"School supply shopping looks a little bit different than it did when we were kids. For example, many schools offer school supplies delivery versus needing to head to Target before everything sells out. In other classrooms, markers, crayons, pencils, and glue sticks are communal supplies at the elementary school level. So even if your mom springs for the giant 96 box of Crayola crayons, you have to share it with all your classmates (which isnāt a bad thing, of course). However, some parents are noticing some surprising items on their kidsā school supply list that definitely werenāt on our lists growing up.
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This back-to-school season, one mom took to TikTok to address a surprising item on her kidsā list of school supplies, and parents on the internetāincluding many teachersāhad a lot to say. Her viral school supply list video has over a million views, 60K likes, and thousands of comments and shares.
Theresa, a mom of three with the TikTok handle @momstersinc_, wanted to get one thing straight before she shared the weird item on her kidsā school supply list, āItās not about the money, Iām happy to donate to the classroom, teachers are underpaid, they should not have to supply their classrooms. I can afford school suppliesā¦ I am happy to do this.ā But she went on to pose a legitimate question about her sonās school supply list. Thankfully, plenty of teachers and parents weighed in with answers.
The Surprising Item on Her Sonās School Supply List
In the viral school supply video, Theresa asks why her sonās kindergarten teacher requests they bring 48 glue sticks. With 20 kids in his class, that meansāif every parent buys themānearly 1000 glue sticks. Not only does Theresa question the quantityābut also the classroom storage.
Was It a Typo?
Many commenters wondered if the school supply list had a typo. Was it meant to say 4-8, or just four or just eight? Theresa posted a follow-up video to show that, indeed, it was not a typo and that parents showed up with āa million glue sticks.ā
Why Do Kids Need This Many School Supplies?
We already know teachers are underpaid, and many are expected to outfit their classrooms out of their own pockets. Additionally, not every family will be able to afford all the supplies from the list, especially with rising costs. The National Retail Foundation estimates that families will spend an average of just under $875 on back-to-school purchases this year. Theresa shared that a 30-pack of glue sticks is $8.27 where she livesāso the 48 glue sticks are only about 1.5 percent of the total cost of back-to-school for families.
However, cost alone isnāt the only factor. Some of the top liked and engaged with comments are from teachers themselves sharing the (often funny) reality of what happens inside their kindergarten classrooms.
āFirst grade teacher šš¼āāļø. If a parent brought me this many glue sticks I would kiss them. I promise we need this many!!āā@Kat C.
ā1 kindergartener = 1 glue stick per craft šāā @Kelsey West.
āAs a former kinder teacher, I promise she will still need more later in the yearāā@Holly.
āI wish I could tell you what my kinder students do with their gluesticks. But I can assure you I go through 1,000+ in any given year. I keep them in a plastic bin!āā@at3178.
āThey disappear so quickly!! After being in a classroom this seems reasonable to me. š They dry out. Get smooshed. Go missing. Itās crazy,āā@Heather.
āI teach pre-k! Weāve been in school for 10 days & have already gone through almost 2 dozen glue sticks in my class of 17. šµāš«āā@AB.
āSecond grade teacher here! And yes! They will be needed! And if you donāt ask for them all at the beginning of the year, then most wonāt bring them later!āā@Stacy.
What Were Some of the Other Surprising School Supplies?
My third-graderās list was pretty standard, except for one item. Her teacher requested 72 sharpened pencils, which seemed like a lot at the time. But after watching Theresaās video, Iām going to guess pencils get broken and lost nearly as often as glue sticks, so perhaps it was a reasonable request. However, it looks like Iām not alone on the pencils. Fifth-grade parent @Shawna Wildes wrote, ā104 pencils. Iām with you on the thought of 104 pencils per childā¦.20 kids in a classroom thatās 2,080 pencils!!!!ā
Here are some of the surprising school supply items other parents shared:
āiPad stylusāā@Sarah
āTwo sets of headphones š£āā@staceefrazer
āI feel this way about the 4 boxes of tissues per child lolāā@sarahbliss817
āLarge ziplock bags for accidentsāā@Amber reddon.
Final Thoughts on This Viral School Supply List
As many parents in the comments stated, Iām all for supporting teachers with their requested school supplies, Amazon Wishlists, and moreāespecially because Iām fortunate enough to have the budget to do so. Theresaās posts also offer a good reminder to check in with your childās teacher later in the year. Thereās a good chance they may need more supplies, especially those disinfectant wipes and tissues during sick seasonāand probably even glue sticks after all the winter holiday and Valentineās Day crafts are behind them.
Kathy Sisson, Senior Editor
A mom of two, Kathy is passionately committed to sharing the honest, helpfulāand often humorousāstories of motherhood, as she navigates her own everyday adventures of work, marriage, and parenting. She honed her creative and strategic skills at advertising agencies in Detroit and Chicago, before pivoting from marketing to editorial. Now instead of telling brand stories, sheās sharing her own, with articles published across popular parenting sitesāincluding hundreds of stories on The Everymom.