If you have any experience with children in elementary school, you know what happens this time of year. The aisles of Target, CVS, Walmart, and just about every retailer are filled with colorful folders, pencils, lunchboxes, and every shaped eraser you could imagine – that don’t actually erase anything.
The stores seem to get these supplies out earlier and earlier each year, which, as a teacher, I loathe. It takes me time to get into full summer mode, and once I have reached peak relaxation, I don’t want to start thinking about all the supplies my kids and I need when there are still many weeks of summer fun left.
With some end-of-summer vacations still on the horizon, I wanted to be ahead of the game this year and brought my soon-to-be second and fourth-graders to get their supply lists checked off. We were able to save some of their lesser-used items from last year, so we got in and out of the big box store quickly and spent a few dollars less than I expected.
As we reviewed their lists and discussed their past usage, we got into a discussion about whether their supplies in previous years were actually their own or had become part of a class supply for all to use. This brought up the great school supply debate.
Should the supplies you provide for your child be just that – for your child? Or should all supplies be community supplies, shared amongst everyone?
As a teacher going into my 18th year in the classroom, I have some feelings. As a mom of three, I have some different feelings.
I struggle just to wear my mom hat, or just wear my teacher hat when thinking about my girls’ classrooms and the things they will use during the year. Yes, my wallet would love to buy the 24-pack of pencils for $1.99. But I also know how smooth and erasable those Ticonderoga pencils are – and in the black, or fun neon?! Forget about it! They are the greatest pencils ever.
I like knowing that the specific brands and colors of supplies that I buy for my girls will be theirs. I also know that I am purchasing enough supplies for their needs for the year. In years past, when I received multiple emails about the class needing more pencils, I was in utter shock. Are the kids eating them? Are they being flung into the old ratty ceiling tiles during indoor recess? How on earth, if every one of the twenty-two students in her class provided the 24 pencils they were asked for at the start of the year, did they run out so quickly?!
And that leads me to the other side of the coin.
Not everyone can afford all the items on the list of school supplies.
As I think about it from this perspective, the guilt takes over, and I want to buy everything that every child in the whole school needs! I won’t, and can’t, but understanding that every family is different makes me think twice.
Pooling together class supplies as a community stock helps those whose families may not have the privilege of getting their child the school supplies they need and want. The larger discussion should actually be around school budgets, and the school providing what each student in their building needs, without having to dip into the pockets of the hardworking, underpaid teachers, but I digress.
There’s no perfect answer to the great school supply debate. Community supplies promote equality and ease for teachers. Everyone has access to the materials they will need to be most prepared to learn. Individual supplies give you control over what your child has, allowing you to spend what works for your family on what matters most to you.
There is something to be said for a mix of both ideas. Sending in communal supplies like glue sticks, tissues, and hand sanitizer, while also getting your child their own personal items, such as pencils, sparkly unicorn folders, and donut-shaped erasers.
I will buy the pack of 24 pencils for the class, along with a few other donation items, and also ensure my girls have the great Ticonderoga in their sparkly pencil boxes.
