July 25, 2025 • 31 mins
The back-to-school season brings challenges for parents navigating lengthy supply lists and deciding between self-shopping versus purchasing pre-packaged kits from schools.
• Elementary school supply lists grow longer each year with each teacher requiring different items
• Self-shopping allows budget control with many supplies costing under a dollar during sales
• Pre-packaged elementary supply kits cost $100-167 but save valuable time for busy parents
• Middle school supplies are more specialized with specific color-coding requirements by subject
• Middle school students are notoriously hard on folders and supplies, making extras essential
• Community supplies like tissues, paper towels, and dry erase markers help teachers who often pay out-of-pocket
• Never send all supplies at once – keep extras at home for replacements and homework
• Label all elementary school supplies with your child's name to prevent loss
• Keep spare clothes for younger students to handle accidents without parent intervention
• Shop early for best deals – prices increase as the school year approaches
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey guys, welcome back to another episode of the
Gag Is Pot.
I am your girl, charlie Shantae.
Thank you for joining me onanother episode and, like I
always say, if you are listeningto this new episode, then it
must be Friday.
And this microphone about togive me the blues already.
I don't know what's going on,so bear with me for just one
(00:22):
momento.
I don't know what's going on,so bear with me for just one
moment though.
Okay.
So if you listen to thisepisode, it must be Friday, but
even if you're listening to itand it's not a Friday, that is
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(00:49):
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These are released on fridaysat 5 am.
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guess what?
You can just listen to it onyour way to work.
If you don't want to listen tothe radio, so go ahead and grab
your drink, grab your snack orwhatever it is you grab when you
(01:34):
listen to this, so we can jumpright in.
Y'all know that we are in themiddle of the back to school
series.
Last year I did just oneepisode on back to school and I
got so many comments like, canyou just make it into a whole
little thing?
And I'm like, yeah, I can dothat.
So I've taken some time, donesome research on some different
(01:55):
topics for back to school.
We talked about sports,physicals, we have talked about
paperwork in general, and sothis week I'm going to start
getting into the nitty gritty,start talking about school
supplies, and you know it's sucha broad topic.
You know I felt like it's not aone size fits all.
So this week we're going totalk about elementary and middle
(02:18):
school.
Next week we're going to talkabout high school and college
and then the week after thatwe're going to talk about back
to school shopping and then bythat time, school is going to be
done, started here in the greatstate of Florida.
So, when it comes to elementaryschool supplies, I feel like
buying school supplies forelementary kids has got to be
(02:41):
one of the hardest One of thehardest things to do because
it's not clear cut.
I feel like this microphone isgoing to give me the blues for
this entire episode.
It's not clear cut and youwould think okay, my child's in
kindergarten, my child is infirst grade, they all going to
(03:02):
need the same thing.
But no, each teacher requiressomething different and it seems
like every year the list isgetting longer and longer.
I went today and just verified,did my check while I was
writing out the episodes and Iwas like all right, let me take
a look at some stuff.
I've been in the stores, I'veseen the list in the stores and
I'm like, my goodness, this listis long.
(03:25):
However, once I started lookingat the list, I was like, okay,
cool, I get it, I understandwhat's going on here.
So I got my notes up over here.
I got them all.
Good today, my notes over here,so that I can make sure you are
getting some accurateinformation.
And, like I said, this is whereI live, locally.
(03:46):
So where you live, the pricesmay be different.
So always check to make surethat the price because I don't
want you to be like well, shesaid it was this Just bear with
me and make sure you, whereveryou're listening from, make sure
you check into the things thatare in your area.
These are things that arespecific to my area here in the
(04:07):
state of florida.
So the first thing is makingsure you obtain the list.
Now, um, many different ways youcan obtain the list.
I know back in the day you usedto get go in the store.
They had this big old thingwith all these papers in and
whatever school your child wentto, you get the list for that
(04:28):
school and then you will walkaround and do your shopping.
Well, now you can just go.
Now you can just go to theschool's website and nine times
out of 10, they're going to havethe individualized list on
there.
They'll probably have it by umgrade, not so much the teacher,
(04:51):
but if you're getting closerinto school starting and you
already have your child'steacher name and different
things like that, then it may bespecific.
I know here I'm not sure ifthey do it anymore when New Face
was in elementary we actuallygot postcards a couple of days
I'm not a couple of days acouple of weeks prior to school
(05:12):
starting and you know,introducing their sales.
I'm such and such.
You know I'm going to be NewFace's teacher for the upcoming
school year.
Here's a little code.
You can scan this, tell you allthe supplies that I have and
tell you how I run my classroomthe whole nine yards.
So those are just a few of theways that you can obtain your
(05:38):
child's school supply list, andI always say the sooner the
better, and I think this is oneof my bullet points at the end,
so I won't go into it too much.
But those are two ways and youwant to be careful because I
live in a big city, I live inTampa, so Tampa is big, there
are over 100 schools, so I knowsometimes we go shopping on
(05:59):
different sides of town and notevery side of town has the
school supply list of town andnot every side of town has the
school supply list.
Oh, my goodness, every side oftown does not have the school
supply list for the other partsof town.
So make sure, if you're goingto go shop on like a different
side of town, make sure you havemake sure that store
(06:20):
encompasses the area that youlive in, and if not, they may
not have school supply list thatyou are looking for.
So just always just make surethat you check with that as well
.
So the next thing I want to talkabout is you know, back in the
day, you know, like when I wentto school, you know, even when
(06:42):
Marco Polo was in school toschool, you know, even when, uh,
marco Polo was in school, wewent to, I went to the store and
I bought, like I got the listand I was like, okay, he need
crowns, he need markers, he needcolored pencils.
Um, we used to do that, but nowthere are options.
Okay, now there are optionsthat you can, um, that you can
(07:05):
do different stuff with.
