So I found out this week Scholastic book orders are "against school policy" where I am currently working. Several of the teachers I work with are really upset about this, me included. Has anyone else heard of this as policy?
I remember hearing last year on AtoZ that someone's school had asked teachers to not use them because it made student's feel bad for not being able to afford book orders. I don't know anyone personally that isn't allowed to use them.
We aren't allowed to use them. They don't say this in so many words, but the bottom line is that the kids can't afford extra books and they don't want the teachers "pushing" that on them so that they can get teacher points or whatever. We often give out free books.
Kind of a ridiculous policy. Even if some students cannot afford books, the points obtained from book orders results in free books for the entire class to use. It's a win win.
I agree. Kids can feel good or bad about many things in life. Plus, I consider it more of a parental choice than a money issue. I have had many students who could afford to order books, but their parents choose not to. Why take that away from other children?
I agree too. I know not all of my students can afford them, but some of them can. Besides, if parents want to buy their kids books, they're cheaper through Scholastic than they are at the store. There are always books on there for $1...it's not like I'm asking them to buy the $40 book packs.
The book orders were one of the little joys of elementary school that I remember. Sad to hear that they are being banned in some schools!
That's insane. I've been ordering Scholastic books for over two years! They benefit the students in many ways, with coupons, free books and the class books that I have bought to use as read alouds. Many parents can order online now, so we never know who is buying books or who isn't. I don't push anything. I send out the brochure and whatever comes back to me comes back. I distribute the books discretely to the students. I don't make any big deal about who ordered what. Some never spend a dime and some buy large amounts. Who cares? It promotes the love of books and the love of reading. It's a service for the students, the parents, and the teachers. Many of the books are way below retail price. They offer many books for $1. I don't know who in your admin made this kind of bonehead decision, but it is sad and misinformed. Oh heck, it's plain STUPID!!!
I grew up very poor. My mom always made sure I could order once or twice from the book orders. I'd get like a $5 limit. We didn't get allowance (my mom didn't have the money), so my grandparents would randomly give my sister and I $5 every few weeks. I would spend that (and birthday or Christmas money) on book orders, too. As mentioned, some books are only $1!
Right some books are $1. Maybe someone was caught stealing book money, and they are using this as an excuse.
I don't know if we're allowed or not...but I totally am. If I'm wrong I'll just stop and apologize later. Question though....did Scholastic move to separate catalogs geared towards grade levels? (Mind you, I haven't shopped in a Scholastic catalog since I myself was a student in the 90s, so bear with me.) When I registered it gave me an option for "Honeybee," "Arrow," "Lucky," etc. I remember there just being a generic Scholastic Book Club flyer....is this no more?
I think I need to ask my new P about this before I actually send out a form this year. I've done it in previous years with very limited success. For some reason, my kiddos have money for ice cream and field day, but not for books, go figure. Anyway, I do know that there are strict guidelines about what Title I schools can ask families for money for. Perhaps that could be the reason.
There are a billion different ones now, I've probably gotten 7 different ones since school started. The ones that come out each month are: Arrow is 4th and 5th grade I believe Lucky is 2nd and 3rd grade SeeSaw is K and 1 Firefly is Prek and K Honeybee is for very young children Tab is for teens Sometimes last year I differentiated which flyers I sent home because I had such a wide range of reading levels. This year I'll probably send Seesaw and Lucky home to everyone because I teach 3rd and have a lot of low readers.
Give me a break! I would take them home and I would understand if my parents said that I couldn't get any books. Sometimes that's the only way parents WILL buy books for their kids! My school does allow them- there's never any pressure to buy books- though I have seen the kids brag a bit about books that they've gotten when they come in. That could easily be taken care of by privately giving students books or asking parents to pick them up. DUMB.
But isn't this the whole idea? For kids to get excited about books? And I don't see kids buying books as asking them for money. They have an option to buy books if they want them. That's it. Asking for money is asking them to send money for supplies, or fundraisers, or to pay for craft supplies or something.
Exactly. Many of my students last year paid for their inexpensive books with dimes and nickels- that's how badly they wanted them. Most students only ordered one book at a time, but at least they were spending their money on books! I can provide them with a million books in the classroom but it's nice to know that over summer vacation they'll have some sort of literature in their home!
I assume the school never sells school shirts, tickets to games and dances, or sends home fundraisers for the school after bribing the students to sell with promises of cool prizes? And I assume they don't have book fairs either? Or charge for field trips? I hope I'm assuming correctly, otherwise it's a silly rule to ban book orders. (Fundraising being an issue because you're often told to only sell to close family and friends, but if you're from a poor family you're crap out of luck and won't be getting that stupid free toy that will break by the time you get on the bus.)
