Solving the School Supply Dilemma

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It’s that time of year again!  Parents and kids alike feel like the summer has gone too fast. Let me tell you though, no one feels more like the summer lasted for no time at all than the teachers.

Walking through the grocery store, had lately become a source of anxiety for me. Every time I passed by all the joyful proclamations of buy-one-get-one free highlighters, or a display of Pokemon lunchboxes, I immediately started making to-do lists of all of the things I needed to accomplish before children showed up in my classroom. On August 1st. Yes, August 1st.

Regardless of all of the organizing and planning that teachers have to do at the beginning of the year, one of the most stressful things to deal with as a parent is the cost of new school supplies. Especially for parents who have more than one or two children. As a teacher, I have witnessed the struggle that these parents go through, spending around $100 on supplies for each individual child.

So, I was relieved when I had heard that the school that I work for was purchasing supplies for students. Parents only had to pay $40 for each child they had enrolled at the school. Every supply on the list, including pencils and tissues, will be provided for them. This will eliminate the yearly school supply struggle for our parents.

Now, I can see how some students may be disappointed that they don’t get to pick out a Pikachu themed binder or journal and that their pencils won’t have Hello Kitty plastered all over them, but for teachers and parents a huge weight has been lifted. Parents won’t have to feel like they are supplying the whole school with hand sanitizer and teachers won’t have to supply markers or paper to the child that shows up without supplies, for whatever reason.

This is the first time that I have seen a school go this route with supplies and I’m interested to see how it turns out. I have high hopes. As a teacher, it seems like this would be easier for parents. But as the parent of two toddlers, I have never had to stock up on school supplies from a supply list. I can see the positives and the negatives of the plan, but I’m optimistic that this will be a solution that helps our parents tremendously.

Parents of school-aged children! Would it help or hinder you to have your child’s school, supply them with supplies? How do you play and win the school supply game every year?