> I couldn't see giving elementary kids
> an exacto knife,
[snip]
I agree. We have Prismacolor pencils and
two Panasonic electric pencil sharpeners.
They work great.
I also tell my students not to sharpen
the pencil points "too sharp" or pointy
as they normally just snap immediately
if they do.
Also, I've recently taken all the pencils
out of their cardboard boxes and placed
them in individual 8-ounce plastic
drinking cups. Less than $2.00 buys me
50 drinking cups and supplies each
student with their own no-muss no-fuss
storage unit.