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Post by jennifercw on Aug 5, 2014 2:09:46 GMT
Please stop reading right now if annual school supply shopping vents annoy you... this thread may not be for you! 
I know there are people out there who love shopping for school supplies. (Rock on!) I am not one of them. I am in 3-ring binder hell. So far, between my 7th grader and my 10th grader we need: - 1 1/2 " binder with dividers
- 2" ring divider
- binder/notebook with folders (um.... what size?)
- (2) 1" 3-ring binders
- (1) 1 1/2" 3-ring binder
- 3 ring binder, any color, at least 1"
In other news, I have discovered that school supply shopping is slightly more tolerable on Amazon, while sipping a glass of chardonnay. Who else is with me? |
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Post by Eddie-n-Harley on Aug 5, 2014 2:11:26 GMT
I don't understand. What about it makes it three ring binder hell, other than the sheer number of them and that one vague one?
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Post by M~ on Aug 5, 2014 2:18:11 GMT
Goodness no! I love shopping for school supplies and I don't even have kids. I most especially love shopping for school supplies for myself (insert evil cackle). Seriously, I try to donate to schools as much as possible and I LOVE school supply shopping. I would be THAT PARENT...you know....whose kid CANNOT EVER POSSIBLY BUY any generic school supplies (I shudder at the thought)....so says the person who has Pentel Markers and Sign Pens instead of regular pens....and who agonizes over "which pencil is best?"  I just bought some fancy pencils for myself, as a matter of fact. :0 |
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Post by misadventurous on Aug 5, 2014 2:22:22 GMT
While I'm normally the first one to just shop Amazon rather than run around to physical stores trying to find random things, I have to say that I would just go to the nearest Staples with that particular list. They have gazillions of binders all in one place so it's easy to see your options and there are people there to help if you can't find what you need.
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Post by twistedscissors on Aug 5, 2014 2:38:30 GMT
I ordered a backpack from Amazon three weeks ago and it says it shipped but delivery date of sept 8. Wtf? I've never had anything take that long to arrive. School starts Monday.  |
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Post by peasful1 on Aug 5, 2014 2:55:21 GMT
Target has 1 1/2" with dividers and coupons inside for like $4. My high schoolers and middle schooler only need one binder each. No lockers here so they keep it easy.
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Post by jennifercw on Aug 5, 2014 2:57:47 GMT
Emily - Sorry! Perhaps I should have used more smilies and not assumed my sarcasm was obvious.  Mostly I'm just kidding. angievp - Maybe you should open a school supply personal shopper business. Can I just give you my lists and have you shop for me? misadventurous - I actually would love to head to Staples for the binders. I think their store brand (with the rubber reinforced spine) holds up better than even the heavy duty Avery binders. They are expensive though - would probably run about $61 just for the binders on my list above. It was nice to get the divider tabs, pens, pencils, highlighters, post-it notes, spiral notebooks, graph paper, calculator, and "Red Scarf Girl" novel taken care of at Amazon tonight though. twisted scissors - that is a long time! My order is supposed to be here Wednesday. School starts Thursday. We'll see how it goes. |
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Post by jennifercw on Aug 5, 2014 3:04:56 GMT
Oh and [HASH]angievp - I totally went for the Ticonderoga pencils!! |
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Post by Eddie-n-Harley on Aug 5, 2014 3:11:49 GMT
Emily - Sorry! Perhaps I should have used more smilies and not assumed my sarcasm was obvious. Mostly I'm just kidding. No prob. I thought maybe you lived in a smallish town or something and couldn't get all those sizes, and I was going to suggest Office Max, where they have a whole aisle of just binders. I'm totally on Angie's bench, though, in that I love shopping for supplies for myself. If they're ordered on the office account, we can only have generic and/or cheap. Well, I'm sorry, but yellow post its and bic pens are BOOOOOOOOOOORING, and I need more than just yellow and blue highlighters, okay? I am a VISUAL LEARNER. My favoritest supply ever is my 18-count box of Mr. Sketch markers. They smell good. |
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Post by JustCallMeMommy on Aug 5, 2014 3:15:00 GMT
I bought the required 3" binder on Amazon. While I like school supply shopping, 3" binders apparently don't exist here.
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Post by Regina Phalange on Aug 5, 2014 3:37:58 GMT
If anyone needs binders - regular or strange sizes, this is a good place to look - www.11x17.com/
You can find the same brand on Amazon as well....
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Post by Basket1lady on Aug 5, 2014 3:44:21 GMT
I'm so glad that I'm done buying binders. My high schoolers don't use them here. By you have to find the right size, and then the right color. A few years ago DD needed a 1/2" black binder for chorus, without a pocket on the front or anything. Just black, in case they needed to use it for a concert. I finally ordered one from Amazon and it came with the pocket. I had to order another one. Then they never used it.  |
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Post by BuckeyeSandy on Aug 5, 2014 4:01:14 GMT
Oh and [HASH]angievp - I totally went for the Ticonderoga pencils!! I almost forgot about the long discussions over what type/brand of school supplies.  |
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Post by freecharlie on Aug 5, 2014 4:05:40 GMT
I hate 3 in binders. I find them too big and cumbersome. I like the 1/2 inch if I have to have multiple binders, 1-2 inch if I can use one binder for multiple subjects.