My notes is over here and I'mtrying to read them at the same
time.
So you have to determinewhether you go shop for yourself
or buy a, a package.
So they have these packages nowand I want to say I want to say
(07:27):
when New Face was going to theelementary school by our house,
I want to say they had likesupply packs where, if you
didn't want to do the shopping,each teacher or each grade
tailored a specific supply packfor you to just purchase and
they would just get it on thefirst day of school.
And you know, I was like, ohokay, like this is cool.
(07:51):
And so I remember when I wentto look at it, like that
particular year, I want to sayit was like 80 something dollars
and I was like 80 somethingdollars and I'm like, do I
really spend that when I goshopping for him?
And I'm like ain't no way,because if you catch it early
(08:12):
enough, stores they have stuff,most of the supplies, with the
exception of markers, coloredpencils.
Yeah, markers and coloredpencils are gonna be less than
dollar, less than 50 cent, ifyou catch it on the right
weekend or you catch it at theright store.
So I feel like the differenceis the shelf.
(08:33):
Self-shopping allows you to goin and purchase the things that
you feel you need, because youmay look at the school pack list
and be like, well, they havethis in here and that in there.
School pack list and be like,well, they have this in here and
that in there, and I don'treally think.
You know my child needs that.
Or if you go to the store andyou self shop, then you can
determine what brand, because inthose packs it may all be just
(08:56):
name brand stuff.
And would it be in just namebrand stuff?
It's going to cost you a littlebit more money.
But if you go to the store thenyou know you don't need a name.
They don't need a name brand ofscissors.
You know they don't need a namebrand of paper or crowns or
what have you that stuff notgoing to last through the year.
(09:18):
Anyways, I pay $4 for a box ofcrowns when you can pay $0.99
for a box of crowns.
They may have a different brand.
That's going to do the samething.
You know, if you are budgetconscious and you don't have
quite a lot of money to spend,then you know you may want to go
self-shop for yourself.
But if you're a working parentand you just don't have that
(09:39):
kind of time, you know thealternative is a supply pack.
Just understand it's going tocost you a little bit more.
If I haven't said it, we'retalking about elementary first.
We'll get into middle schoolsecond.
So when I was looking, theschool supply packs are
typically available to purchasefrom a third party vendor, but
(10:03):
it's through the school, sothey'll like that.
The school, on the websitethey'll be like click this link
If you want to buy the supplypack, we'll have it delivered to
the school, and what have you?
And you can do it like that andit may take a couple of weeks,
so you may have to do a coupleof weeks in advance.
It may come in before the firstday of school, it may not.
(10:23):
And so for elementary, when Iwas looking, I just randomly
went on there and I just clickedone I think I did first grade
and the range for the prices ofthe pack, cause you can get a
pack with, like a small pack, amedium pack or a large pack,
just depending on what sizestuff you want, and it can range
anywhere from $100 to $167.
(10:46):
This is on just the lower endcompared to the higher end of
the packages that they have.
And I don't per se, when I goshopping I don't keep my
receipts and be like, okay, well, I paid this for this, how much
(11:07):
are they charging?
I don't really price match it.
I just prefer to self-shop.
I feel like I have more controlthat way compared to.
If I'm buying a school supplypack, because you have to
remember if you're orderingthrough the school it's going to
get shipped directly to theschool you kind of don't have,
even though it comes wrapped upand everything.
(11:28):
I feel like you kind of don'thave any say so in that you know
, because you may have paid fora pack, and what if people in 30
other states are ordering thesame pack and they run out of
stuff?
But you've already paid all ofthis money and stuff.
So now your kid has to startthe beginning of the year
without that stuff and in turnyou still got to go to the store
(11:49):
to buy it.
And I just don't think if itworks for you I know I've had a
couple of coworkers that saidthat they do that If it works
for you, I'm not mad at it.
You know it's just very priceycompared to taking time and,
like I said, I understandeverybody doesn't have time to
go to the store and get theirkids school supplies.
(12:10):
I just always make it a pointto go out and do it.
(12:31):
Middle school Middle schoolsupplies are in another lane of
their own.
When it comes to middle schools, you get between six and seven
classes.
I know some have all six ofthose classes in a day.
I know some places have blockscheduling.
I know some places have blockscheduling so they have three
classes this day or they, youknow, like they don't A schedule
(12:52):
or B schedule.
And so, although you don't needas many supplies as you did
your child in elementary, thesupplies that they need from
middle school just happen to bea little bit more complex.
Because one of the things,unless your child has an
elective, your child's not goingto need scissors, they're not
(13:16):
going to need crayons, they'renot going to need color pencils,
they're not going to needmarkers.
They may need a ruler.
They're not going to need gluesticks unless they're taking art
or they're taking AVID orsomething like that.
They're not going to utilize amajority of that stuff.
And then I know from being inmiddle, teaching in middle
(13:39):
school, that if we do somethingthat needs that, something that
needs that, then typically Iwould have those supplies on
hand because, look, we'realready expecting these middle
schools to walk around and keepup with their stuff, with their
basic stuff, and that's a littleminute stuff that you know they
just shouldn't have to keep upwith.
(14:00):
For middle school I did preferto get new faces stuff myself.
Um, because you would.
I would always start, andtypically school starts here on
a Thursday or Friday.
This year it starts on a Monday, which is really weird.
So I had to adjust, like myschool supply shopping um, which
(14:21):
I have not done yet.
Um, I'm going to have to adjust.
I'm going to have to do thatthis week, now that I think
about it.
I have to adjust because Allright Side track squirrel type
of moment for middle school,each teacher wants something
(14:45):
different.
So you may have a red folder forlanguage arts, a blue folder
for math, a green folder forscience.
They get very specific and veryparticular about it, very
particular about it.
