Supply List: Fill & Download for Free

Middle and high schools typically don’t give out supply lists because that it when kids start making their own schedules and taking electives, not to mention having different teachers for advanced and regular classes. This results in kids with wildly different schedules and teachers. Therefore, a single school supply list could not possibly be accurate considering the amount of variability.

I don't work at an elementary school, which is where the biggest supply demands are made on parents, but I know that there are some teachers at the high school level who also give significant supply lists to parents.I have never known a parent who actually liked having to buy the supplies. Some are just resigned to the necessity, while others were either irritated or even openly hostile to the idea. I have personally never liked buying the supplies for my own children because they never seem to need anywhere near the amount that I have purchased. Paying forty or fifty dollars for supplies and then writing a check for twenty-five dollars per child can really start to sting.I have seen parents angry that they will spend money on supplies that they know will be for the whole class because other parents won't send them in. I have also seen parents angry because they had to pay for long lists of supplies for every single child. These lists include things like markers, plastic zip lunch bags, pencils, ear buds, erasers, 2″ binders, hand soap, sanitizer, glue sticks, tissues, sanitizing wipes, composition books, and loose leaf paper. It seems like a small amount, but it adds up.When parents ask me what they should get for their children for my class, I tell them, “Have something to write with, something to write on, and some way to keep it organized.” Even then, I keep lined paper and inexpensive pencils and binders, just in case.I know that it is difficult for teachers to get all the materials for their rooms without parents buying the items on those lists, but I feel like that is a failure of the schools, not the teachers. Tissues, cleaning wipes, and consumable items for the classroom should largely be provided by school funds, but I know that isn't going to happen in most cases. I also understand having students get their own ear buds. I would understand having them get their own markers if they would be able to keep their own, but when schools put them in a bin for everyone to use, and they all dry out from being left open, there's a problem. People tend to care more for things that belong to them.I didn't mean to ramble, but I think about the parents I see buying school supplies every fall, grumbling about the ridiculous lists while their children tell them things like, “no, it has to be that kind! That's what the list says!”To be clear, it doesn't bother me when parents dislike buying items on the supply list. It bothers me that school systems don't provide the funding for many of the things on them. Things like wipes and tissues should be considered essential to the school (not the teachers!).

I don’t really get upset. I know how much my child’s teachers spend of their own money for supplies for the kids in the class.There will be atleast 5 kids in the class whose parents buy NO supplies for their kids. NOTHING.That is the part that does irritate me.My son is going into 2nd grade in August. Below is his supply list for school.I always get everything required, and always buy extra to send in.And I always buy the “extras” too.The kids who are getting the benefit of the things I send in can’t help it if their parents either can’t or won’t send in supplies for them.