School supplies, new to this whole parent of a student thing, please take pity on me

My son has been registered for school, the only information I have been given is what school he is going to attend.  I know from reading MOL in the past that he won't find out his class assignment until close to September.  How do I know what school supplies he will need?  Just generic stuff, like pencils, erasers, and a notebook, or are there other things a second grader would need for school? I don't want to wait until September 4th to buy everything, but I'm worried that if I go shopping now I'll over buy on stuff he won't actually need.  

His previous school experience was a co-op that was structured very differently from a traditional school setting, so I'm totally new to the public school parent gig.

I entered the second grade in 1980, I can't even remember my teacher's name, let alone what supplies I needed   Oh wait, it might have been Mrs. Ebb, but I'm not 100% sure on that.  I'm guessing that Trapper Keepers are no longer a thing?   

I'm sure someone will have more specific and recent information, but you might find this article from the Village Green useful.http://villagegreennj.com/schools-kids/looking-school-supply-lists-ptahsa-covered/

And I think the name may have been changed but I've definitely seen some students carrying what looks like a Trapper Keeper!

Good luck!

what school and grade?

2nd grade.  From prior posts, I would gather than she does not know which school yet and may not know until just before school opens.

Here is the supply list for south mountain - it may not be exact if you are not there but it should be  close.(I could not attached the original and cut/paste was challenging)

1 Bazic/Pamson 1′′ 3 Ring Binder - Blue  

4 dozen #2 Pencils, Ticonderoga, Sharpened 

 1 Prang 7′′ Colored Pencils, Sharpened – 12/set 

1 Crayola Crayons, Tuck Box, 16/Box 

 1Highlighter, Chisel Tip, Yellow, w/Pocket Clip 

4 Washable Glue Stick, .74 oz. 

2 Stick On Notes, 3′′x3′′, Yellow, 100 Sheet/Pad 

 3 Pk Erasers, Pencil Cap, Latex Free, Asst. 12/pk 

 1 5′′ Scissors, Blunt Tip, Latex Free

1 Vinyl Pencil Case, 11′′x 6′′

 1Notebook, 1 Sub, WR, Perf, 70 Ct., Black  

1 Notebook, 1 Sub, WR, Perf, 70 Ct, Blue 

 3 C-Line -Poly Folder: 2 Pocket, Blue, Red and Yellow 

1 Box Facial Tissue, Hypo-Allergenic, 200 Ct 

 1 Markers, Washable, Classic Colors, Wide Tip, 8/Set 

2 Roaring Spring 3 Marble Book, Slap Line Rule in Red - Staples Item no -601632 

Each school's PTA posts a supply list. Here is Marshall-Jeffersons. http://marshalljefferson.org/H...

You may get more information with your teacher letter (which will come a few days before school starts). It is fine if you don't have everything the first day. First day, Kid should have labeled backpack, labeled lunch (that does not need to be refrigerated or heated), water and snack, a folder and something to write with. You'll probably be asked to send in additional  tissues, sanitizer etc. in the winter months when supplies run low. 

You can set him up with my payments plus account if he wants a school lunch. https://www.somsd.k12.nj.us/Pa...

A menu will come home the first few days of school. Pizza Fridays are popular. The Wednesday pancakes... not so much. 

bog said:

what school and grade?

2nd grade.  Not 100% of which school yet unfortunately, though from the B of E it looks like a 95% chance it will be Seth Boyden.

srp said:

 First day, Kid should have labeled backpack, labeled lunch (that does not need to be refrigerated or heated), water and snack, a folder and something to write with. You'll probably be asked to send in additional  tissues, sanitizer etc. in the winter months when supplies run low. 

You can set him up with my payments plus account if he wants a school lunch. https://www.somsd.k12.nj.us/Pa...

When does the school lunch start?  Do I have to send in a bagged lunch for the first week, or if I set up an account can he eat a school lunch from day one?

As an aside, I do like how they seem to set up the lunch accounts, general and/or lunch only.  My SIL (different town) had an issue where they ONLY had a general account, so her daughter would NEVER buy the school lunch and would ONLY buy food at the snack bar, running out of money by the second week of the month.  How my SIL ended up dealing with this was she would give her daughter exact change every morning for lunch.  If her daughter spent it on junk, so be it, but at least she wasn't able to spend excessive amounts on junk food.  But it was pain, and involved handing the child cash every day and hoping it didn't get lost on the way to school.  Having two types of accounts seems much better when young grade school children are involved.

srp said:


A menu will come home the first few days of school. Pizza Fridays are popular. The Wednesday pancakes... not so much. 

