The hunt begins with shopping carts, rolling down the aisles of a mammoth office-supply store. Following in their wake are sticky, complaining kids. They're not ready for summer to be over, but they're clamoring for new back-to-school stuff to cram in their desks and backpacks.
Ah, but that's where the fun begins - it can't be just any stuff, of course.
Take Jennifer Bowman, whose 4-year-old son is starting pre-school. She's already scoured four different stores in Cape Coral, Fla., frantically trying to collect everything on his teacher's school supply list.
“They want specifics, and they run out in the stores. Like the sizes of glue sticks, or the round scissors rather than sharp scissors,” Bowman said. “You've got 500 children looking for red folders in the area.”
Even as retailers attempt to tame the process by customizing shopping and partnering with local schools, parents still find themselves caught up in a special sort of August madness. They struggle against competing tides of chaos: crushing crowds, a child's desires (“I want a ‘High School Musical' notebook!”) and a teacher's picky shopping list.
Back-to-school spending is expected to hit $18.4 billion this year, according to the National Retail Federation. The average family will likely spend $563.49 in stores, up from $441.60 in 2002.
Nancy Owens, a special education teacher at Chippewa Elementary School in Holtsville, remembers one particularly bad season at an office-supply retailer recently: “They locked the doors because they couldn't let any more people in,” she said. “That's what happens.”
Teachers say they are simply trying to maximize instruction time by demanding standard materials. Children often waste precious minutes searching for things in their desks, Owens says. That's why color-specific items often dominate teachers' lists.
“If everyone knows that science is red, that makes it easier,” agreed Dorothy Kuda, a fifth grade teacher at Dennis B. O'Brien Elementary School in Rockaway, N.J.
Durability is another issue: many teachers prefer plastic folders over paper ones.
“Parents think they buy it once in September and they're done, but in fact those folders fall apart,” said Owens. “The plastic ones do last longer.”
Other teachers ask for specific types of glue sticks, boxes of tissues for each child; some educators even photocopy pictures of requested supplies.
Oversized binders are banned at the Conchita Espinosa Academy in Miami because parents always eventually complain about backpacks that are too heavy, says fourth-grade teacher Monica Valdes.
Many educators also prohibit mechanical pencils, a source of distraction and annoyance in the classroom.
“They run out of lead and then (the kids) have no other pencils,” says Valdes. “The time it takes them to find lead...I don't allow them.”
To make everyone happy, some parents end up buying two of certain items - one to satisfy the teacher, the other to please a Bratz-hungry child.
Monica Hoherchak, of Stamford, Conn., mother of four, assigns each of her children a budget to purchase their supplies for the year.
“So if they want to splurge and get the fancy pencils, they can,” she says.
Most children need a take-home folder for homework assignments, or a notebook used as a journal: A perfect opportunity for kids to express their personalities, teachers and parents agree.
Purple pens - “the new red,” as Ryan Vero, chief merchandise officer for Office Max calls them - represent another frivolous item kids may prefer to a No. 2 pencil.
But the choice between the fun accessory and the practical item - rainbow highlighters or standard yellow? - is never easy for the hassled parent navigating a crowded store aisle.
The scene has gotten so crazy that Crayola is dispatching teachers to 1,500 Wal-Mart stores this month to advise parents on school supply purchases (and not just Crayola, they promise). Good marketing? Sure, but they're clearly tapping into a real parental anxiety.
“It's amazing how many parents - especially that mom who comes in with a cart full of four kids - say, ‘Please, help!' ”said Sonia Pace, of Spring, Texas, who has served as a Crayola Teacher Coach for the past four years. The teachers receive $100 gift cards to Wal Mart for their service.
Some parents and schools try to avoid the shopping experience altogether.
Staples, for example, has partnered with www.schoolkidz.com, which assembles custom supply kits.
The company was founded 12 years ago by Tom O'Neill, a parent who'd grown tired of “trekking up to Wal-Mart like cattle going to slaughter” every fall.
The kits cost an average of $30 (the most expensive ones, often at private schools, can cost more than $100).
Participating schools submit supply lists for each grade level months in advance, and the kits are distributed to students just before school begins. More than 1,400 schools across the nation currently participate in the program, O'Neill says.
Drama is never far away.
