Oh, the Places I’ve Gone
By Glinda
My dears, I have been out and about for the past few days, leaving me tired and exhausted at the end of the day instead of chipper and full of cheer, ready to write something that I daily pray is even mildly entertaining. We have also had an extended heat wave here in Glinda-land, which has tried the patience of even the most optimistic of my loved ones. Oh yeah, and out-of-town relatives coming in to visit, which will always be more attractive to me than sitting at the computer.
So, to make a long story short, sorry about the unexplained and unanticipated absence.
I suppose though, that many of you are beginning to gear up for the start of the new school year and are just as busy as me.
One of the things that I don’t miss from our formal schooling days are the damned supply lists that the school would email two weeks before the beginning of the semester.
I was buying everything from Kleenex to dry erase markers and everything in between.
Of course, it is technically not legal to send this list out, as public schools are supposed to provide students with everything except perhaps writing utensils. Is it better to have the families pay for it than the teachers? I guess so, except that I am sure there are some people who cannot afford everything on the list, which totals to about twenty-five items.
In my state, the idea that the state would actually pay for all needed supplies is a large joke which would have every parent doubling over with laughter. Hysterical laughter, most likely, but laughter all the same.
Does your school send out a list as well?
August 16th, 2012 at 11:18 am
Growing up in a public school system — never saw such a list.
Daughter attends a private school (long story) — list is expected, as school tries to keep tuition as low as possible (and scholarships are given to those in need) and therefore providing supplies is part of “fee” for attending the school.
However, have heard that most public school systems in the area also send out similar lists, though I’ve never heard of that being illegal.
I have to say, though, that the kids have things in school we never did. (Watercolors? Colored pencils? Required pencil boxes? A box of at least 24 crayons? Eight — I kid you not — EIGHT glue sticks and TWO 4 oz bottles of white glue PER CHILD? for the first grade? What happend to the big box of broken and old crayons everybody shared? The one pencil sharpener mounted on the wall?)
August 16th, 2012 at 1:43 pm
Well, it is illegal in the sense that the schools present the list as a requirement, when they can compel no one to fulfill it.
Public schools are not supposed to ask students to provide their own supplies.
August 16th, 2012 at 3:31 pm
Ah, the difference between “suggested,” “strongly encouraged,” and “required.”
What happens to kids who show up without supplies? Surely there are some who can’t afford all the stuff or whose parents are too disengaged to bother.
Did you have to label your kid’s stuff? We have to label every pencil, every marker, every crayon individually. I’d really rather they just dump everything into a bucket and share. But I guess they try to instill some personal responsibility by asking the kids to each keep up with their own stuff. Sigh.
August 16th, 2012 at 12:59 pm
We have no list and I love it! It makes back to school so much nicer. I bought the older boys a pair of nice sturdy backpacks and they have lasted for years and still look good. I get clothing in the size up for my eldest son to grow into and each of them get one new shirt to wear to school.