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What’s on your school supplies list?

Posted Aug 18, 2010 by Beth Gaddis

Updated Aug 18, 2010 at 10:56 AM

I was bursting with pride as my husband and I took our four-year-old, Jay, to his VPK orientation last weekend.  It didn’t matter that it’s at the same day care center that he’s been attending since he was one.  He was a big kid now, a student. 

We saw his classroom and met his teacher.  Then we got handed THE LIST. 

I had no idea parents now have to buy all this stuff.  Plus, from what I hear, we got off lucky.  My co-worker had to even buy tennis balls to go on the bottom of the kids’ chairs so the floors don’t get scuffed.

Here’s what was on our list:

Backpack
Pencil box
Large grip pencils
Glue sticks and white glue bottles
2 packages of crayons
Watercolor paint
Children’s markers

Colored pencils
Box of tissues
Large used T-shirt for painting
Child’s scissors
Family picture
Wallet-size picture of the child
Line writing tablet
Journal Composition notebook

Copy paper (20 lb weight)
Play-doh
Construction paper
Lysol spray
Clorox wipes
Fun box of band-aids
Package of dry-erase markers

Other people had things like baby wipes, paper towels, sandwich bags, and two dozen sharpened pencils.  One list had four specific colors of duo-tang plastic folders with pockets, which sent the parents on a scavenger hunt to five stores before they finally got all the colors needed.

Some schools list their school supply lists on their websites: Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk

Stumped about where to fine an item?  Here are some teacher supply stores you can try The Teaching Store, 8218 West Waters Avenue in Tampa and Lakeshore Learning, 4501 W. Kennedy Blvd in Tampa.

If you’re really desperate, try teacherstoresonline.com.