“I had two families with the same (surname) last year, and only one kit left. We had a big fight over whose kit it was,” said Mylinda LaPaglia, a parent coordinator for schoolkidz.com in Morton Grove, Ill. “They would kill for 'em.”
Other major retailers offer similar programs, or work directly with schools to post teachers' lists at local stores, simplifying the search process. At Office Max, teachers can build their lists through the MaxPerks for Teachers program and earn up to $500 for supplies when students purchase items at the store.
The contingent of parents who pre-order school supplies is steadily growing, but some are reluctant to abandon the hunt.
“The kids love going in and looking at all the notebooks and the pencils,” said Hoherchak. “And it is an event.”
School supply stars
Mead Five Star Sound products
Cost: $14.99-$29.99
Who: Music-loving children
Teachers may disapprove, but Mead's line of plug-and-play products are meant to be used outside the classroom, not during a science lesson, its makers say.
The line includes notebooks, binders and desk cases with lightweight built-in speakers and fitted pockets designed to store any type of device, including iPods, MP3 players and cell phones.
WordLock combination locks
Cost: About $12, varies by retailer
Who: Forgetful students
Instead of struggling to remember that tricky three-digit combination, with WordLock, an innovative
letter-based lock, students can pick a word to
remember instead.“It's one of those items that you say, why didn't I think of that?” said Tom O'Neill, founder of schoolkidz.com. “Kids have to remember so much when school starts, to remember three digits on a lock might be a little overwhelming. But to remember their dog's name is a little easier.”
Splat Calculator from Staples
Cost: $9.99
Who: Math-averse kids
This calculator's funky shapes and bright colors
make learning about fractions a little more fun.
The calculator's unique designs come in teal, pink, green and blue.
The Trapper Keeper binder
Cost: $6.99
Who: All children
The iconic object of the 1980s is back and revamped for the 21st century, with changes intended to quell teachers' reservations about the item. The old, noisy Velcro flaps have been replaced with magnetic ones, and this Trapper Keeper is slimmer than its predecessor.“We've put a clear cover on the front that allows the students to add pictures and special notes in there, to personalize and customize,” Effer said.
Crayola Total Tools Audio Ruler
Cost: $5.99
Who: Students just learning to measure
Roll this “ruler” across a flat surface and it announces the measurements in 1/8-inch increments up to 1 foot. As it moves, a pen draws with ink that disappears. Great for children learning their numbers.
Take Jennifer Bowman, whose 4-year-old son is starting pre-school. She's already scoured four different stores in Cape Coral, Fla., frantically trying to collect everything on his teacher's school supply list.
“They want specifics, and they run out in the stores. Like the sizes of glue sticks, or the round scissors rather than sharp scissors,” Bowman said. “You've got 500 children looking for red folders in the area.”
Even as retailers attempt to tame the process by customizing shopping and partnering with local schools, parents still find themselves caught up in a special sort of August madness. They struggle against competing tides of chaos: crushing crowds, a child's desires (“I want a ‘High School Musical' notebook!”) and a teacher's picky shopping list.
Back-to-school spending is expected to hit $18.4 billion this year, according to the National Retail Federation. The average family will likely spend $563.49 in stores, up from $441.60 in 2002.
Nancy Owens, a special education teacher at Chippewa Elementary School in Holtsville, remembers one particularly bad season at an office-supply retailer recently: “They locked the doors because they couldn't let any more people in,” she said. “That's what happens.”
Teachers say they are simply trying to maximize instruction time by demanding standard materials. Children often waste precious minutes searching for things in their desks, Owens says. That's why color-specific items often dominate teachers' lists.
“If everyone knows that science is red, that makes it easier,” agreed Dorothy Kuda, a fifth grade teacher at Dennis B. O'Brien Elementary School in Rockaway, N.J.
Durability is another issue: many teachers prefer plastic folders over paper ones.
“Parents think they buy it once in September and they're done, but in fact those folders fall apart,” said Owens. “The plastic ones do last longer.”
Other teachers ask for specific types of glue sticks, boxes of tissues for each child; some educators even photocopy pictures of requested supplies.
Oversized binders are banned at the Conchita Espinosa Academy in Miami because parents always eventually complain about backpacks that are too heavy, says fourth-grade teacher Monica Valdes.
Many educators also prohibit mechanical pencils, a source of distraction and annoyance in the classroom.
