I have a 1st grader. List seemed reasonable enough---- crayons, pencils, markers, box, glue, scissors, pack of paper, kleenex, erasers, baby and clorox wipes. folder. I think I spent $35-40 and got name brand crayons (Crayola), glue (Elmers), pencil (Ticonderoga), etc. I sent in 5-6 extra each of the consumable items like pencils, glue and crayons, markers. I'll probably go back and buy some extras just in case a request comes home later in the year.
I don't get the angst. Little me went to private pre-k at a private school. Guess what I spend $400 a month and still had to send much