8.07.2006

It's that time again.......

Can you smell it? Fall is in the air! Football practices are in full swing, band camps are starting, long-awaited vacations are now the stuff of memory albums, mums are for sale at the grocery stores, and the cash registers are going ca-ching! Cash registers??? Yes. At least those in our town, where I have spent waayy too much money on school supplies.

Gone are the days of a those blue-denimish three-ring binders, a package of subject dividers, and a shiny new lunch box. Now, the lists read something like this:

• 24 sharpened pencils (each labeled with the child's name please)
• 4 yellow highlighters (also labeled)
• 3 red pencils (sharpened, of course)
• 3 red pens (no gel ink, thank you)
• 24 glue sticks (I'm still trying to figure out how one first grader can possibly use 24 glue sticks.)
• a 3-inch binder with zipper closure and pockets for storage (Do you know how hard these are to find?)
• 4 boxes of kleenex (only the 250 count will do)
• 3 containers of antibacterial wipes (like these help at all!!)

and oh yes, don't forget that memory stick for computer projects. Huh??? A memory stick??? Now, we are blessed that our children attend christian school and so their supply lists are probably longer than most, but still........a memory stick??

My kids' backpacks are so full on the first day of school that I worry about back injuries occurring between the car pool line and their new classrooms! And you can imagine my dismay when, in June, we get unopened watercolor paint sets, unused protractors, not to mention, brand new glue sticks back home again in the same overstuffed backpacks. And, of course, since they are all properly labeled with child #2's name, rank, and serial number, child #3 can't use them next year!

When did these endless supplies become a prerequisite for learning? Oh for the simpler days when all Miss Beadle required in Walnut Grove was a slate and a lunchpail!

4 comments:

Beckyb said...

Oh man - I'm thinking homeschooling has it's benefits!! I just bought the boys a 10 pk of notebooks at Target for $1.00 and let them each choose a new mechanical pencil - but we won't talk how much I've spent on curriculum - DON"T ASK JOE!!!! But I love the memory stick - that is almost scary!! We wouldn't have believed it 10 years ago - ok, maybe even 5!!!

Becky

Anonymous said...

I would seriously consider "unschooling". Just let nature take its educational course. If I'd have had to remember all that stuff AND not lose it once I had it...well I shudder to even consider it.

While Miss Beadle's requirements sound great, remember, that Laura, Nellie and the gang also had to spend their free time "bringing in the sheaves"

Anonymous said...

Good grief, a memory stick. Who teaches them how to use it and not lose it. No wonder you spend a small fortune. I didn't know you had so much left over at the end of the year, either. UGH

melanie said...

I'm doing the same thing! I think we finally have it covered. Unfortunately there is no sign of fall in the near future here in NC. We are holding steady at 98 degrees and sunflowers and watermelons abound everywhere.