(15:05):
One thing I have learned kidsin middle school oh my God, they
, I don't know what they do tothese folders.
I don't know if they eat thesefolders.
I don't know, I don't know whatthey do with these folders.
Buy extras, okay, cause these,these folders go to war um on a
daily Um.
But back to what I was saying,cause I re, I just remembered
(15:27):
y'all, school typically startson a Thursday or Friday here,
but this year starting on aMonday.
So what I would normally do issend new face to school with a
spiral, some pencils, ink, penpaper and something to write
with, because on the first dayyou're trying to learn how to
get to your class, you're tryingto learn what your teacher
(15:47):
expects and different stuff likethat.
It's not too much work going onon those first and second days.
So by the time the first andsecond day is out the way, on
that weekend I can go to thestore and I can get any
specialized items that theyrequire, whether it be like a
five-subject notebook or athree-subject green notebook or
(16:08):
something like that.
This year I'm assuming that meand the teacher are going to be
the week before and so I'll havethe weekend to kind of to kind
of get his supplies, butnonetheless he going to rock
with them basics anyway.
But we'll talk more about highschool stuff next week in the
(16:28):
high school and college episode.
Now, just like with elementary,middle school does offer a
supply pack.
I thought it was pretty weirdbecause I'm like it's middle
school, I don't know.
So I just clicked on a randommiddle school far area seeing
(16:48):
what they had and their supplypack lists are very, very, very
cheaper than elementary.
So those range between 42 and100 because, like I said, it's
pretty clear cut with middleschool.
They just need something rightwith some paper, some folders.
They don't need all thespecialized stuff unless they're
(17:10):
, um, they have an art electiveor design elective or something,
something as such.
Now we're talking about schoolsupplies.
Elementary and middle school, Ithink, are the two biggest
areas where I feel like this isan issue.
(17:33):
I'm talking about communitysupplies and so let me read to
you.
I pulled up a school supplylist just to see so it had it
broke down into the needed itemsand then some of the items that
they are asking for, and so, onthe middle school list, some of
(17:56):
the things that they're askingfor are paper towels, and you
say, well, paper towels, likewhy they just can't go.
You know, get paper towels, youknow, like why we can't get
them from the janitor orsomething like that.
Like, no, it doesn't alwayswork like that.
There are budget issues thatyou know just don't allow, and I
(18:17):
don't think we realize howmessy our kids can be.
And even in the classroom youwould just think, oh, we just
called a janitor to come cleanit up.
Well, what if the janitor isbusy and the janitor cannot, the
custodian cannot come clean itup.
Teacher can't just let it bethere because that's a hazard.
Somebody might get hurt orsomething like that.
(18:44):
Some of the other things thatare on here and this is for
elementary list, some of thethings that I see on here small
toys for prizes, a lot ofsmaller grades I would say K
through third have like littletreasure boxes.
You know, so when the kids dogood on their stuff, you know,
or they had a good week, theydidn't have to move their clip,
(19:04):
or they got all green stars,they can go get a prize at the
prize box, kind of like a littlereward system.
Lysol disinfectant spraybecause kids get sick, kids get
germs.
Boxes of band-aids get germs,boxes of band-aids.
(19:25):
I felt like this is aninteresting one because every
school has a nurse.
However, kids don't always getthe opportunity to go to the
nurse.
And then, you know, going downto the nurse for a band-aid, for
like a little paper cut, ofcourse, if it's serious, the
teacher's going to send themdown there, not saying that.
But you know, if a's serious,the teacher's going to sit them
down, or not saying that.
But you know, if a kid just hasjust a small, inconspicuous
boo-boo, you know it's too easyto give them a little, a little
(19:49):
band-aid so that they can go ontheir way, so I didn't feel like
it was too far fetched.
Another thing that I've seen ontheir dry erase markers I've
seen copier paper on there.
Yeah, just random little stuff.
And you say I'm not buying allthat stuff.
Tissue tissue is the big thing.
I don't know if these kidsthink they should eat the tissue
(20:11):
or what, but those are some bigitems that are on there and I
at first I, until I got into theschool system I was like why am
I going to go in here and buythis stuff?
Like, this is the school theyshould have it.
Not only until I got into theschool that I realized that that
(20:32):
stuff, dude, we, we ain't gotthat kind of stuff.
And you know, if a teacher, ifa parent help us out, cool, um,
especially dry erase markers forus to write on the board, write
the assignments and differentstuff like that, um.
So I always say, if you havethe finances, you have a couple
extra dollars and you look onthe bottom of your child's
(20:53):
school supply list or you go andlook at their syllabus for
middle school or what have you,and a teacher asks for extra
pencils or extra some tissue,dry erase markers and stuff like
that.
If you can afford it, I wouldencourage you to give this to
them, because they don't alwayshave it and with the budget cuts
(21:14):
going on and stuff like that,in the school districts and
through the Department ofEducation as a whole, a lot of
funding is getting ready to belost and teachers don't make
enough.
As is, One thing I always doand I always did in elementary
and in middle school and I stilldo it now is when we go to open
house, I always just ask theteacher well, is there something
(21:35):
that I can bring to give you,you know, or something like that
, something that I can help youwith?
And they're always just sodelighted like, oh my gosh, like
, yes.
And they're always just sodelighted Like, oh my gosh, like
, yes, like, could you buypencils or different stuff.
Like that Kids will be holdinga pencil one minute and lose a
pencil the next minute.
Ok, like it's like a magictrick or something.
(21:57):
I always try to make sure thatI donate is something, and when
I say donate, you don't have togo out and buy this massive kind
of stuff.
You know, it's little simplestuff pencils.
They have boxes 24 boxes ofpencils for a dollar.
I get a couple of them, givethem to the teachers and then we
(22:17):
good to go to be and I and Iguarantee you that goes a long
way.