“They run out of lead and then (the kids) have no other pencils,” says Valdes. “The time it takes them to find lead...I don't allow them.”
To make everyone happy, some parents end up buying two of certain items - one to satisfy the teacher, the other to please a Bratz-hungry child.
Monica Hoherchak, of Stamford, Conn., mother of four, assigns each of her children a budget to purchase their supplies for the year.
“So if they want to splurge and get the fancy pencils, they can,” she says.
Most children need a take-home folder for homework assignments, or a notebook used as a journal: A perfect opportunity for kids to express their personalities, teachers and parents agree.
Purple pens - “the new red,” as Ryan Vero, chief merchandise officer for Office Max calls them - represent another frivolous item kids may prefer to a No. 2 pencil.
But the choice between the fun accessory and the practical item - rainbow highlighters or standard yellow? - is never easy for the hassled parent navigating a crowded store aisle.
The scene has gotten so crazy that Crayola is dispatching teachers to 1,500 Wal-Mart stores this month to advise parents on school supply purchases (and not just Crayola, they promise). Good marketing? Sure, but they're clearly tapping into a real parental anxiety.
“It's amazing how many parents - especially that mom who comes in with a cart full of four kids - say, ‘Please, help!' ”said Sonia Pace, of Spring, Texas, who has served as a Crayola Teacher Coach for the past four years. The teachers receive $100 gift cards to Wal Mart for their service.
Some parents and schools try to avoid the shopping experience altogether.
Staples, for example, has partnered with www.schoolkidz.com, which assembles custom supply kits.
The company was founded 12 years ago by Tom O'Neill, a parent who'd grown tired of “trekking up to Wal-Mart like cattle going to slaughter” every fall.
The kits cost an average of $30 (the most expensive ones, often at private schools, can cost more than $100).
Participating schools submit supply lists for each grade level months in advance, and the kits are distributed to students just before school begins. More than 1,400 schools across the nation currently participate in the program, O'Neill says.
Drama is never far away.
“I had two families with the same (surname) last year, and only one kit left. We had a big fight over whose kit it was,” said Mylinda LaPaglia, a parent coordinator for schoolkidz.com in Morton Grove, Ill. “They would kill for 'em.”
Other major retailers offer similar programs, or work directly with schools to post teachers' lists at local stores, simplifying the search process. At Office Max, teachers can build their lists through the MaxPerks for Teachers program and earn up to $500 for supplies when students purchase items at the store.
The contingent of parents who pre-order school supplies is steadily growing, but some are reluctant to abandon the hunt.
“The kids love going in and looking at all the notebooks and the pencils,” said Hoherchak. “And it is an event.”
School supply stars
Mead Five Star Sound products
Cost: $14.99-$29.99
Who: Music-loving children
Teachers may disapprove, but Mead's line of plug-and-play products are meant to be used outside the classroom, not during a science lesson, its makers say.
The line includes notebooks, binders and desk cases with lightweight built-in speakers and fitted pockets designed to store any type of device, including iPods, MP3 players and cell phones.
WordLock combination locks
Cost: About $12, varies by retailer
Who: Forgetful students
Instead of struggling to remember that tricky three-digit combination, with WordLock, an innovative
letter-based lock, students can pick a word to
remember instead.“It's one of those items that you say, why didn't I think of that?” said Tom O'Neill, founder of schoolkidz.com. “Kids have to remember so much when school starts, to remember three digits on a lock might be a little overwhelming. But to remember their dog's name is a little easier.”
Splat Calculator from Staples
Cost: $9.99
Who: Math-averse kids
This calculator's funky shapes and bright colors
make learning about fractions a little more fun.
The calculator's unique designs come in teal, pink, green and blue.
The Trapper Keeper binder
Cost: $6.99
Who: All children
The iconic object of the 1980s is back and revamped for the 21st century, with changes intended to quell teachers' reservations about the item. The old, noisy Velcro flaps have been replaced with magnetic ones, and this Trapper Keeper is slimmer than its predecessor.“We've put a clear cover on the front that allows the students to add pictures and special notes in there, to personalize and customize,” Effer said.
Crayola Total Tools Audio Ruler
Cost: $5.99
Who: Students just learning to measure
Roll this “ruler” across a flat surface and it announces the measurements in 1/8-inch increments up to 1 foot. As it moves, a pen draws with ink that disappears. Great for children learning their numbers.
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