
Why Do I Have To Buy So Many School Supplies Anyway?
As most of us are in the beginnings of school starting, I begin to hear lots of complaining on both sides; teachers and parents. I am a teacher, so I have to be careful that I don’t end up on the complaining side.
One of the complaints I am hearing is “why so many school supplies? We didn’t need this much in my day!” Let me tell you why so many school supplies in this day in time.
Your child’s teacher is not hoarding or stealing the supplies for herself. The pencils, crayons, construction paper, folders and notebooks are to engage your child in learning. While in our day we were content to write from the chalkboard, or listen to the teacher, in this day of overstimulation, these things don’t work. As a teacher, I want to keep your child engaged in the lesson as much as I can. I know if they are engaged, they listen. If they listen, they learn; it becomes something that becomes and a part of them. If they listen and learn then that is knowledge that they retain. The notebooks we use engage your child’s learning. Do you know how many times a student comes to school and says they lost their folder? So many times! This is part of the reason we have extra!
We want to make sure that each child has what they need. Your kid’s supplies need to last them all year long. Some kids are rough on supplies and some aren’t. In any case, all of the materials need to last all year. I’m sorry if you have to pay a lot of money but you can’t expect your kid to make all school year just on one box of crayons or one box of pencils.
Here’s the deal. If you refuse to buy supplies for your child, your child’s teacher will not allow those who brought to have and your kid to miss out. Your kids teacher will buy what needs to be bought.
While you think it may be up to the administration to provide the administration thinks it is up to the teacher and parents to provide. We don’t get supplies from any of the higher ups. If we (teachers) don’t provide, your kids must do without. So teacher buy. They provide. They give all while their own family suffers. Their bills pile up and sometimes they don’t have food on their own tables because the government says you provide for your own classroom. There is no other profession that requires you to pay out money in order to keep your job.
Remember, when you buy supplies that you are providing for “your child”. Your child’s supplies must last from August to May. Please support your babies by investing in their education.