First Day of School Tips

Kids need to bring their own paper to school? Shit man, the public school system has gone downhill. My kids haven't entered the public school system yet and maybe they won't if they don't provide paper :)
 
qwerty said:
Kids need to bring their own paper to school? Shit man, the public school system has gone downhill. My kids haven't entered the public school system yet and maybe they won't if they don't provide paper :)
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hmmm.. I always remember bringing my own paper to school.  Notebooks.. trapper keepers.  I don't think that has changed. 
 
jmoney74 said:
qwerty said:
Kids need to bring their own paper to school? Shit man, the public school system has gone downhill. My kids haven't entered the public school system yet and maybe they won't if they don't provide paper :)
Click to expand...

hmmm.. I always remember bringing my own paper to school.  Notebooks.. trapper keepers.  I don't think that has changed.
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What's not clear if you have to bring the white paper for the exercises, so the teacher can have paper for the copy machine. (Tracing letters, coloring in the shapes)

 
You will quickly learn that free education is not free here.  Donations here, "suggested" donations there, etc., etc.  "Suggested" donations for field trips. The principal spamming you for donations by eating out at Chick-fil-a or the corner pizza place to earn money for the school.  Your kids having (yes, not optional) to sell magazines and crap like Amway.  Weekly spam from PTA for donations. More misery for us 99.9999%'ers.  :)

Year round school for us so our kids have been back in school for about a month so I'm glad that's over.  Actually, parent conference week for us this week. 

qwerty said:
Kids need to bring their own paper to school? Shit man, the public school system has gone downhill. My kids haven't entered the public school system yet and maybe they won't if they don't provide paper :)
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also, plan on packing lunch for your kid the first few days, the cafeteria is usually a mess in the beginning.  Remember last year my kid didn't have time to eat after getting her cafeteria lunch.  And she's not a fast eater.
 
My daughter is a teacher in AZ. The kids are poor and the school is supposedly underfunded so to save money the school doesn't have textbooks. Instead the teacher Xeroxes what is needed for the kids (a copy per kid). The school provides the toner if the teacher uses their machines to make the copies. But the teachers provide ALL the paper.

In fact the kids and school don't provide anything for the kids in the way of pencils, scissors, etc so if they don't have what they need they either do without or depend on donations of other parents but of course there aren't any donations at her school so take a guess on who provides the supplies for each kid out of her own pocket.

Staples has so many paper rebates for those of you who are thinking they'll skip donating the paper. Lots of weeks, four reams per address. My daughter does all the rebates as do my other two daughters and myself and we give her the paper to use. It's easy to do. Get the paper and give it to the teacher, otherwise I'll bet if she runs out she's the one paying whether u know it or not.

And at back to school time the office stores have tons of stuff for mega cheap....... scissors, pencils, crayons etc. If you're in the neighborhood, buy a few extras and send them to the school. Sometimes kids even in Irvine don't have what you think they do (or they have parents who are jerks and refuse to pay). Makes the kids feel ashamed to have their classmates know they don't have their stuff and maybe it's not their fault.

So off my soapbox.

 
Ready2Downsize said:
My daughter is a teacher in AZ. The kids are poor and the school is supposedly underfunded so to save money the school doesn't have textbooks. Instead the teacher Xeroxes what is needed for the kids (a copy per kid). The school provides the toner if the teacher uses their machines to make the copies. But the teachers provide ALL the paper.

In fact the kids and school don't provide anything for the kids in the way of pencils, scissors, etc so if they don't have what they need they either do without or depend on donations of other parents but of course there aren't any donations at her school so take a guess on who provides the supplies for each kid out of her own pocket.

Staples has so many paper rebates for those of you who are thinking they'll skip donating the paper. Lots of weeks, four reams per address. My daughter does all the rebates as do my other two daughters and myself and we give her the paper to use. It's easy to do. Get the paper and give it to the teacher, otherwise I'll bet if she runs out she's the one paying whether u know it or not.

And at back to school time the office stores have tons of stuff for mega cheap....... scissors, pencils, crayons etc. If you're in the neighborhood, buy a few extras and send them to the school. Sometimes kids even in Irvine don't have what you think they do (or they have parents who are jerks and refuse to pay). Makes the kids feel ashamed to have their classmates know they don't have their stuff and maybe it's not their fault.

So off my soapbox.
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I agree with you all. I don't think people realize / recognize that if you don't give it, the teacher picks up the tab in most cases. We can talk about the teachers union, potential waste as to how much they spend on the facilities (kind of ridiculous how much is spent on the new high schools / schools in Irvine), but I'm not going to cheap out on supplies for the kids. 
 
Remember school supplies are one of the few ways a parent can positively impact their child's classroom. The other way is volunteering in class, which is more difficult for some.

So instead of trying to avoid the supplies, think about providing a little extra.

Yes, I know the older IUSD areas voted to approve a school tax...bad idea, but that money will never make it into the classroom.
 
I'm not saying don't bring school supplies, just don't send the entire list with the kid on the first day.

The list itself says none of the supplies are required (so no worries qwerpaper) but it's usually broken up into 2 sections, what each kid will use and what the class could use.

We usually buy the essential stuff first and then on the 2nd or 3rd day or even the next week send what the teacher requests.

Don't burden your child with 2 reams of xerox paper on the first day of school.
 
Nothing can say required anymore for a school request. CA Court Case Hartzell v. Connell makes it illegal to require fees and everything is usually explained to be a contribution or donation.

I agree, don't make your kid carry two reams of paper. Better yet would be for the parents to hand deliver the paper. On Back to School Night, parents could also bring additional items. Kleenex and clean wipes are always useful and keep things clean for your kid. Most parents don't realize that the teachers have to pay for their bulletin boards and those items are expensive. Consider gift cards to Staples and Lakeshore too.
 
First day at Portola Springs Elementary.  Nice to see diversity here. 
 
qwerty said:
Kids need to bring their own paper to school? Shit man, the public school system has gone downhill.
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Just wait 'til you find out there is no regular school bus service anymore.  :)

I was the one to break that news to a new dad the other day. He was shocked! -- pissed, too.
 
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