okay, honest question — i don’t have kids so i don’t know. i heard somewhere that elementary schools collect the kids school supplies at the start of the year. the kid doesn’t "own" his own supplies, and he doesn’t get them back at the end of the year. i guess whatever is left is donated or something?
parents, teachers — little help here. is this true? have you heard of this? most of my friends have babies or toddlers or i would just ask them.
if this has been going on awhile — no wonder kids have to buy all new school supplies every year. when i grew up, i think i used the same pair of scissors for all of elementary! and i remember going through two boxes or crayons in all that time.
if kids are using each others stuff, i can see how supplies would get wasted or damaged — they have no incentive to take care of their things because they aren’t really theirs! they belong to the "collective". i just don’t get it.
is this true? does this happen at schools today?
Yes, it’s true and happens often. It depends on the school, area and grade though. When my daughter was in public school, you had to pool everything. It was shared by everyone. I hated it because there were so many parents that didn’t supply their share and the good parents had to make up for it. On top of that, the first 2 years of school, my daughter picked out folders she loved and then they never used them. At the end of the year, I’d ask about them and they’d say that they belonged to the school and we didn’t get them back. This doesn’t happen at all schools though. As I said, depends on the school, grade and so on. Now that she’s in private school, everything belongs to her. She loves it. Also, at the beginning of the year, EVERY parent brought in the proper supplies. There were no free rides and everyone did their share.
As US military patrol and help provide security in northern Iraq, a prevalent need is local village schools where predominantly Kurdish kids don’t have basic school supplies (paper, pencils, etc.). They get really excited when soldiers offer even a spare pen for them to go and do homework with. if you’re interested in sending supplies it will go a long way to helping hundreds of local children get an education. Not to mention build goodwill and improve security between US forces and the local people groups!
Back-To-School doesnt have to break the bank. Kim Danger offers fun tips that will help you make the most of your budget when the kids head back to school. Tips include money-saving craft projects and shopping advice.
Learn about the supplies you will need to home school kids and some cost-saving tips about supply shopping, in this free home-schooling education video clip.
In January we distributed school supplies to the schools and kids of Armenia Bonito in La Ceiba, Honduras.
In Honduras the average person makes less then $3,000 a year and the unemployment rate is above 30%. Because of this and the fact that free and compulsory education stops at the sixth grade, only 1/3rd of the kids attend school beyond the sixth grade. In an effort to make education a reality in Armenia Bonito we asked our friends and supporters to send us school supplies for the school year that begins in February of 2010. We were able to distribute over 20,000 school supplies to over 400 kids, three schools, three churches and an orphanage.
