School Supplies Shopping

   Yes, every year, whether in private school or public school, we have had a list.  Sometimes this list has been depressingly long and expensive. 

    This seems to be an area that K12 is rather vague on, so I thought I would take a moment to jot down our experiences. 

    First, let me clarify. I do not know if there is a recommended school supply list. I can simply say that if one does exist, I never was able to find it.

     Now, I have a 4th/5th grade student, and a 7th grade student. I have reviewed many of the lessons and can see that there are a few that require a printed worksheet.  Only for that reason, I am recommending that you start with a ream of paper.  Several of the worksheets that do have the "print" icon are identical to workbook pages, so for now, I only purchased one.  I cannot imagine we would actually be printing so much each day.  Also, they recommend printing the goals for the day as well as necessary supplies.  I have not found it too difficult to simply glance at the list online and pull items from the shelf, rather than print out a list to carry around each day. Maybe you need the printed list, if so, your ream will not last as long.

     I recommend a 3 hole punch.. As a lesson is completed, I am placing the completed work in a three pronged folder.  I have assigned colors for each subject.  Each child has Blue for Science, Green for History/Geography, Pink for Literature, Red for math... You get the idea... Each of my children has their own shelves so that they do not get confused with each other, but when I am looking to go over the math pages, I can just reach for the red folders on each shelf.

   K12 sent plenty of paints and other art supplies, however, I did purchase colored pencils, markers and crayons.  K12 sent a math kit, with a protractor, compass eraser, etc...  None of that needed to be purchased.

   One of my children works better when taking notes in a three ring binder on looseleaf paper, the other likes individual spiral notebooks. I accomodated them.   I already have glue, glue sticks, rulers, pencils, etc...

   So, in summary, for the children taking similar classes to my children, here is the list I would recommend.

• (1) one ream of printer paper
• (1) package of crayons  (even if you have multiple children, they can share)
• (1) package of markers *
• (6-7) per child colored  three prong folders with pockets  (paper ones are fine as your child will not have to carry them in backpacks, etc)
• (6-7) per child Spiral notebooks or (1) 3 ring binder with looseleaf paper
• (1) Pair of scissors per child.
• (1) package of refillable mechanical pencils. (regular pencils are fine..)
• (1) ruler per child

   As you can see, it really is not a huge investment.  One of the things that just feels different, is there is no need for every single child to have the exact same school supplies.  That means it really does not matter if one child prefers a 3 ring binder and one prefers spirals.  It means if I want to buy folders with religious symbols or pop star photos, I can.  It means that one child can have a fabric pencil case on her shelf, while the other can have a plastic box.  We were able to individualize.  I did not buy a case of anything.  Technically, tissues, toilet paper, paper towels, disinfectant and sanitizer should all be added to this list, as we will use them all, but I'm not an accountant nor a financial analyst and I will not spend one single moment of my life trying to figure out the cost per child of toilet paper, tissue or any of the other items on the list.

      If there is something I have left out, I will update later.  I did purchase a white board and dry erase markers in case I would like to try to demonstrate something... Honestly, at home in the past, I have simply sat down and used extra paper so it is not necessary. I justified it as a "green" expense.  We would use less paper, and because I had really gotten used to using one when I was helping to teach at their school.  I did not add the glue or glue sticks to the list as we have not had a need for them with K12.. I will recommend them, because it really is fun to do extra art projects.  

    So, maybe this helped.. maybe it did not.. One of the most challenging things about converting to this new method is its flexibility... What works for us, may sound completely insane to you.  I also made individual clipboards covered in whiteboard paper to use instead of scrap paper for math problems at the computer.  (I'm very proud of these.)



           It's also nice that we do not have a list with specific brand names. I can shop the sales and get only what I know we need.   I do not have to buy a case of tissues in August with every other family, I can do what I would normally do and watch for a sale with a coupon...  After all, we are using a box occassionally, not going through 2 boxes per week.  It's more fluid.  I know that I will probably need a second or maybe a third package of markers, so I stocked up on those items.  When the spiral notebooks were one sale, I bought several in a variety of colors.  When they were 10 cents each, I purchased about 20 of them..  So, just the items I recommended, for two children, I spent around $20 on school supplies this year.. I could have spent more if we went for special character notebooks or whatever, but the girls decided they didn't really care and with the plain ones, they would have room to decorate them with colored permanent markers.   I spent about $20 getting our white board and dry erase markers, but, like I said, it was an extra.. Do what works for you.

     Any teacher will tell you, if you have children who like to do their schoolwork, or complete things quickly, you will have some down time.  I have always kept an art cabinet filled with snow day goodies, so I will continue that. It is filled with things like air dry clay, construction paper, water balloons and tissue paper to make snowballs with in winter.  We have extra watercolor paints as well as recycled printer paper.   You may not need these items. You may live in a climate more suitable for playing outside all year.  Since not only do we live in an area with both dangerous heat in the summer and cold in the winter, we have Wii for indoor PE, we have extra science goodies and extra art goodies. We also have a good collection of books.  Again, you may not need any of these things..

   If you are new, I would not immediately redesign your entire home and purchase an entire school room filled with supplies.  You will find things that work and do not work as you go through the first few weeks.  Those things may change as your child matures, the subject material changes, etc.  The greatest and most terrifying thing about this for me is the flexibility.  I like concrete rules... This has a few, but within those rules, we each have the ability to make adjustments... Do we want to do PE first thing in the morning or after lunch?  Would we like to sprinkle science throughout the week or cover the entire lesson on Monday?  We are still making these decisions.  They are no longer scary decisions. I am beginning to embrace this individualization as well as the flexibility. 

    

Amendment:

    Occassionally, there will be a few extras needed.  For instance, the other day my daughter needed a 2 liter bottle for science and a comic from the Sunday paper.  I have reviewed several lessons and have seen a few odds and ends like

• masking tape
• rubber bands
• brown paper bags
• balloons
• sponge

There are a few other things.. I would not recommend starting another cabinet with odd supplies. I especially would not recommend that you stay up endlessly going through each lesson months ahead so that you are not surprised.  I would recommend that at the end of each week, just print the 'materials needed' list. (Click on the week so that you can see an entire week ahead.)  Look over the list and take it with you when you are at the store if you just do not happen to have masking tape.  It will also give you a head's up if you need to save the egg carton when you use the last egg.
    Another savings that I found:  for PreAlgebra and Algebra, the school does list a Scientific Calculator on the school list, however in parentheses, they let you know that it is optional as an online version will be available..  More savings for us.