I do it for the first quarterand I do it for the first
semester and I do it for thesecond semester as well.
When he was in elementary Ialways bought extra markers,
crayons and different stuff likethat, because I do understand
(22:37):
that there are some parents whomay not be able to afford
everything their child needs.
And then you also have parentswho just refuse to buy school
supplies all the way around, forwhatever reason and no fault of
the kids, you know.
So I always make sure I donateum for kids to for them to have
(22:57):
extra in case a kid come in, youknow, and they have that need,
I know.
Do know sometimes that kidscome in from shelter and foster
care and they come in withnothing.
So if I can take foster careand they come in with nothing,
so if I can take, you know, I goto Starbucks and spend $30, $40
at Starbucks in a week, youknow, and I can take the $30,
$40, get some supplies so that achild can have some supplies.
(23:20):
You know, because, whatever thesituation is, you know who am I
to judge.
But I always give um becauseI've been in there, I've been in
those teacher shoes before andI know what it's like to not
have, you know, supplies and Iknow what it's like to have a
student come in who doesn't havesupplies, either because their
(23:41):
family is on a hardship or theirparents just don't care um
about them having uh supplies.
Um, be nice to the teachers.
A lot of this stuff comes outof there, but, like I said, it
comes out of there, um out oftheir, out of their pockets.
So, you know, try to just, ifyou can, just try to help Um.
(24:04):
The thing that I always say thiselementary, middle school
parents do not send all thesupplies to school with your
child on the first day or leavethem there at open house.
Okay, because in two weekslittle Johnny going to come home
and tell you that their crayonsis broke up or they got three
pencils left.
Even with new face, he likemechanical pencils.
(24:27):
He get two mechanical pencilsat a time.
If he lose them, he the don'thave to ask somebody for one or
he gonna have to come ask me forsome.
Get them a pencil pouch orsomething like that so they can
keep their stuff up with it.
That way it's not just free intheir um, just free enrollment
in their backpack.
One thing that new face do thatpisses me off to the court is
(24:48):
he will write in a marker or hedo his math in pen.
Do not do that.
Do not send all the supplies tothe school at one time.
That way, if little Johnnyneeds some more, you ain't got
to go back to the store.
One thing I always say is well,get extra supplies while you're
at the store.
Keep them from the house, makethat your house set, because I
(25:12):
know in elementary they sendhome homework assignments and
different stuff like that, andsometimes you're going to need a
crown, you're going to need amarker or a pencil or something
like that.
And just make sure you haveextra supplies at home so that
you can help the kids with theirhomework and you don't have to
be.
Well, little johnny, can youbring your crown box home, you
know, so we can do thisassignment, you know, make sure
(25:33):
you have an extra pair ofscissors.
Um, I used to have a caboodlefor new face that had all the
stuff in it index cards,different stuff like that just
so we had it at home, so hewouldn't have to bring his stuff
from school to the house andlug it back and forth and then
potentially risk losing it.
(25:53):
Make sure that if your kids arein elementary, make sure you're
writing their name or you'retagging their stuff.
Little kids got sticky fingersand stuff like that and if they
lose their stuff they'll takesomebody else and be like no, it
wasn't theirs, it was mine.
Whether it be putting initialson the pencils or you know what
(26:14):
have you?
Label your kids stuff.
It's not to be malicious, butjust to help them keep up with
their stuff.
And my last tidbit is for kids,and I would say this would be
for parents of kids pre-Kthrough third grade Either keep
(26:35):
a spare change of clothes andundergarments in your child's
backpack or ask the teacher youknow sometimes they have cubbies
and stuff If they can keep aspare change of clothes in their
cubby, in their desk or ifthere's space in the classroom
for that, simply because youknow they're still young and you
(26:55):
know they may have an accidentor something.
They may spill food onthemselves and you know, or
might have a bathroom accidentor something like that and they
need to change clothes.
I always just say it's a goodidea just for them to have a
change of clothes and it willprevent you as a parent from
having to take off from work andgo to the school and take your
(27:15):
child clothes because they hadan incident and they had to sit
in wet clothes or dirty clothesor what have you, and you just
always have it there.
It's kind of similar to daycare, where you had to bring extra
clothes and stuff for them.
I suggest doing that as well,just because and even when New
Face was in middle school, Itold them just take your extra
shirt with you or something Justbecause you spill something on
(27:36):
yourself.
You know it never hurts.
Even myself, my big grown selfI keep a bag in the car that got
a whole new outfit in it justin case I spill something on
myself at work.
You know I spill coffee orsomething like that.
But those and, last but notleast, shop as soon as possible.
Like I said, I am behind thepower curve and I found that, um
(28:00):
, some of the better deals occurright after the 4th of july
when they're putting the stuffout compared to closer to school
.
So I'm going to have to get ittogether and go get these skills
blasts.
But, like I said, new faces inhigh school, so I'm really not
(28:20):
pressed for it.
I ain't got to go out there andfight for scissors and scissors
, whiteout markers and crowns.
You know everything's going tobe good.
So that's the end of thisepisode.
Like I said, next week I'll jumpinto high school and college
because we're going to get alittle bit more in depth in that
, because we're not dealing withwhat I consider the littles
(28:41):
anymore.
You know we're trying to ishigh school leading into college
, and it's a little bit morecomplex.
High school leading intocollege, and it's a little bit
more complex.
So their supplies are a littlebit more complex than what you
would have for elementary andmiddle school.
So before we go, y'all know Ihave my song lyric of the week
(29:06):
and you know this week you knowI was going to do something to
keep it simple.
So I'm going to go with all thesmall things about Blink-182.
All right, if you have notalready, please make sure you
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(29:28):
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(29:51):
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I always get it wrong because Idon't just put it out.
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(30:14):
I don't know y'all.
But we come to the end.