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Deleted
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Oct 7, 2024 20:26:31 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2014 5:06:59 GMT
It could be worse. I took a grad school class where I needed a 5" binder. Those things cost $35+. I have used it though. It was a class on literacy assessments. It is nice to have all those assessments in one place.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Oct 7, 2024 20:26:31 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2014 11:17:33 GMT
That's a lot of binders!
My middle schooler needs two 3" binders-- they recommend four but most kids combine two classes in one binder --and my fourth-grader doesn't need any. They use an eight-pocket folder to organize their papers.
I actually love school supply shopping, it's dealing with the crowds and other shoppers that I detest. So even though school ended here 6/26, I picked up a few things even before we were out and the rest of DS' list in July. Our PTO partners with Staples for supply kits and my younger one is happy to get hers that way.
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Post by melodyesch on Aug 5, 2014 11:24:14 GMT
<<--- Does not have kids. But WTH? Why would 2 kids need that many binders? And if they all had stuff in them, how in the world would they carry them + their books?
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Post by cbet on Aug 5, 2014 11:33:59 GMT
Ho-lee-smokes: middle school kids need 3" binders? Those are expensive, and they are heavy and awkward when you start filling them up! And I'm pretty sure that the locker my son had in middle school wouldn't have been big enough to fit one. I'm another who loves school supply shopping - and I get to do the office supply shopping at work, where they don't limit us to the most generic supplies ever. I get to pick. Happy days |
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Post by MommyofTriplets on Aug 5, 2014 11:39:23 GMT
What is it with middle school and binders?!?! My girls are starting middle school this year and they each needed four binders. I hope the binders hold up all year. |
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Post by 1lear on Aug 5, 2014 11:40:41 GMT
I used to love school supply shopping when my kids were younger. The last few years, though, not so much. I used to buy everything on the list, but a lot of times the kids never used the supplies, so now I have a big stash of binders/notebooks/pencils. I haven't even looked at supplies this year, yet. My son is in high school-I don't think he'd enjoy the cute, colorful notebooks I like!
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eleezybeth
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,784
Jun 28, 2014 20:42:01 GMT
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Post by eleezybeth on Aug 5, 2014 12:04:26 GMT
I love back to school shopping, but this year... Sigh. The allusive orange plastic 2 pocket folder no prongs has me a bit stressed. Apparently that is THE color this year. I've been to 8 stores. We have 3 more weeks and the grandmas are also in on the hunt. Her list was very specific this year so we didn't get to really make any fun choices so she got a new lunch box.  |
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Post by bianca42 on Aug 5, 2014 12:19:25 GMT
I sat down with the supply list, a cup of tea and my computer. I priced everything online at Amazon and Target. I ended up getting about half the list at Amazon and half at Target. They've shipped everything in multiple packages and DS is loving opening the boxes. He doesn't love shopping, so it's working for us. We also plan to sit down Saturday with my 30% off Kohls coupon and do all of his school clothes shopping online. He's gotten very picky about his clothes at age 9...that going to the store to shop is painful. |
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Post by melanell on Aug 5, 2014 12:22:19 GMT
For the binder with no size, I'd go with a bigger one.
Sorry you're in binder hell. We have yet to ever need more than just one binder per kid per year.
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Post by kkooch on Aug 5, 2014 12:22:52 GMT
I use to hate getting those long lists of supplies and getting everything on it to find out down the road they didn't end up using half of the stuff. I'd rather run around once classes start and the teacher confirms what they want from you rather than a generic list that the school distributes.
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Post by monklady123 on Aug 5, 2014 12:30:21 GMT
I love back to school shopping, but this year... Sigh. The allusive orange plastic 2 pocket folder no prongs has me a bit stressed. Apparently that is THE color this year. I've been to 8 stores. We have 3 more weeks and the grandmas are also in on the hunt. Her list was very specific this year so we didn't get to really make any fun choices so she got a new lunch box. Oh yes, the impossible-to-find one-particular-color folders, often orange. One year I'd had it and bought white. Then I took an orange marker and wrote "ORANGE" all over the folder. Sent it in and no one said a thing. That was for ds and he thought it was pretty funny. My rule-following dd would have been mortified but fortunately by the time she came along the teachers seemed to have been clued in to the fact that orange folders were difficult. Either they supplied them themselves or they subbed another color. As for the binders, after the first year or so I don't think we ever bought exactly the sizes that were required, especially for the 3-inch ones. My dd complained that the rings always break on those and she asked for smaller ones. So that's what we did. Never had a teacher complain. And they were never required to carry around that much stuff. I understand that the teachers want it all in on place so the kids can study, etc. But dd just kept the older papers/homework/whatever in a file folder here at home. When she needed it there is was. |
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Post by annabella on Aug 5, 2014 12:31:44 GMT
My church is doing an event at a family shelter and we've been asked to bring school supplies which I didn't know what exactly to buy. I'd like to order from amazon because I have a cart pending $35 to ship, if someone could point me to something to buy that would be great thanks!