Are the pancakes really that bad?  If my son was told he was getting pancakes for lunch he would think he had died and gone to heaven.  Or is the parents that it is not popular with, which I can totally understand.

bog said:

Here is the supply list for south mountain - it may not be exact if you are not there but it should be  close.(I could not attached the original and cut/paste was challenging)

1 Bazic/Pamson 1′′ 3 Ring Binder - Blue  

4 dozen #2 Pencils, Ticonderoga, Sharpened 

 1 Prang 7′′ Colored Pencils, Sharpened – 12/set 

1 Crayola Crayons, Tuck Box, 16/Box 

 1Highlighter, Chisel Tip, Yellow, w/Pocket Clip 

4 Washable Glue Stick, .74 oz. 

2 Stick On Notes, 3′′x3′′, Yellow, 100 Sheet/Pad 

 3 Pk Erasers, Pencil Cap, Latex Free, Asst. 12/pk 

 1 5′′ Scissors, Blunt Tip, Latex Free

1 Vinyl Pencil Case, 11′′x 6′′

 1Notebook, 1 Sub, WR, Perf, 70 Ct., Black  

1 Notebook, 1 Sub, WR, Perf, 70 Ct, Blue 

 3 C-Line -Poly Folder: 2 Pocket, Blue, Red and Yellow 

1 Box Facial Tissue, Hypo-Allergenic, 200 Ct 

 1 Markers, Washable, Classic Colors, Wide Tip, 8/Set 

2 Roaring Spring 3 Marble Book, Slap Line Rule in Red - Staples Item no -601632 

I think you misunderstood, he is going to grade school, not college.  Oh, wait, that is the supply list for grade school?   

My kid likes the pancakes/french toast (alternates by week) Wednesdays. It's the only one she buys. The rest of the week she brings lunch.

Spontaneous, if you plan to get the supplies yourself from Target, Walmart or Staples, get there soon. School supplies get thin right before school starts. Amazon is a good alternative.

Also, for next year, your school may participate in a "back to school" supply box where you can pre-order the next year. My kids' schools do this is it's a nice convenience.

Good luck!

sprout said:

My kid likes the pancakes/french toast (alternates by week) Wednesdays. It's the only one she buys. The rest of the week she brings lunch.

My son, who isn't picky when it comes to eating at home, tends to not eat just about anything I pack for lunch even when I let him choose what to have.  Nutritionally I'm not worried, he's healthy and growing, but having him eat something for lunch just helps with concentration in the second half of the day.  I'm hoping that a hot lunch, as nutritionally questionable as the menu seems (apple juice is NOT a fruit, and pizza EVERY week!?!), will be more tempting than anything I could bag for him.  I'm willing to sacrifice nutrition for lunch in exchange for him hopefully being well fed going into the second half of the day.

Hahaha said:

Spontaneous, if you plan to get the supplies yourself from Target, Walmart or Staples, get there soon. School supplies get thin right before school starts. Amazon is a good alternative.

This is my worry.  I'm seeing school supplies in stores, but since I don't have a clue of what to buy I'd like to buy soon, but don't want to just guess what is needed. 

From srp's post I decided to look at the PTA's site instead of the school's site, and have found information for new parents.  But no supply lists unless I'm still looking in the wrong spot, and the drop off/pick up instructions seem to be from 2015/2016.  The school we're zoned for (he's on a waiting list, but I'm not assuming by any stretch that he'll get in) has a list of items needed.  So frustrating. 

If you're pretty sure he's going to Seth Boyden, I'd suggest calling someone on the SB PTA board (at least the president(s) may be listed on the school website), or any SB parent you may know.

Enjoy the new school year!  (and yes, the supply lists did always seem excessive, even more so in middle school, where there can be specific requirements from several different teachers)

For Seth Boyden, there's a post on their Facebook page about school supplies http://sethboyden.com/our-pta/...

The school lunch is available the first day, so if you've managed  to set up an account, your kid should be good to go. (Pancakes are whole wheat--my kid like pancakes, but not those. The French toast sticks are a little better). If your kid doesn't like to hot lunch, they can get a sandwich. 

Some of the most stressful times in my life were spent at Target with two grade schoolers and two supply lists. I'm starting to hyperventilate just thinking about it. I'm only half kidding.

blianderson said:

Some of the most stressful times in my life were spent at Target with two grade schoolers and two supply lists. I'm starting to hyperventilate just thinking about it. I'm only half kidding.

You're not kidding, LOL. I shopped for my niece once as a favor to my sister and I sat down on the floor in the supply aisle at Target, overwhelmed. You want to get everything on the list, you don't want to be that parent who buys the wrong Crayons (there are wrong crayons btw) or the cheap pencils, if they do communal supplies.  I pray that when mine enters school the PTA has organized supply backpacks you can just buy and be done. It's a bit stressful. 

The Seth Boyden list includes "addition and subtraction flashcards."  No other description, no brand, nothing.  Is there a certain type?

I have three kids.  I've been a parent for nearly eight years now.  Up until now I've never understood the "mommy juice" comments.  Looking at this shopping list, and trying to figure out this whole registration thing (it shouldn't take five trips to the board of ed to register a child, just sayin'...) I am now starting to understand the mommy juice thing.

While panic-inducing outages at local supply depots are real, the truth is he won't need all this on the first day, and some of it he will never need.  After my daughter graduated Columbia we donated a dozen lined spiral notebooks to charity that had been acquired under grade-school direction.  First day, he probably needs a pencil.  Maybe a notebook.  The rest of those things on that list above will be, for the most part, back in stock in a few weeks, or always available on Amazon.  The grocery stores have serious markdowns in late August/early September as they clear it all out, but Staples always has 95% of the things on that list.