Thank you for joining me onanother episode and until next
week.
Bye, guys.
Hey guys, welcome back to another episode of the
Gag Is Pot.
I am your girl, charlie Shantae.
Thank you for joining me onanother episode and, like I
always say, if you are listeningto this new episode, then it
must be Friday.
And this microphone about togive me the blues already.
I don't know what's going on,so bear with me for just one
(00:22):
momento.
I don't know what's going on,so bear with me for just one
moment though.
Okay.
So if you listen to thisepisode, it must be Friday, but
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(00:49):
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(01:11):
whatever's up there that say doyou want to subscribe to this?
Make sure you go ahead and hitthat so that anytime a new
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These are released on fridaysat 5 am.
So by the time you get in yourcar and it's time to go to work
guess what?
You can just listen to it onyour way to work.
If you don't want to listen tothe radio, so go ahead and grab
your drink, grab your snack orwhatever it is you grab when you
(01:34):
listen to this, so we can jumpright in.
Y'all know that we are in themiddle of the back to school
series.
Last year I did just oneepisode on back to school and I
got so many comments like, canyou just make it into a whole
little thing?
And I'm like, yeah, I can dothat.
So I've taken some time, donesome research on some different
(01:55):
topics for back to school.
We talked about sports,physicals, we have talked about
paperwork in general, and sothis week I'm going to start
getting into the nitty gritty,start talking about school
supplies, and you know it's sucha broad topic.
You know I felt like it's not aone size fits all.
So this week we're going totalk about elementary and middle
(02:18):
school.
Next week we're going to talkabout high school and college
and then the week after thatwe're going to talk about back
to school shopping and then bythat time, school is going to be
done, started here in the greatstate of Florida.
So, when it comes to elementaryschool supplies, I feel like
buying school supplies forelementary kids has got to be
(02:41):
one of the hardest One of thehardest things to do because
it's not clear cut.
I feel like this microphone isgoing to give me the blues for
this entire episode.
It's not clear cut and youwould think okay, my child's in
kindergarten, my child is infirst grade, they all going to
(03:02):
need the same thing.
But no, each teacher requiressomething different and it seems
like every year the list isgetting longer and longer.
I went today and just verified,did my check while I was
writing out the episodes and Iwas like all right, let me take
a look at some stuff.
I've been in the stores, I'veseen the list in the stores and
I'm like, my goodness, this listis long.
(03:25):
However, once I started lookingat the list, I was like, okay,
cool, I get it, I understandwhat's going on here.
So I got my notes up over here.
I got them all.
Good today, my notes over here,so that I can make sure you are
getting some accurateinformation.
And, like I said, this is whereI live, locally.
(03:46):
So where you live, the pricesmay be different.
So always check to make surethat the price because I don't
want you to be like well, shesaid it was this Just bear with
me and make sure you, whereveryou're listening from, make sure
you check into the things thatare in your area.
These are things that arespecific to my area here in the
(04:07):
state of florida.
So the first thing is makingsure you obtain the list.
Now, um, many different ways youcan obtain the list.
I know back in the day you usedto get go in the store.
They had this big old thingwith all these papers in and
whatever school your child wentto, you get the list for that
(04:28):
school and then you will walkaround and do your shopping.
Well, now you can just go.
Now you can just go to theschool's website and nine times
out of 10, they're going to havethe individualized list on
there.
They'll probably have it by umgrade, not so much the teacher,
(04:51):
but if you're getting closerinto school starting and you
already have your child'steacher name and different
things like that, then it may bespecific.
I know here I'm not sure ifthey do it anymore when New Face
was in elementary we actuallygot postcards a couple of days
I'm not a couple of days acouple of weeks prior to school
(05:12):
starting and you know,introducing their sales.
I'm such and such.
You know I'm going to be NewFace's teacher for the upcoming
school year.
Here's a little code.
You can scan this, tell you allthe supplies that I have and
tell you how I run my classroomthe whole nine yards.
So those are just a few of theways that you can obtain your
(05:38):
child's school supply list, andI always say the sooner the
better, and I think this is oneof my bullet points at the end,
so I won't go into it too much.
But those are two ways and youwant to be careful because I
live in a big city, I live inTampa, so Tampa is big, there
are over 100 schools, so I knowsometimes we go shopping on
(05:59):
different sides of town and notevery side of town has the
school supply list of town andnot every side of town has the
school supply list.
Oh, my goodness, every side oftown does not have the school
supply list for the other partsof town.
So make sure, if you're goingto go shop on like a different
side of town, make sure you havemake sure that store
(06:20):
encompasses the area that youlive in, and if not, they may
not have school supply list thatyou are looking for.
So just always just make surethat you check with that as well
.
So the next thing I want to talkabout is you know, back in the
day, you know, like when I wentto school, you know, even when
(06:42):
Marco Polo was in school toschool, you know, even when, uh,
marco Polo was in school, wewent to, I went to the store and
I bought, like I got the listand I was like, okay, he need
crowns, he need markers, he needcolored pencils.
Um, we used to do that, but nowthere are options.
Okay, now there are optionsthat you can, um, that you can
(07:05):
do different stuff with.
My notes is over here and I'mtrying to read them at the same
time.
So you have to determinewhether you go shop for yourself
or buy a, a package.
So they have these packages nowand I want to say I want to say
(07:27):
when New Face was going to theelementary school by our house,
I want to say they had likesupply packs where, if you
didn't want to do the shopping,each teacher or each grade
tailored a specific supply packfor you to just purchase and
they would just get it on thefirst day of school.
And you know, I was like, ohokay, like this is cool.
(07:51):
And so I remember when I wentto look at it, like that
particular year, I want to sayit was like 80 something dollars
and I was like 80 somethingdollars and I'm like, do I
really spend that when I goshopping for him?
