I just went to my daughter's new school's web site, and finally found the school supply list. She is going to be in first grade (she went to a different school for Kindergarten before we moved). The PDF document lists items needed, included specific brands on some, and it headlines the list saying these are item found in the SchookKidz Supply Kit. (Then lists a backpack as something not in the kit).
I can't find ANY other info on the school site about what "SchoolKidz Supply Kit" is or anything :/ So I googled it and found out generally what it is.
Anyone else's school use this? Do you just place an order online at a special page for your school/class and then your kid has the supplies at the first day of school?
Is it any cheaper than buying the items yourself? I've been buying school supply things here & there when I see it on sale. However, all we have that's on the list is Fiskars scissors and pencils :/ I have a bunch of other items, BUT they are not the specific size / brand / colors that the list specifies... :(
I see a few more of the items are on sale at Walgreens this week, and I can find the other items at Walmart or other stores. But do I wait and see how much this "kit" is?
Thanks!
Since I've already gotten some things, and can get more on sale, I'll probably just go ahead and buy the stuff myself this year. Plus since no one has even told me about this SchoolKidz thing either :/ Maybe we can look into it next year. My daughter doesn't know anything about "back to school" shopping because I do it haha Plus she doesn't get to keep the actual items we get, they all get shared in class. So she can really pick out special ones for herself.
It sounds like the school buys supplies and puts together the required list for parents that just don't want to deal with the hassle of finding everything on the list. Although my son's school does not do this, I have heard of this done at other schools. My impression was that it was more costly to go this route. With the current prices of school supplies at Wal-Mart, it seems like you would do better to buy these items yourself.
Usually there is a deadline to order so that may be why no one has mentioned it to you. Our school deadline was in June so we no longer have that option. There is a big convenience factor to doing things this way, but in my case I found that I spent less buying the supplies on my own and watching the sales. And yes, you order the kit and then they are just waiting at the school for the child. As far as specific brands I have found that most schools aren't that picky. When they say 10 glue sticks they usually don't care if they are Elmer's or the Target brand. If you are looking at the list provided from "SchoolKidz Supply Kit" then you are just looking at a specific list of what they are going to put into the kit, including brand, but if you buy the supplies on your own you are not required to buy a specific brand.
Our school offered these for 3 - 4 years. They were great for stress free back to school. One year I didn't buy it and bought myself, and spent a bit more, but not drastically more.
Usually, the order forms are sent out in June and due back before the end of the year for the next year. Our kits were $35 - 45 depending on the grade. They were delivered in easy carry boxes in time for the meet/greet. If you missed the meet/greet the boxes were waiting in your homeroom on the first day of school. Some years the teachers changed things during the summer and so we still had to buy additional stuff.
For this year, I would just buy your own stuff using the supply list on the school site.
We didn't use Schoolkidz, but our school does use "Schoolhouse Supplies" site. (I posted a question on this as well as price last week, just out of curiosity.)
The site I used seemed to have good discounts to me: I usually bought supplies retail for my preschool and have a general idea of how much some things are. Also, really check out the schoolkidz website for your school, as there should already be a price AND an 'order by' date. Ours was July 16th for the 'order by', so check sooner than later. And I understand the supplies are delivered to the classroom and not to the house.
It comes out about the same price. Some families still choose to purchase their own, because some children love the experience of purchasing the supplies, some parents, like to purchase bulk the super cheap on sale school supplies at this time of year.
but towards the 4th and 5th grade we used to laugh that almost all of the older students parents purchased the kits from the school. They were done with the back to school supply shopping.
Our elementary school uses this vendor. It's through our PTA and our school gets a percentage of the funds received. Your school should have given you a link with the school code so that the supplies are delivered directly to the school. Is it more expensive? Maybe - but like I said - a portion of the fees goes back to the school and I don't have to waste gas driving to different stores because their stock is out.
What I love about it? I don't have to go rushing around from store to store because they are sold out. It's there the first day of school and I don't have to worry about a thing!! YAHOO!!!
Does that mean I don't pick up supplies when they are on sale? Nope! Still do as the school still needs crayons, pencils, scissors and such during the school year. So when the teacher puts out a call for help - we can easily pop them in the backpack and say "here you go!!"