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MerryMom
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,562 
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Post by MerryMom on Aug 5, 2014 12:37:19 GMT
Those binders from Staples will last a couple of years. My son has been using the same ones for two years: going on his third school year. If you trade in an old beat up binder, you get a dollar off each binder. So I would view the binders as an investment. I was so tired of having to put duct tape on the "heavy duty" Avery binder within a month of school starting.
My rule of thumb is for vague instructions: 1 inch binder for a class, 2 inch binder if used for multiple classes.
Also if the school doesn't carry a particular color of folder: I cover the front with the appropriate color of duct tape.
I spotted a lot of folders without prongs at Meijer's (also sometimes, I had luck with Walgreens, Rite Aid, CVS).
Also for the people who don't know why middle and high schoolers need more than 1 binder, it's because each class usually requires a binder for that particular class.
My son is a junior this year and he isn't picky about supplies, backpack has lasted since fourth grade, his binders are still good, I already had folders, both with and without prongs. He likes mechanical pencils, so I bought a couple of packages of those, calculator still good, already had spiral notebooks from previous years, had a couple of packages of loose leaf paper, already had dividers.
So this is what I bought this year (so far I've spent only $5):
couple of packages of mechanical pencils,
white art eraser
He does like the Pilot G2 pens, and those aren't cheap, so I've been watching for the best deal, but they will be about $1 a pen still. Since that is the only item he has a preference.
Wait until your child reaches high school and you have to purchase that expensive TI calculator that costs over $100, yes it will be used for multiple years, but yikes...sticker shock, you will need that bottle of wine then.
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AmeliaBloomer
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,842
Location: USA
Jun 26, 2014 5:01:45 GMT
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Post by AmeliaBloomer on Aug 5, 2014 12:41:52 GMT
I only read the OP, so this might have mentioned: thrift stores around here have piles of binders. Makes sense; that's what I do with our discarded ones.
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Post by anxiousmom on Aug 5, 2014 12:53:06 GMT
, and "Red Scarf Girl" novel taken care of at Amazon tonight though. Too bad...I could have loaned you my copy.  (it is actually pretty good, even though it is considered YA, I read it as part of a college course's curriculum.) |
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MerryMom
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,562
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Post by MerryMom on Aug 5, 2014 13:06:41 GMT
Hah! If school supplies drive you crazy, I have a great story for you.
When my son was in elementary school, I was an officer with the PTO and the President decided that as a "service", we would do school supplies. So in the spring, we sent out the flyers plus in July when the school information went out, it listed that we would be selling a school supply packet at the Open House. Basically, it was at cost. If the supplies cost us $19.83, we charged $20. Sounds great, right?
So a week before school started, myself and another parent (the President never showed up for this) are back in a room at the school, assembling these packets, no AC, the school is absolutely sweltering, so I finally run home after 1 hour of this to get a fan. We had a pretty good system going, assembly line. So we decide to make 50 of each for each grade. If we were running low at the Open House, we (meaning myself and the other officer) could quickly assemble what was needed. This was because the company we bought from would take the unused supplies back, BUT we had to put the supplies back in the original boxes and stack them neatly (so that they could re-sell the items). They didn't want a lot of boxes repackaged or they wouldn't take them back.
So we didn't want to make a lot of extra which would require the supplies to be "unassembled" and repacked. This was the first year, didn't know how popular this would be, let's see how it goes....
Sounds like a win-win? Logical???
But NOOOOOOOOOOO, the President decided to come to the school the day of the Open House and threw a fit because we hadn't assembled enough packages. SOOOO, she made packets and used up all the supplies, I mean hundreds of extra school supply packets. I guess she was grumbling the entire time. When I and the other officer saw it, we just looked at each other and said to her "You are going to be here to unassemble these packets, right?" "Oh yes" she replied. "not a problem."
Well, Open House night is there and we probably sold about 30 to 35 packets for each grade.
(of course, dealing with the parents who wanted us to find the packet with the "red Fiskars" scissors because darling daughter just loves red. Oh, I don't need Expo markers, can you take those out? Ummm, no, the packet is sold as a packet. Oh I have enough folders, can you take those out? My son doesn't like the regular Elmers glue sticks, he likes the type that is purple and turns clear when it dries, why didn't you get those??
Seriously, I get why teachers pull out their hair.
So we would have been fine with the number we did. And do you think Ms. President showed up to break down all these supplies, Oh no, she didn't.
And the school supply guy grumbled about the number of opened boxes that we were returning. He almost didn't give us credit for our returns.
Yep, good times, good times.
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Mostly I'm just kidding. 