And I'm like ain't no way,because if you catch it early
(08:12):
enough, stores they have stuff,most of the supplies, with the
exception of markers, coloredpencils.
Yeah, markers and coloredpencils are gonna be less than
dollar, less than 50 cent, ifyou catch it on the right
weekend or you catch it at theright store.
So I feel like the differenceis the shelf.
(08:33):
Self-shopping allows you to goin and purchase the things that
you feel you need, because youmay look at the school pack list
and be like, well, they havethis in here and that in there.
School pack list and be like,well, they have this in here and
that in there, and I don'treally think.
You know my child needs that.
Or if you go to the store andyou self shop, then you can
determine what brand, because inthose packs it may all be just
(08:56):
name brand stuff.
And would it be in just namebrand stuff?
It's going to cost you a littlebit more money.
But if you go to the store thenyou know you don't need a name.
They don't need a name brand ofscissors.
You know they don't need a namebrand of paper or crowns or
what have you that stuff notgoing to last through the year.
(09:18):
Anyways, I pay $4 for a box ofcrowns when you can pay $0.99
for a box of crowns.
They may have a different brand.
That's going to do the samething.
You know, if you are budgetconscious and you don't have
quite a lot of money to spend,then you know you may want to go
self-shop for yourself.
But if you're a working parentand you just don't have that
(09:39):
kind of time, you know thealternative is a supply pack.
Just understand it's going tocost you a little bit more.
If I haven't said it, we'retalking about elementary first.
We'll get into middle schoolsecond.
So when I was looking, theschool supply packs are
typically available to purchasefrom a third party vendor, but
(10:03):
it's through the school, sothey'll like that.
The school, on the websitethey'll be like click this link
If you want to buy the supplypack, we'll have it delivered to
the school, and what have you?
And you can do it like that andit may take a couple of weeks,
so you may have to do a coupleof weeks in advance.
It may come in before the firstday of school, it may not.
(10:23):
And so for elementary, when Iwas looking, I just randomly
went on there and I just clickedone I think I did first grade
and the range for the prices ofthe pack, cause you can get a
pack with, like a small pack, amedium pack or a large pack,
just depending on what sizestuff you want, and it can range
anywhere from $100 to $167.
(10:46):
This is on just the lower endcompared to the higher end of
the packages that they have.
And I don't per se, when I goshopping I don't keep my
receipts and be like, okay, well, I paid this for this, how much
(11:07):
are they charging?
I don't really price match it.
I just prefer to self-shop.
I feel like I have more controlthat way compared to.
If I'm buying a school supplypack, because you have to
remember if you're orderingthrough the school it's going to
get shipped directly to theschool you kind of don't have,
even though it comes wrapped upand everything.
(11:28):
I feel like you kind of don'thave any say so in that you know
, because you may have paid fora pack, and what if people in 30
other states are ordering thesame pack and they run out of
stuff?
But you've already paid all ofthis money and stuff.
So now your kid has to startthe beginning of the year
without that stuff and in turnyou still got to go to the store
(11:49):
to buy it.
And I just don't think if itworks for you I know I've had a
couple of coworkers that saidthat they do that If it works
for you, I'm not mad at it.
You know it's just very priceycompared to taking time and,
like I said, I understandeverybody doesn't have time to
go to the store and get theirkids school supplies.
(12:10):
I just always make it a pointto go out and do it.
(12:31):
Middle school Middle schoolsupplies are in another lane of
their own.
When it comes to middle schools, you get between six and seven
classes.
I know some have all six ofthose classes in a day.
I know some places have blockscheduling.
I know some places have blockscheduling so they have three
classes this day or they, youknow, like they don't A schedule
(12:52):
or B schedule.
And so, although you don't needas many supplies as you did
your child in elementary, thesupplies that they need from
middle school just happen to bea little bit more complex.
Because one of the things,unless your child has an
elective, your child's not goingto need scissors, they're not
(13:16):
going to need crayons, they'renot going to need color pencils,
they're not going to needmarkers.
They may need a ruler.
They're not going to need gluesticks unless they're taking art
or they're taking AVID orsomething like that.
They're not going to utilize amajority of that stuff.
And then I know from being inmiddle, teaching in middle
(13:39):
school, that if we do somethingthat needs that, something that
needs that, then typically Iwould have those supplies on
hand because, look, we'realready expecting these middle
schools to walk around and keepup with their stuff, with their
basic stuff, and that's a littleminute stuff that you know they
just shouldn't have to keep upwith.
(14:00):
For middle school I did preferto get new faces stuff myself.
Um, because you would.
I would always start, andtypically school starts here on
a Thursday or Friday.
This year it starts on a Monday, which is really weird.
So I had to adjust, like myschool supply shopping um, which
(14:21):
I have not done yet.
Um, I'm going to have to adjust.
I'm going to have to do thatthis week, now that I think
about it.
I have to adjust because Allright Side track squirrel type
of moment for middle school,each teacher wants something
(14:45):
different.
So you may have a red folder forlanguage arts, a blue folder
for math, a green folder forscience.
They get very specific and veryparticular about it, very
particular about it.
(15:05):
One thing I have learned kidsin middle school oh my God, they
, I don't know what they do tothese folders.
I don't know if they eat thesefolders.
I don't know, I don't know whatthey do with these folders.
Buy extras, okay, cause these,these folders go to war um on a
daily Um.
But back to what I was saying,cause I re, I just remembered
(15:27):
y'all, school typically startson a Thursday or Friday here,
but this year starting on aMonday.
So what I would normally do issend new face to school with a
spiral, some pencils, ink, penpaper and something to write
with, because on the first dayyou're trying to learn how to
get to your class, you're tryingto learn what your teacher
(15:47):
expects and different stuff likethat.
It's not too much work going onon those first and second days.
