The Best Wooden Pencils According to the School Teacher
When shopping for school supplies for your child – perhaps during one of the tax- free weekends across the country – be aware that not all wood pencils are created equal. Some break down constantly. Others have erasers that erase everything they touch. The worst of these are mostly sticks of agony that deserve to be left deep in the trash bin along with these gruesome Rose Art crayons .
Meribeth Miller Matthews, a Colorado schoolteacher, demonstrated the difference by sharing her visual rating of pencils on Facebook. She sharpened the most common pencils that kids bring to school and line them up according to their ease of sharpening, durability, and overall effectiveness. Commenters had feelings about Matthews’ subjective pencil opinions, but most believe they were in place-on (“You deserve a gold star,” writes one person.).
Yes, there are larger pencils in the world (hello Palomino Blackwings !), But this rating is for children learning to write “The cat sat on the mat”, not for the architects designing the Taj Mahal. Here are Matthews’ results from worst to best:
5) Plastic coated pencils. Like the ones you get in cheap birthday gift bags. “Do you hate the teacher?” Matthews writes. “Plastic coated pencils suck!”
4) Other non-standard pencil novelties. They may have fun designs, but as Matthews observes, “In cheap pencils, the graphite inside is broken. It’s so offensive. ”
3) Pencils from an office supply store (brands Staples and Office Depot, Penway). Many parents choose these pencils because they are affordable and readily available in most school supplies departments. For the most part, they do their job, but some observers say they are difficult to sharpen – their wood is too soft or the graphite is not centered. Matthews gives them the final “Fur”.
2) Pencils America’s Pencil USA Gold and American pencils Faber Castell. Parents love that these pencils are durable (they can handle being thrown in a backpack all day), and teachers appreciate that kids don’t have to go to a pencil sharpener every two minutes. “This is wonderful!” Matthews writes.
1) Dixon Ticonderoga pencils . Known for their fluidity, clarity and boldness, Ticonderoga pencils have been around for a long time (they were a favorite of author Roald Dahl). They are easy to sharpen and their erasers don’t harden like others. Greets Matthews: “They last forever! Well worth the investment! »She suggests using a Sharpie to label each pencil with your child’s name. You don’t want them to get lost in the big school supplies trade. Do kids still do it these days?