do you have to buy books for school for your children?

yo'ma

Mon, Mar 05 2012, 6:59 pm

Two different question, do you have to buy them or does the government give them? The other question is that if you do buy them, does the school provide it and you have to pay or you have to go out and buy it? Oh, and where do you live, country-wise?

When I lived in NY, I was so used to so many things provided by the government, like school books. When I first moved here, I was turned off that I had to pay for the school books, but now, it's even worse. My children changed schools and I got a list of books they need. I was wondering why there was no price list, so I called a friend and she said I have to go out and buy them myself. Anybody else have this where they live? I'm talking about text and workbooks.

de_goldy

Mon, Mar 05 2012, 10:01 pm

I grew up in Australia, we got a book lost and we could order it through the school (not part of school fees), or we could buy it second hand from kids the grade above, or we could get it from the text book stores ourselves.

I actually like it much better than the used books my kids get. It's so much nicer to learn from brand new clean shiny books.

WriterMom

Mon, Mar 05 2012, 10:27 pm

yo'ma wrote:

We only pay for the ones the kids lost embarrassed

Here books are included in the fees. In public schools I've never heard of parents paying; I do know some private schools where they're not included.

I do NOT understand why you have to go out and buy them, that's crazy, you get huge savings on shipping and usually also on price if you buy as a group. If the school has to charge extra, well and good, but it would be easier for them to order straight from the publisher. Forgive me if you're so busy this is a terrible idea, but have you thought about getting together with other parents and ordering in bulk?

BinahYeteirah

Mon, Mar 05 2012, 11:00 pm

WriterMom wrote:

In public schools I've never heard of parents paying; I do know some private schools where they're not included.

I went to public school and my parents had to pay book fees. The fees were like rental fees; we didn't get to keep the books.

RachelEve14

Tue, Mar 06 2012, 12:44 am

In EY, yes, they give you a list and you have to go out and buy them. I bring the list to the local store in July and in theory they have everything needed, but of course something is always out of stock so you have to run out another 2, 3, 6 times until that book is in stock.

There are a few books you have to pay for and the school buys. They send home a form and you check what you want and send a check.