So by the time the first andsecond day is out the way, on
that weekend I can go to thestore and I can get any
specialized items that theyrequire, whether it be like a
five-subject notebook or athree-subject green notebook or
(16:08):
something like that.
This year I'm assuming that meand the teacher are going to be
the week before and so I'll havethe weekend to kind of to kind
of get his supplies, butnonetheless he going to rock
with them basics anyway.
But we'll talk more about highschool stuff next week in the
(16:28):
high school and college episode.
Now, just like with elementary,middle school does offer a
supply pack.
I thought it was pretty weirdbecause I'm like it's middle
school, I don't know.
So I just clicked on a randommiddle school far area seeing
(16:48):
what they had and their supplypack lists are very, very, very
cheaper than elementary.
So those range between 42 and100 because, like I said, it's
pretty clear cut with middleschool.
They just need something rightwith some paper, some folders.
They don't need all thespecialized stuff unless they're
(17:10):
, um, they have an art electiveor design elective or something,
something as such.
Now we're talking about schoolsupplies.
Elementary and middle school, Ithink, are the two biggest
areas where I feel like this isan issue.
(17:33):
I'm talking about communitysupplies and so let me read to
you.
I pulled up a school supplylist just to see so it had it
broke down into the needed itemsand then some of the items that
they are asking for, and so, onthe middle school list, some of
(17:56):
the things that they're askingfor are paper towels, and you
say, well, paper towels, likewhy they just can't go.
You know, get paper towels, youknow, like why we can't get
them from the janitor orsomething like that.
Like, no, it doesn't alwayswork like that.
There are budget issues thatyou know just don't allow, and I
(18:17):
don't think we realize howmessy our kids can be.
And even in the classroom youwould just think, oh, we just
called a janitor to come cleanit up.
Well, what if the janitor isbusy and the janitor cannot, the
custodian cannot come clean itup.
Teacher can't just let it bethere because that's a hazard.
Somebody might get hurt orsomething like that.
(18:44):
Some of the other things thatare on here and this is for
elementary list, some of thethings that I see on here small
toys for prizes, a lot ofsmaller grades I would say K
through third have like littletreasure boxes.
You know, so when the kids dogood on their stuff, you know,
or they had a good week, theydidn't have to move their clip,
(19:04):
or they got all green stars,they can go get a prize at the
prize box, kind of like a littlereward system.
Lysol disinfectant spraybecause kids get sick, kids get
germs.
Boxes of band-aids get germs,boxes of band-aids.
(19:25):
I felt like this is aninteresting one because every
school has a nurse.
However, kids don't always getthe opportunity to go to the
nurse.
And then, you know, going downto the nurse for a band-aid, for
like a little paper cut, ofcourse, if it's serious, the
teacher's going to send themdown there, not saying that.
But you know, if a's serious,the teacher's going to sit them
down, or not saying that.
But you know, if a kid just hasjust a small, inconspicuous
boo-boo, you know it's too easyto give them a little, a little
(19:49):
band-aid so that they can go ontheir way, so I didn't feel like
it was too far fetched.
Another thing that I've seen ontheir dry erase markers I've
seen copier paper on there.
Yeah, just random little stuff.
And you say I'm not buying allthat stuff.
Tissue tissue is the big thing.
I don't know if these kidsthink they should eat the tissue
(20:11):
or what, but those are some bigitems that are on there and I
at first I, until I got into theschool system I was like why am
I going to go in here and buythis stuff?
Like, this is the school theyshould have it.
Not only until I got into theschool that I realized that that
(20:32):
stuff, dude, we, we ain't gotthat kind of stuff.
And you know, if a teacher, ifa parent help us out, cool, um,
especially dry erase markers forus to write on the board, write
the assignments and differentstuff like that, um.
So I always say, if you havethe finances, you have a couple
extra dollars and you look onthe bottom of your child's
(20:53):
school supply list or you go andlook at their syllabus for
middle school or what have you,and a teacher asks for extra
pencils or extra some tissue,dry erase markers and stuff like
that.
If you can afford it, I wouldencourage you to give this to
them, because they don't alwayshave it and with the budget cuts
(21:14):
going on and stuff like that,in the school districts and
through the Department ofEducation as a whole, a lot of
funding is getting ready to belost and teachers don't make
enough.
As is, One thing I always doand I always did in elementary
and in middle school and I stilldo it now is when we go to open
house, I always just ask theteacher well, is there something
(21:35):
that I can bring to give you,you know, or something like that
, something that I can help youwith?
And they're always just sodelighted like, oh my gosh, like
, yes.
And they're always just sodelighted Like, oh my gosh, like
, yes, like, could you buypencils or different stuff.
Like that Kids will be holdinga pencil one minute and lose a
pencil the next minute.
Ok, like it's like a magictrick or something.
(21:57):
I always try to make sure thatI donate is something, and when
I say donate, you don't have togo out and buy this massive kind
of stuff.
You know, it's little simplestuff pencils.
They have boxes 24 boxes ofpencils for a dollar.
I get a couple of them, givethem to the teachers and then we
(22:17):
good to go to be and I and Iguarantee you that goes a long
way.
I do it for the first quarterand I do it for the first
semester and I do it for thesecond semester as well.
When he was in elementary Ialways bought extra markers,
crayons and different stuff likethat, because I do understand
(22:37):
that there are some parents whomay not be able to afford
everything their child needs.
And then you also have parentswho just refuse to buy school
supplies all the way around, forwhatever reason and no fault of
the kids, you know.
So I always make sure I donateum for kids to for them to have
(22:57):
extra in case a kid come in, youknow, and they have that need,
I know.
Do know sometimes that kidscome in from shelter and foster
care and they come in withnothing.
So if I can take foster careand they come in with nothing,
so if I can take, you know, I goto Starbucks and spend $30, $40
at Starbucks in a week, youknow, and I can take the $30,
$40, get some supplies so that achild can have some supplies.
