It would seem that way, judging from the ads in Sunday's paper and the back-to-school displays in the store. As for us, we still have about a third left. As of tomorrow, seven weeks behind us and five left to go.
Since Kat received a gift card for her birthday that was burning a hole in her pocket, we went shopping this morning. And since we were there, and the school supply list for our school was there, and the school supplies where there, I went ahead and picked up what Kat needs to start 4th Grade in August.
Our district doesn't ask for much. This year, they asked for a little more than in the past, but it's still not much compared to some other schools. I got this pile of supplies for right at $10.
It's three spiral notebooks, 1 package of loose leaf paper, 2 packs of pencils, a package of ball point pens, a package of highlighters, a box each of crayons, colored pencils and markers and a couple of glue sticks.
The list also called for scissors, a school supplies box and a backpack (things we already had at home), two boxes of tissues (that I still need to buy) and a bottle of hand sanitizer (which I'll opt out of buying because I think it's unnecessary and may not be safe).
It's a small list, really, and I didn't mind paying $10 for what we bought, but I can't help but wonder if Kat will use these things. Every year, at least one or two items are sent home unused, usually around the winter break, and usually it's the spiral notebooks and/or the supplies box. I wish, instead, the school would just ask for items as they are needed. I guess I could opt out of buying all of these things, but I suppose I'd end up paying more for them later when they aren't on a back-to-school sale.
POP QUIZ:
- Has anyone else purchased school supplies for this fall?
- Does your school ask for items that probably won't be used?
- Is your school's list long or short?
- If you are a homeschooling family, do you take advantage of the back-to-school sales to stock your at-home class rooms or do you wait to buy things as you need them?
- If you don't have kids at home, do you still take advantage of the sales? (In addition to office supplies, it's a great time to buy new underwear and socks...)
- Most importantly -- do you think summer really is almost over???
