The Lakeshore Learning Ordering Checklist: 7 Mistakes That Cost Me Real Money

For the past eight years—actually, seven and a half if you count my first year as an assistant who only opened boxes—I have been the person who orders classroom supplies. I have made enough mistakes to fill a storage chest. Or rather, I have made enough to fill a binder with pages of notes about what went wrong. This is the checklist I use now, and I think it can help anyone who orders for a school or a teacher.

Who This Checklist Is For

This checklist is for the classroom teacher who suddenly has to manage a budget. It is also for the school secretary who gets put in charge of 'one quick order' and then discovers that ordering supplies is never quick. If you have used Lakeshore Learning for classroom materials, these steps will probably feel familiar.

The goal is simple: read before you click, verify before you pay, and keep proof after delivery.

The Ordering Checklist

Step 1: Search for one item at a time, not a mashup

I once typed 'chest binder' into a school supply search bar because a teacher wrote 'chest for binders' on her list and I combined the terms. The results were not useful. I lost twenty minutes and almost ordered the wrong product. Now I search for one item at a time: 'storage chest' and then '3-ring binder.'

This sounds too simple to count as a lesson, but most ordering mistakes start with a bad search term. Use the exact words from the product category. If you are not sure, look at the website menu and start from a category.

Step 2: Know the answer to 'what is the size of printer paper' before you order paper

Another search that comes up again and again from new teachers is 'what is the size of printer paper.' The short answer for the US is Letter size: 8.5 by 11 inches. That is about 216 by 279 mm. I found out the hard way when I ordered 'copy paper' without checking the listing and received legal-size sheets. The box looked normal from the outside. It was not normal on the inside.

Before you add any paper product to your cart, check that the listing says 'Letter' or '8.5 x 11.' According to ANSI, the common A-size office paper format is 8.5 x 11 inches. Source: ANSI/ASME Y14.1, updated 2020. Verify current standards if you need a formal citation.

Step 3: Use a percent off calculator for every discount

Lakeshore Learning offers teacher discounts. The exact rate changes from time to time, so I do not want to quote it as if it is permanent. What I can tell you is this: do the math with a percent off calculator before you submit the order.

For example, if a classroom item costs $24.99 and you have a 15% discount code, the price should be about $21.24. That is not a huge difference on one item. Spread it over twelve items and suddenly it is real money. I skipped this step in my first year and under-budgeted by around $60. Maybe it was $70; I would have to check the spreadsheet. Either way, it was enough to make me change my process.

You can also reverse it: if your school gives you $500 and you need to know how many items fit, use a percent off calculator to get the discounted total first. That is easier than doing mental math in a crowded school office.

Step 4: Read the fine print on 'projector drawing' supplies

If you search 'Lakeshore Learning projector drawing,' you will see products related to drawing with a projector or light source. That is the kind of search a teacher uses when they want an art station where children trace or enlarge an image. The important thing is to read what the actual product does.

I made this mistake with a projector. I saw the word 'projector' and assumed it would work for drawing. The listing said it was a multimedia projector. It was not a drawing projector. I went back and forth between returning it and keeping it for another classroom. On paper, keeping it made sense. My gut said the drawing station would not work without the right tool. I sent it back and paid $42 in return shipping. The lesson: if the product title does not contain the exact words 'drawing projector,' do not treat it as one.

To be fair, the website's related searches are usually helpful. If you search 'Lakeshore Learning projector drawing,' the search results will probably show the right category. Just check the title and the material list before you click 'add to cart.'

Step 5: Use role-specific search terms like 'Lakeshore Learning chess teacher' when you need classroom sets

Another search that works better than I expected: 'Lakeshore Learning chess teacher.' I know a teacher who needed a chess set with lesson cards for her classroom. She typed that phrase into the site search because she was, in her words, 'not a chess person, just a teacher who got stuck with chess club.' The search brought up options with grade-level information.

She almost clicked the first result because it looked good in the grid. Then she noticed the grade range was for elementary school. Her group was middle school. She picked a different set. No money lost, but only because she read the description.

The broader lesson is to use the role or use case in the search: 'teacher,' 'classroom set,' 'lesson cards.' These words help, but they do not replace reading the product details.

Step 6: Count students, not seats

I once ordered enough art kits for 30 students because my classroom had 30 seats. I forgot that a few students moved in late, and two students were absent on the day I counted. The school had 34 students in that grade section. When the kits arrived, I had four short. I spent the morning splitting sets instead of teaching.

Now my rule is simple: open the attendance roster and count names. If you are ordering for a whole grade level, count according to the official list, not the number of chairs in the room. This might seem obvious, but it is exactly the step people skip at the end of a long day.

Step 7: Take a photo of the open box before you move anything

We had a $3,200 order arrive during a busy week. I signed for it, set the boxes aside, and did not open everything until the weekend. When we opened the last box, two items were missing. I contacted customer service, but I had already thrown away the packing slip and the shipping label. That made the resolution process painful. It ended well enough, but I could have saved two weeks of back-and-forth.

Now I take a photo of the opened boxes and the packing slip with my phone. It takes ten seconds and gives you something concrete to reference. You do not need a formal process. You just need a timestamp.

Notes and Common Errors

These are the mistakes I see new order-makers make, and I have made most of them myself:

• Searching for a made-up shortcut term instead of the actual category. My 'chest binder' example was exactly that. If a term feels unnatural, break it into separate words.
• Ignoring the grade-level filter on games, puzzles, and teaching materials. A product can be well made and still wrong for your students.
• Assuming all paper products are the same size. A4, legal, and letter are not interchangeable for most classroom storage items.
• Being afraid to call customer service. If a discount code is not working, a quick phone call can save you more time than guessing the checkout system.

I also try to remember that the supply ordering world has changed. What was best practice in 2020—like sending a paper request and waiting for a catalog—may not apply in 2025. The fundamentals have not changed: verify the item, verify the price, and keep records. But the execution is different now. Online search terms matter more than catalog page numbers.

In my experience, Lakeshore Learning is a solid choice for a lot of classroom supplies. They have a teacher discount, a wide product range, and materials that hold up better than the cheapest alternative. But that only helps if you read the listing and double-check your assumptions.

One last reminder: prices from online listings change. The example prices I mentioned were based on publicly listed rates in January 2025; verify current rates before you build a budget around them.