tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2782551808324372235.post1555548920497539494..comments2024-03-12T10:20:01.684+02:00Comments on Coffee and Chemo: School BooksRivkA with a capital Ahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09411034058195730044noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2782551808324372235.post-3445647873800035732009-09-04T00:32:49.933+03:002009-09-04T00:32:49.933+03:00Ariella -- For sure it's a scam. Publishing h...Ariella -- For sure it's a scam. Publishing houses and book stores make a fortune from this business!!<br /><br />Aliyah06 -- I'm voting for you, your majesty!<br /><br />Jameel -- welcome to 1984, when history changes depending on who is in charge....<br /><br />Shoshana -- and yet ANOTHER way the rest of the country can learn from Karmiel....<br /><br />Karen -- Our kids' elementary school developed a similar policy and I totally pay the school and just get all the books!!<br /><br />I just discovered that my son's school also has some sort of lending library, but we did not know that in advance, and they don't stock everything.<br /><br />My eldest daughter's school does something, but we did not know about it last year (before she started learning in the school) and this year we did not manage to get there (you know, what with radiation and the bar mitzvah....)<br /><br />So, we are almost finished running around. And, next week, I will go to the bookstore and get whatever we are still missing. (Unless I can remember who offered to go for us, in which case I will just hand over my credit card and a list and then take a nap!)RivkA with a capital Ahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09411034058195730044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2782551808324372235.post-47531207601592471722009-09-01T13:04:47.312+03:002009-09-01T13:04:47.312+03:00I can answer the question about Dat Mikra/Mikraot ...I can answer the question about Dat Mikra/Mikraot Gedolot. Even if the teacher says yes, have you compared the two sefarim recently? Unless you're going to give him a magnifying glass, get him a Dat Mikra. That's why they told you to buy it (even though it's twice the price of Mikraot Gedolot). They gave me a choice for one of my kids and I spent the extra 40 shekels so he won't 1) hate Torah, 2) hate me, 3) need new glasses. <br /><br />BTW at my kids' school, we buy a few basic sifrei Kodesh (in case you're crazy enough to give your kid the Dat Mikra from your set, which I am not either), but other than than we have the option to pay 280 shekels per kid to borrow the books for the year. It's probably cheaper than buying everything new, although it might not be cheaper than buying used/scrounging, but it's certainly easier.Karenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13915399347177829566noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2782551808324372235.post-44773753356907348522009-08-31T08:51:03.833+03:002009-08-31T08:51:03.833+03:00We're spoiled in Karmiel - at least in our sch...We're spoiled in Karmiel - at least in our school (and I believe in all the others), they do centralized purchasing of books.<br /><br />part of our 755NIS school fees covered the books - younger grades are mostly workbooks and nothing gets returned,older grades see a lot of book re-use (after all, no reason that sefer vayikra isn't the same this year, last year and 10 years ago - my son's copy he received tis year happened to have a sticker on the inside showing that it was used by a 23yr old daughter of friends so thats good to know :).<br /><br />We return all the books at the end of year excluding workbooks. There are even some books that /could/ be written in that aren't - the kashrut book my 2nd grader got this year is the identical edition my older son had 3 yrs ago and they just don't have the kids write inside.<br /><br />I guess i'll add that to the reasons I'm not moving out of my town :)<br /><br /><br />shoshanaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2782551808324372235.post-17888146439840097812009-08-30T22:17:36.298+03:002009-08-30T22:17:36.298+03:00We have been discussing this issue for years at ou...We have been discussing this issue for years at our local schools...<br /><br />The problem is, the curriculum changes every time the government changes, so we could never have books which could be used for year to year.<br /><br />For example: Oslo Great, Oslo mediocre, Oslo good, Oslo bad, Oslo disaster, Nakba GREAT, Nakba bad...etc.Jameel @ The Muqatahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15890095633246557332noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2782551808324372235.post-44979437849426270902009-08-30T16:38:13.443+03:002009-08-30T16:38:13.443+03:00In Ashdod, I'm told (by a relative by marriage...In Ashdod, I'm told (by a relative by marriage) that the school system still picks the texts and issues them to the students, to be turned in at the end of the year. My neighbor tells me when her grown sons were in school, it was that way in all of Israel. Cuts to the education budget have reduced us to this: we have to buy whatever books the teachers choose, and we have to pay for heating and air-conditioning in the schools.<br /><br />If I were Queen for a Day, school would run from 8am to 4 pm, like in Japan; the entire country would use the same textbooks in their grades for basic core courses which would be issued and returned annually; the budget would cover heating and air conditioning because who can study when he is freezing or sweltering.aliyah06https://www.blogger.com/profile/12570980519532246704noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2782551808324372235.post-5350177741577285922009-08-30T09:17:27.676+03:002009-08-30T09:17:27.676+03:00I totallyagree with your rant It seems to me that ...I totallyagree with your rant It seems to me that changing the workbooks to a new edition every year is a scam between the MInitsty of ed and publishing houses. A friend of mine just told m that she spent more on her daughter's first grade books that she did on textbooks for her first year of college. <br />ArielaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2782551808324372235.post-26609612288760598172009-08-30T02:32:22.396+03:002009-08-30T02:32:22.396+03:00I laughed when you wrote about empty workbooks at ...I laughed when you wrote about empty workbooks at the end of the year because when my son was in third grade, he tried to beat the system. When I asked him why he wasn't doing work in the workbook, he told me they weren't using that workbook yet. When his teacher asked him the same question he told her I hadn't purchased it for him! Thankfully we caught him before too long and the workbook did eventually get used!<br /><br />-ssAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2782551808324372235.post-61488446934336996802009-08-30T01:05:54.056+03:002009-08-30T01:05:54.056+03:00In England, it seems that the schools provide ever...In England, it seems that the schools provide everything but the writing, cutting, colouring and gluing implements. Including the homework diary (yoman). If you think this sounds great, read on. Each subject gets its own blank workbook. The teachers photocopy worksheets, which the children have to glue into their workbooks. This wastes two pages of paper for each page the children do, since worksheets can't be double-sided and then a page of the workbook is used as well. Never mind the number of glue sticks used. At the end of the year, the whole workbook is chucked out, wasting all the rest of the paper in the workbook. Oh for a loose-leaf notebook!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2782551808324372235.post-43176851002366590482009-08-30T00:38:53.714+03:002009-08-30T00:38:53.714+03:00On the other side, Ricki was going to school sever...On the other side, Ricki was going to school several years after her older sister, and I was VERY pleased at the vast improvement of the texts, and teaching methods in math and other subjects. The texts are much more colorful and more child-friendly.<br /> Ricki's school actually makes an effort not to change texts unnecessarily, and many schools sponser a "parent-swap book morning" a few days after school ends.rickismomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07817042750959998664noreply@blogger.com