To label or not to label the school supplies...

My little guy just started 2nd grade and so far, we haven't been asked to label anything for any grade. Well, she sent home a composition book this past weekend for us to decorate/personalize. I added his name.

ETA I wouldn't label anything unless specifically told to. Life's too short.

This post reminded me of when I was a kid and ate the paste in elementary school. That stuff was the best. My sister ruined it for me and told me it was made out of horse hooves!

Sorry about the slight hijack....just brought back a fond memory.

We just bought the supplies (except the elusive glue sticks : today for Open House Thursday. The only thing we're supposed to label is the binder. I would draw the line at labeling each crayon/glue stick/pencil, that's crazy.

My minor annoyance is the request for crayons in boxes of 8 or 10. They need 5 boxes. I bought the 24pk, figure the teacher can throw the rest away, I see no reason to spend twice as much for 1/3 as many crayons. I understand the reason (focus on just the primary colors, less choices, yada yada), but still. Wonder if I should separate them out??

We are not responsible for anything other than a book bag and a lunch bag in the elementary years, so I have no experience with labeling that kind of thing, but unless they become communal supplies, I can certainly understand trying to avoid having fifteen 5 year olds squabbling over which glue stick is theirs.

My son is going off to full day, 5 day a week school for the first time this year, and while I am so looking forward to time alone to get things done, I know I will miss the sweet hours we used to spend playing games, doing his schoolwork, etc., when it was just the 2 of us in the house. I was happy to note that with the way our school schedules line up, I will still have one hour per morning when it's just he and I at home. So we can still read or play a game together before school.

I know communal school supplies are controversial but I like it when schools do that for things like pencils and glue and markers. There are always kids in class who cannot afford all the supplies so I send in three boxes of crayons when they ask for one, a big box of glue sticks when they ask for six, etc. If it saves one kid from the humiliation of not having what the other kids have it's worth it. 

The only things I label are his folders (I buy the plastic kind that don't rip and they are expensive) and his binder and stuff that I know only he will be using. 

And no, I did not cry when they went to kindergarten. They had already in daycare. I did get good pictures of my husband walking them into class. Those pics (I have one for almost every year for grade school) always make me smile. 

I bought Avery labels, wrote their name, and stuck it on awkward sized/shaped items.

I write their name in fine point Sharpie on composition books, plastic folders, binders, etc.

I labeled items that aren't really interchangeable. I bought her good scissors and labeled those. She picked her own clipboard and ruler and pencil box so I labeled those.

A glue stick is a glue stick so I didn't label those. I gave her her own box of Ticonderoga pencils to keep in her backpack so that she would have them - last year she got tired of the community supply of Target pencils that didn't sharpen right.

I had to organize the school supplies for 30 kids each year. I printed out Avery labels (about a 20 per kid) and gave the kids the labels. We wasted about 45 minutes to an hour at the beginning of the year labeling everything, but kids are awful with their supplies so they have to be labeled. Most parents don't label, I didn't do any community collections. Kids hate it and want to keep what they brought. I get it.

I didn't cry when they went to kindergarten because they were right down the hallway from my class.  I was more likely to cry after/before school when fought with each other and I needed to get my schoolwork done.  

We've never bought school supplies. My daughter's school always supplied them. I always felt we missed out on so much school supply fun.

And I didn't cry sending her off to school when she was in preschool or Kindergarten. I admit her going off to high school this year is making me a little sad.

Our schools say not to label since all the supplies get dumped in big buckets to share with students who can't bring supplies.

I label nothing!

Very little was labeled last year for kindergarten, only her two notebooks and her two folders for the regular supplies had to have her name on them and her personal headphones and extra shoes for gym class that only she used. Everything else, even the scissors, were community property. At the end of the school year, the teachers had the kids all choose a scissors from the bin to bring home. She also brought home a half used set of watercolor paints and a half bottle of Elmer's school glue and that stuff wasn't even on the list of supplies we brought in. The mountain of broken crayons were somehow recycled at the school wide community service day at the end of the year.

This year she used the same headphones she had last year, and the only thing that needed her name on it was her notebooks. The 3 ring binders get paper labels slipped into the fronts and spines for their portfolios and the teachers label their folders with Avery labels. The rest of the supplies either went straight into a labeled pencil box in the kid's cubby or went into community property bins for all the kids in class to use when they need it, which is why the teachers are such sticklers for which brands to buy--they want all the kids to have the exact same stuff when they're working on a project.

I brought in a bunch of additional glue sticks and several extra sets of markers and boxes of crayons because not all the families have the money for all that stuff, and also because the kids go through it, especially the glue. I never knew how quickly kids can burn through glue sticks until I had a kid of my own. Holy crap, they use a LOT of glue!

I agree 100%! My kid has been taught to be careful with her stuff for the most part. I know it bugs her to have to use stuff some other careless kid trashed!

I don't label the stuff I donate to my now big kids old elementary school.

On our school supply list it specifies what we need to label and not label.

And our KG teachers require us to send in 30 glue sticks per kid. No effing way would I sit and write their very long names on each damn glue stick! I'm actually surprised that in Elementary school your teachers aren't doing communal resources with most items, like glue sticks.