The back-to-school shopping aisle: Tips from parents in the trenches

“Question: What color is this folder?”

Jessica Conte, mom of a Commack third grader, poses this query at a Target store while shopping for back-to-school supplies with her aunt, retired teacher’s aide Maria Ambrosio, of Huntington.

This should be a simple question any kindergartner can answer.

But Ambrosio hesitates, through no fault of her own.

On missions to fulfill back-to school shopping lists from Long Island school districts, parents enter the crucible that is the classroom supplies section of local stores, often carrying their printed lists. Their assignment, as you will soon see, is not as easy as it sounds.

According to the annual Deloitte back-to-school survey of 1,200 United States parents of children in kindergarten through 12th grade, families plan to spend an average of $586 per child this year on back-to school shopping, essentially the same as last year, down only $11. That may include school classroom supplies, clothing, shoes, backpacks and tech needs. “In short, it’s an exhausting time for parents,” the Deloitte survey notes.

THE ‘NERVE-WRACKING’ QUEST

“Orange?” Ambrosio answers, not entirely certain.

The signage on the store shelf at the Huntington Station Target reads red.

“Do I get it because it says ‘red’ even though it’s red-orange?” asks Conte, 38, a high school art teacher. Not knowing whether there is a specific reason that the folder on her son’s shopping list has to be red — is red for mathematics? Or for reading? Will the teacher say, “Take out your red folder?” She adds it to her pile.

“Nerve-wracking,” Ambrosio, 63, says of back-to-school supply shopping.

Over at the Walmart in Farmingdale, 10-year-old Ekamjot Singh, of Bethpage, has taken charge of the challenge of fulfilling his school list of 31 items. He’s got the items on his cellphone and is employing his whole family to help, dispatching them to look for what he needs.

“We have to run to this aisle, that aisle,” Ekamjot says. “Did you get the ruler?” he asks his brother, Karanpreet, 13, as Karanpreet returns to their shopping cart base manned by their dad, Kulwinder Singh. Ekamjot’s tip: Multiple cellphones; each person should have one to communicate.

“Teamwork,” confirms his mother, Kulwinder Kaur, 35, who works as a babysitter.

LATEX-FREE SCISSORS?

What makes the shopping more difficult than it initially seems is that back-to-school lists don’t just request a simple “box of crayons” and leave it to the parents to choose one. Specific requests about quantities and sizes help schools make sure all children have what they need, but those specifics pose potential headaches for shopping parents.

One typical fourth-grade list from a Nassau County district, for instance, notes that scissors must be latex-free. How is a shopper to know if the scissor handle made of plastic or latex? The packaging doesn’t say. The composition notebook must be black marble and wide-ruled — which is 11/32-inch spacing between lines as opposed to the college ruled’s 9/32-inch spacing. Pens must be blue, and they must be erasable so that children learning to write can adjust their mistakes. Index cards must be ruled and white, leaving one to ponder if the options are slim: Do you get unlined white, colored lined or drive to another store?

SOME SHOPPING TIPS

There are arguably more efficient ways to approach this back-to-school supply list task. Some parents stay home and order from Amazon, points out Carly Meyer, 34, of Syosset, whom is shopping for her son, Liam, 4; he is entering pre-K in her district.

Karen Campos, 27, of Huntington Station, used online in addition to in-store shopping for the lists for her daughter, Emily, entering sixth grade, and her son, Matthias, 6, entering second grade. “Just looking for deals,” she says. She estimates she’s spent more than $100 just for the children’s backpacks and lunch bags, which she bought in a brick-and-mortar location, and about $180 combined for their supply lists.

Shopping online for school supplies, however, is not a slam dunk either — completing a list on Amazon causes issues as well. For instance, to check off “Tape, Invisible, w/Dispenser, ¾ inch by 650 inch,” means purchasing a package of six for $11.15. To only get the one roll that’s required, for $4.23, it won’t be the size the teacher wants; it’s ½ inch by 800 inches. Does 1/4 inch difference in tape width matter? There’s no one to ask.

Other parents assemble their lists on local retailer websites and then pick them up at the store.

Some Long Island districts have school PTAs that put together a box with all the items and mail it to the family’s home over the summer — Meyer says she paid $100 for her daughter, Hannah, 6, who is entering first grade, to avoid that school shopping stress. She would have done it for her pre-K son as well, but the school didn’t offer it for him. “I think most people enjoy the convenience. You don’t even have to go into the store,” she says.

The downside of those options is that the child isn’t involved in choosing the supplies, which, when they are, can get them excited about the coming school year, says Meyer, who also works as a language arts teacher for sixth graders in Plainview. “As teachers, we want the kids to buy in. I remember feeling so excited about the new Crayola markers.”

Not everyone agrees with the idea of getting the kids involved, however. The thought of bringing her sons, Jayden, 12, entering eighth grade, and Yaniel, 10 and entering fifth grade, to help shop makes Ginette Lopez shudder. If you bring them, you’ll end up “buying more of what they want instead of what they really need,” says Lopez, 32, of Copiague. Not a good idea if you’re on a budget, she says.

Shannon Dingwerth, 39, of West Babylon, says she’s trying to be grateful that her daughter is only entering fifth grade. “Junior high, when that comes, that’s a whole other thing,” she says. “It’s their friends, what they like, what they don’t like, what they wear. ‘Mom, why did you get blue? I wanted green.’ When the kids are older, they’re pickier,” she says as she and her daughter, Gianna, place supplies in their shopping cart for her last year of elementary school.

Beth Whitehouse writes about families, parenting and great things to do with the kids on Long Island. She’s been a Newsday editor and shared a 1997 Newsday staff Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the crash of TWA Flight 800.