Many teachers believe that their way is the only way things can/should be done. If you do something different, it brings up the possibility that there might be a better way to do things than the way they are doing it. They don’t like that too much too often.

Just do things the way you want to do them. If someone makes an issue of something that you are doing, just say that you are not going to do things that way in your room.

In any case, don’t waste your time worrying about this right now. You can always get pencil boxes later if you decide they’d work better than the tubs. You don’t need all your stuff to be ready the first day of school, and kids easily adjust to minor changes in procedures.

One of the worst systems I’ve ever seen in a classroom was where a teacher had kindergarteners keep their pencil boxes in cubbies in a corner of the room. At the start of the day, every child had to get up and go get them. Noise, chaos, and time-wasting ensued, of course. Unless your kids can keep their boxes in their desks, don’t get them at all.

If you don’t want to make parents buy, and still want to provide then get creative. You can make pencil boxes out of everyday materials- or buy cheap ziploc plastic snap and seal containers that fit your use.

Thats what they hide their blades in