had run out of something. At first it was little things, he needed more crayons or colored pencils for his classroom, then we needed to replace broken scissors and finally, he came home one day to tell me that the entire school had run out of paper. For the rest of the year.
Being a teacher is a hard job. My husband worked at between 60-80 hours a week, prepping labs, grading papers, lesson planning and teaching all for pay that barely supported our family. He loved teaching, the light in the kid’s eyes when they finally grasped a concept was his favorite. He was busier than he has ever been, but he felt like he was changing the world and I loved watching him be in his element. Still after three years of never sleeping and all of the red tape that comes with being a teacher he left the profession.
Sometimes I feel sad that his school lost such a good teacher, and I try hard to make things easier on my kids teachers so the system doesn’t loose them too. As I think back on his teaching career, I realized that one of the things that made his job stressful was how often we had to dip into our own pockets for supplies. At the time we were a one income family and so every time meant a sacrifice for our family. So every time we get a huge supply list from our child’s teacher. I try to remember that they aren’t trying to make things hard for us, they are trying to get an entire class through a school year and often times the beginning of the school year is the only time they get help from parents for supplies. The rest of the year, they are one their own. These are the things that they most often ask for and run out of.
Kleenex- Especially during the winter months, teachers go through boxes and boxes of Kleenex. If they don’t have Kleenex for students to blow their nose, they often have to disrupt class and excuse the student to the bathroom or worse, the student does the unhygienic thing and germs are spread to other students. Kleenex are always appreciated by teachers!
Paper Towels– Many projects or labs tend to get messy and having the right supplies to clean up the mess makes it much easier.
Hand sanitizer- There usually isn’t time to send kids to the bathroom to wash their hands after every little thing, so hand sanitizer can make a classroom run much smoother.
White board markers- Teachers usually spend a good portion of the lesson writing on the white board. It helps save paper and allows for more interactive discussions. It also means teachers go through A LOT of white board markers.
Crayons/Colored Pencils- A great way to get kids excited and involved in a project is to let them draw and color. Kids can go through a lot of crayons in a year. I remember one day I was volunteering in my daughter’s classroom and the kids were drawing with little tiny stubs of crayons. The teacher explained that she had decided they needed glue sticks more and so the crayons would have to wait until her next paycheck. I got the parents together and we were able to replace all of the crayons in the classroom for just $1 a parent. Check with your teacher to see what they prefer. Some teachers like crayons and some prefer colored pencils.
Glue sticks- Have you ever seen the way a child uses a glue stick? They don’t last long. Glue sticks are used for projects in just about every subject and teachers are always grateful for more.
Every teacher is different and needs different things in their classroom. For my husband, he was most grateful for Kleenex and White Board Markers, but it may be different for some one else, so ask your child’s teacher what they need. They will always be grateful for the extra help.
Another easy way to help out your child’s school is to make sure to clip Box Tops off of your favorite products. Right now, specially marked products at Walmart have double box tops on on them, giving you an extra chance to help out your local schools. Look for double box tops on Kleenex, Viva Paper Towels and Scott Toilet Paper. If you don’t have elementary age kids, clip the box tops and drop them off at your local school or send them with a neighbor kid. The school will be grateful you took the little extra time to make a difference.
My 4th grader's list included 100 sharpened pencils. Times 20 kids, I can't imagine they will run out. I also want to know where these are all going to be stored! LOL
It really makes me sad to see how little support teachers get when it comes to school supplies. They really shouldn't have to dip into their own pockets to teach out kids. I love the idea of helping them out and using box tops to support our schools.
This is still a new concept for me. In ireland, parents buy the books, they buy the supplies, they buy the crayons, markers and paper. They pay for photocopying, the teachers/government don't pay for any of it. Sometimes it ran into the 200's just for these alone.
One of my good friends is a first grade teacher and she always says they don't have enough supplies. It's terrible how teachers have to buy supplies for their own classrooms because they run out in the middle of the year. This is a great list of things we can do to help our teachers!
I use to be so good at clipping and turning in box tops but I have really been slacking on that. I have noticed that our schools are putting together school supply packs that they are selling. I think this is an awesome idea except they only offer it to elementary and my kids are in junior high and high school 🙁
Teachers always-always-always dip into their own pockets to help their students – with very few acknowledgements for their kind deeds. Its often just assumed that they will do it – and I think that as humans we should remember to thank teachers – all the time.
As a teacher who buys school supplies your post is spot on! Box tops are a game changer as is Donirs Choose. Thanks for sharing this post!
Buying school supplies has gotten so expensive in recent years. It's amazing how many items are included in my sons' lists every year.
It really is sad there isn't a bigger budget for teachers to supply their classroom. I try to always send extra when i can even without having a kid in the lower grades.
My Mom worked in the school system and we've been supporting the Box Tops program for years. It really is a great program! Thanks for sharing.
Our school list isn't too long but I totally understand why it would be! There is only so much provided by the district; I dont think there's any reason to be upset about a long list!
I was surprised to see how short our school supply list is this year. I try to send extra because I know some of these items are luxuries for many families.
My daughter is currently going to school to be a teacher. I will definitely do what I can to help her once she starts teaching.
My daughter is in pre-k so her supply list isn't that long. I always over buy things like glue sticks and Kleenex. Classroom s can never have enough
Thanks for this post, as I was definitely shocked when I got my first graders supply list. I couldn't see how one child needed 8 glue sticks {I mean, is glue the new snack?}–but all jokes aside, I see why it is needed!
I was amazed by the supply list the first time I saw it. Why do they need all that?? Now I get it.
My best friend is a teacher and her school is always running out of something. I know a lot of parents complain the list is so long, but when you think about how much it helps the teacher and the students, it doesn't seem so bad.
It does seem like the lists of needs are getting longer every year. We homeschool, but are collecting some supplies to drop off at our local elementary school. Hopefully it will be some help!