(23:20):
You know, because, whatever thesituation is, you know who am I
to judge.
But I always give um becauseI've been in there, I've been in
those teacher shoes before andI know what it's like to not
have, you know, supplies and Iknow what it's like to have a
student come in who doesn't havesupplies, either because their
(23:41):
family is on a hardship or theirparents just don't care um
about them having uh supplies.
Um, be nice to the teachers.
A lot of this stuff comes outof there, but, like I said, it
comes out of there, um out oftheir, out of their pockets.
So, you know, try to just, ifyou can, just try to help Um.
(24:04):
The thing that I always say thiselementary, middle school
parents do not send all thesupplies to school with your
child on the first day or leavethem there at open house.
Okay, because in two weekslittle Johnny going to come home
and tell you that their crayonsis broke up or they got three
pencils left.
Even with new face, he likemechanical pencils.
(24:27):
He get two mechanical pencilsat a time.
If he lose them, he the don'thave to ask somebody for one or
he gonna have to come ask me forsome.
Get them a pencil pouch orsomething like that so they can
keep their stuff up with it.
That way it's not just free intheir um, just free enrollment
in their backpack.
One thing that new face do thatpisses me off to the court is
(24:48):
he will write in a marker or hedo his math in pen.
Do not do that.
Do not send all the supplies tothe school at one time.
That way, if little Johnnyneeds some more, you ain't got
to go back to the store.
One thing I always say is well,get extra supplies while you're
at the store.
Keep them from the house, makethat your house set, because I
(25:12):
know in elementary they sendhome homework assignments and
different stuff like that, andsometimes you're going to need a
crown, you're going to need amarker or a pencil or something
like that.
And just make sure you haveextra supplies at home so that
you can help the kids with theirhomework and you don't have to
be.
Well, little johnny, can youbring your crown box home, you
know, so we can do thisassignment, you know, make sure
(25:33):
you have an extra pair ofscissors.
Um, I used to have a caboodlefor new face that had all the
stuff in it index cards,different stuff like that just
so we had it at home, so hewouldn't have to bring his stuff
from school to the house andlug it back and forth and then
potentially risk losing it.
(25:53):
Make sure that if your kids arein elementary, make sure you're
writing their name or you'retagging their stuff.
Little kids got sticky fingersand stuff like that and if they
lose their stuff they'll takesomebody else and be like no, it
wasn't theirs, it was mine.
Whether it be putting initialson the pencils or you know what
(26:14):
have you?
Label your kids stuff.
It's not to be malicious, butjust to help them keep up with
their stuff.
And my last tidbit is for kids,and I would say this would be
for parents of kids pre-Kthrough third grade Either keep
(26:35):
a spare change of clothes andundergarments in your child's
backpack or ask the teacher youknow sometimes they have cubbies
and stuff If they can keep aspare change of clothes in their
cubby, in their desk or ifthere's space in the classroom
for that, simply because youknow they're still young and you
(26:55):
know they may have an accidentor something.
They may spill food onthemselves and you know, or
might have a bathroom accidentor something like that and they
need to change clothes.
I always just say it's a goodidea just for them to have a
change of clothes and it willprevent you as a parent from
having to take off from work andgo to the school and take your
(27:15):
child clothes because they hadan incident and they had to sit
in wet clothes or dirty clothesor what have you, and you just
always have it there.
It's kind of similar to daycare, where you had to bring extra
clothes and stuff for them.
I suggest doing that as well,just because and even when New
Face was in middle school, Itold them just take your extra
shirt with you or something Justbecause you spill something on
(27:36):
yourself.
You know it never hurts.
Even myself, my big grown selfI keep a bag in the car that got
a whole new outfit in it justin case I spill something on
myself at work.
You know I spill coffee orsomething like that.
But those and, last but notleast, shop as soon as possible.
Like I said, I am behind thepower curve and I found that, um
(28:00):
, some of the better deals occurright after the 4th of july
when they're putting the stuffout compared to closer to school
.
So I'm going to have to get ittogether and go get these skills
blasts.
But, like I said, new faces inhigh school, so I'm really not
(28:20):
pressed for it.
I ain't got to go out there andfight for scissors and scissors
, whiteout markers and crowns.
You know everything's going tobe good.
So that's the end of thisepisode.
Like I said, next week I'll jumpinto high school and college
because we're going to get alittle bit more in depth in that
, because we're not dealing withwhat I consider the littles
(28:41):
anymore.
You know we're trying to ishigh school leading into college
, and it's a little bit morecomplex.
High school leading intocollege, and it's a little bit
more complex.
So their supplies are a littlebit more complex than what you
would have for elementary andmiddle school.
So before we go, y'all know Ihave my song lyric of the week
(29:06):
and you know this week you knowI was going to do something to
keep it simple.
So I'm going to go with all thesmall things about Blink-182.
All right, if you have notalready, please make sure you
are liking, subscribing,commenting and rating um so that
we can get the show out thereeven more Um, apple, spotify,
(29:28):
youtube, wherever you listen tothis at or wherever you watch
this at as well.
Make sure you hit the littlenotification thing.
That way, when a new episode isreleased, you are the first to
know.
Also, make sure you follow uson IG at.
The gag is pot, new clips,snippets of each episode for the
week, is shot out, so you'llget little snippets and then you
(29:51):
can enjoy the full episode onFriday.
If you would like, you canfollow my personal page at
SmartFit.
I always get it wrong because Idon't just put it out.
I think it's SmartFitunderscore Ogie, or, yes,
smartfit Ogie.
Smartfit underscore Oki on IGor something like that.
(30:14):
I don't know y'all.
But we come to the end.
Thank you for joining me onanother episode and until next
week.
Bye, guys.
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