Its around that time again in America when the kidlets go back to school after having done pretty much nothing the whole summer. Bad news for me - I don’t have any children at school anymore, but my journey to work will be lengthened by at least 25 minutes. Parents here don’t walk. It seems like every child, no matter how close to the school they live, will get a lift from their parents who dutifully queue in their cars so their bundles of joy can be dropped exactly in front of the gate. It makes for a long journey to work, especially if you have to pass more than one school. And it doesn’t matter if it’s an infants school or a high school – its all the same!
Every year at this time the shops are just crazy with parents running around trying to get ready for the first day of school. Not only do you have to buy a whole new wardrobe because there are no uniforms unless you pay for your kids to go to a fancy schmancy private school, but you also have to buy school supplies! Now I was under the impression that America was one of the richest countries in the world, but apparently not rich enough to provide schools with what they need.
Not content with having you provide your own paper, pens, pencils, crayons, rulers, folders and sometimes even books, on that first day you get a "wish list" of what the teacher would like the class to bring in which can be anything from tissues to hand sanitizer. I’ve even heard of one school asking for copy paper and printer cartridges, which is a bit bloody cheeky if you ask me.
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| A bit cheeky? |
Then, about a week later the fundraiser packets will start to arrive – sent home as ‘homework.’ Not content with the handouts for the teacher, you now have to raise money for the school, whether by selling magazine subscriptions, cookie dough or wrapping paper. Each child is expected to sell as much as possible. To top it off, they have an assembly where they are told if they sell a certain number of items or dollar amount, there will be prizes involved. Yes, prizes - talk about motivation! Not only that, they bring in the 'prizes' to show off so each child can really see what they’ll be missing out on if they don't sell anything. Mind control at it’s very best! (And yes, there was that one year I had to buy enough items myself so my daughter could become the proud owner of a Razor scooter).
Oh how I miss the English way of fundraising…. The wonderful school fete! Parents donate a tin of spaghetti hoops for the tombola and that’s the end of it. No begging your family to buy some really expensive wrapping paper they will never use or some overpriced piece of junk that looks good in a catalogue, but never works how it’s supposed to.
But then again, as someone mentioned the other day – there are only thirteen (yes 13) weekends until Christmas…. Better get buying some pressies.
Hold on, I know someone with a kid who’s fundraising!!!! J
Hold on, I know someone with a kid who’s fundraising!!!! J
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| Nooo...... |
I am surprised here at what my child gets for her state-funded education in the UK, though the school asks for a voluntary £40 donation each year and we have a xmas and a summer fete. But I'm quite pleased overall.
ReplyDeleteYes, I remember how easy it was for mums in England without the fundraising and at most, it would be a sponsored walk or something similar. And I did love the fetes, especially the Christmas one!
DeleteIn France we have to supply all stationery and often tissues but that's about it. Sometimes there are cake sales to raise money for a specific occasion and there's the end of year fete which raises money for the school itself. But the idea of having to sell specific stuff like wrapping paper and getting prizes for selling is completely alien. It sounds terrible to me! #myexpatfamily
ReplyDeleteI agree, it is terrible... business teaching children to be greedy Ugh...
DeleteCan't believe a school asking for printer cartridges that's insane!!! I remember when I was at school in California and everyone driving, madness, but I guess it's the fear of anything happening to the kids on the way, it's reached that extreme!!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for linking up for #myexpatfamily hope to see you again next month :) x
Thanks, yes i will be there! :-)
DeleteMy husband is a headmaster - I can't imagine his face if I suggested he asked parents to pay for printer cartridges (on top of fees, class fund, trip expenses, unifom etc etc). We drive to school but it is 15k - if we lived in walking distance on a safe route we would walk every day - good for us and cheaper on the wallet!
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, its rare to walk anywhere in California. I do miss being able to pop to the shops without having to get in the car.
DeleteIt's a very different system, but quite similar in many ways to the private school system here in Mexico (not government schools so much): almost all the kids are driveen to and from school, they also get a huge list of school supplies they need to buy at the start of the year (some things for their personal use and others for the school, like sheets of paper, kleenex, toilet rolls - but never heard of printer cartridges being asked for!) as well as all the textbooks and the uniform. August is a VERY expensive month for parents! #MyExpatFamily
ReplyDeleteI only wish American schools had uniforms. Lack of them makes buying clothes even more expensive because, especially for girls, they want all the latest trends and cannot wear the same item more than a couple of times (in my experience anyway) :-)
DeleteI'm so astonished that the kids have to fund raise in this way! I wouldn't like that one bit - as a teacher at a private language school I didn't even feel comfortable trying to sell course books, and it was part of my job...
ReplyDeleteMy son is at nursery here in Italy and they provide everything, but the teachers sometimes ask for recycled stuff to use for crafts, like loo rolls or bottle lids. Easy peasy and I like the idea of reusing things like this.
I don't mind providing recyclables, but printer cartridges was taking it a bit far!
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