School costs and parent involvement

[Melissa]

Originally Posted by DapperButch

Ok, so I was about to hit submit to a post in the "what is on your mind" thread, but realized that maybe it would get lost in the shuffle and the parenting subforum may be a more suitable place.

Please expand on this topic in any way you might like. Maybe people want to talk about school costs in general or parent involvement in general. But this is what was specifically "on my mind"...


So copy/pasting:

One thing I have noticed from talking to parents is that it seems like there are higher and higher expectations in school on the "projects" kids have to do. Like crazy high...out of their age range, so the parents have to do it.

Also, a lot of these projects seem to cost a lot of money for the supplies.

So, "what is on my mind is":

1) My client was telling me about this intense project that her 3rd grader had to do...seemed more fitting for a 7th grader to do. There is NO WAY that she could have done this project without a parent. What do the kids do who don't have parents that want to help them? Just fail?

2) Some of the projects now a days seem to include a lot of supplies that cost money. What do kids do if they have parents who can't afford these supplies? What about the kids whose parents have the money, but aren't willing to go to the craft store to get said supplies b/c they are just parents who don't care?

I went to public school. As I recall, the teachers always had available any supplies that were needed for projects if your parents couldn't buy it for you. And it wasn't expensive stuff. At all. A couple of bucks and one or two projects a year. And the projects were things that weren't outside of a kids ability level and they could do the projects on their own. Things seem to have changed.

What are these unlucky kids doing if they have a parent who won't help with a project or won't or can't purchase supplies? Are teachers "in tune" to these kids and their needs do ya think?

Can you tell us more about the project and what is considered a third grade project vs a 7th grade project? This just might be your client's perspective on the project. In terms of the district, the project probably complies with grade level expectations and learning objectives.

I have heard of teachers buying supplies out of their own pocket because budget cuts are preventing schools from buying materials. Perhaps this child's teacher is not willing to dip into his or her own pocket, or has spent too much and can't afford any more. My guess is that teacher's are very in tune to which kids can or cannot afford supplies and which kids have parents who are active in their learning and which kids have parents who can't or won't be involved in their learning. It could be that the project is mandated and the teacher has little control over it?

M