Oh, send in the kleenex the first day, too.  The teacher will appreciate it.

Back in my day we would walk our kids to school and back, uphill, both ways. And we would have to fill out form after form for each child, by hand, every. single. year. Some years my friends and I would meet in my gazebo and fill out the forms together and drink, trading emergency contacts all around.

It's still uphill both ways, trust me.

At least it will be when they tell their kids about it.

Back to school list for parents buying school supplies:

8 oz bottle of bubble bath, any variety

1 pint of ice cream, Ben & Jerry's preferred

1 bottle of Rescue Remedy

1 bottle of wine

30 day supply of Xanax

3 oz of marijuana, chocolate thai preferred

*SATIRE folks, don't report me to CPS please!!!!!

blianderson said:

Back in my day we would walk our kids to school and back, uphill, both ways. And we would have to fill out form after form for each child, by hand, every. single. year. Some years my friends and I would meet in my gazebo and fill out the forms together and drink, trading emergency contacts all around.

With any luck he'll get into our zoned school which is only two blocks away.  I won't mind walking him, easier than loading three kids into the car.

However, a three ringed binder is a must for back to school so you can beat off the grizzly bears with it

spontaneous said:

Back to school list for parents buying school supplies:

8 oz bottle of bubble bath, any variety


1 pint of ice cream, Ben & Jerry's preferred


1 bottle of Rescue Remedy

1 bottle of wine


30 day supply of Xanax

3 oz of marijuana, chocolate thai preferred








*SATIRE folks, don't report me to CPS please!!!!!

Save the wine for helping with homework.

Maybe it isn't still the case, but when my kids were at Seth Boyden, the PTA had a way for parents to pre-order supplies for their children based exactly on the grade level or teacher lists and I believe that it also served as a fundraiser to benefit the PTA.  It definitely made things easier.

Personally, I think that "Back to School" has gotten as bad as (worse than?) Hallmark Holidays.  Everyone gets whipped into a frenzy to buy all this stuff at the beginning of the year, much of it not needed any time soon and some of it never needed.  

We didn't always succeed, but by the time the kids were in middle school, we tried very hard to just keep a stock of the basics at home and then purchase other things as they were truly needed rather than the "blitz" during or before the first week of school.

In my experience (South Mountain parent here) it all goes into a common school supply closet for the teachers and they dole out whatever is needed as needed. I never saw the exact stuff I purchased for my child except for maybe the pencil holder thingie????

This whole school supply thing has gotten way out of control. We need to revolt against the bureaucracy and its compulsion to over complicate and regulate everything.

sac said:

Maybe it isn't still the case, but when my kids were at Seth Boyden, the PTA had a way for parents to pre-order supplies for their children based exactly on the grade level or teacher lists and I believe that it also served as a fundraiser to benefit the PTA.  It definitely made things easier.

I think that is at the end of the school year, or at least that is what I recall seeing in past threads.  We're registering mid summer, so I have no idea of who to even contact.

I don't think SB did a pre-order through the PTA this year.

it does get a little crazy. Check the sales at staples/Walmart/etc or Amazon, etc. if you have the space it's great to keep some basics on hand—marble notebooks, packs of pencils, colored pencils/crayons/markers. After a few years of the kids barely using some of the above I just started sending them in with the same colored pencils (or whatever) for a few years. It's just so wasteful to toss barely used stuff. Even now I have bins and bins of colored pencils and I have only one kid left at home and she's in HS. 

I often found staples was not the cheapest unless you found the item on sale there. Dollar stores/family dollar have 3 subject notebooks. Costco usually has a three pack of 5 subject notebooks. (You probably won't need them for second grade but who knows.) 

Speaking as a teacher, please don't skimp on the pencils.  The Ticonderoga ones are easy to write with, and sharpen beautifully.  Cheaper pencils tend to split when sharpened, or sharpen off balance, or have smudgy erasers.  

SuzanneNg said:

Speaking as a teacher, please don't skimp on the pencils.  The Ticonderoga ones are easy to write with, and sharpen beautifully.  Cheaper pencils tend to split when sharpened, or sharpen off balance, or have smudgy erasers.  

I love Ticonderoga, and bought those.  As a kid we always had to have Oriole pencils, which I hated.  

The list I downloaded from the Seth Boyden PTA site stated two boxes of pencils.  It didn't state what size.  I bought two boxes of 12 and hope that is what they meant.

The list also called for two boxes of crayons, again no size specified.  Crayons come in boxes anywhere from 8 to 64, so I grabbed two boxes of 16.

I shopped the whole list at Staples.  Don't even ask what it cost    but it was worth it since I didn't have to worry about making multiple stops, finishing the list before school starts, and dragging the process out.  I did spend more money this way, but doing it all in one fell swoop was worth it for saving my sanity, not to mention that my time is also worth something.

Now just watch, there will be an opening at our zoned school before school starts and I'll end up having to shop a new list