Fed up with the rubbish school books your kids bring home?

[rubbishschoolbooks]

Hello, me and my kids have a blog about the rubbish primary school books they bring home - rubbishschoolbooks.blogspot.com

We'd love to hear from you if you have any corkers. We want to run a competition to find the worst offenders out there - most decrepit, smelliest, oldest, most rubbish illustrations etc.

Thanks!

Oh no! I'm worried about some quite lovely but just very very simple books. Some of the ones you're talking about are plain awful! You're scaring me now!

Sorry to frighten you! Mind you...Halloween is around the corner...there are some true schockers at a primary school near you!

I hate the books my DD brings home from school but they are nothing like as bad as the ones your children bring home!

Is this blog to have a go at your school?

I'm guessing the odd shocking book can be simply ignored. But if one is consistently in receipt of downright dreadful books then what does one do? Does that ever happen in real life, BTW?

My DS is just as happy with the 'rubbish' books as any others, he just makes up more interesting stories to go with the pictures. If he is happy so am I

I can't see what good this does. I really can't.

How is it going to help?

'What does one do'? Goes to the library, I should think. Writes one's own about the child's bear. Reads the cereal packet.

Honestly, school books are not that big a deal, surely?

a book is a book isn't it? You get ones some kids love and some think are 'rubbish' we have had some great books i never would have picked up, and some dire stories about a tree ending up as a violin, but yes, what is the pint of this?

And tatty doesn't mean rubbish it's well read!

The point is surely to draw attention to the dreadful "book" that children are forced to read but contribute in no discernible way to their cognitive development nor their love of literature.

Aren't rubbish books only a non-problem if the school is happy for you to choose and comment about your own choice of books? If the school isn't happy then haven't you got a real problem with rubbish books.

(I suppose all this depends on what one defines as a problem.)

We get mainly quite good books (not struck on Biff and Chip etc but still)

Our school clearly has good enough funding and use it well.

Many schools have inadequate funding. Teachers probably HATE giving out shit books. But what can they do about it if it's all they've got?

Promoting some blog to point and laugh is not going to make anything better is it. Have you spoken to the school? Offered to donate your child's old books? Raised money?

Yes, and no. I've complained about them loads of times as have other parents...we just got fed up with it a few weeks ago after my son brought home Sammy's New Yellow Jumper. He was literally squirming as he read it. It's not just our school though - a couple of others are from different primary schools and there's a serious issue here too...I read in school with the kids and can see them, esp boys, being turned off reading because they have to read these terrible books.

Every now and then the kids will bring something semi-decent home, but they are pretty consistently awful is why we started the blog to vent frustrations.

Yes, we have offered to buy books with PTA funds...they declined. Well it certainly makes us feel we have some control back and makes us feel better!

Yes I can see you might want to vent.

The thing is though you can't have it both ways. Either it's a serious problem - which requires SORTING - and this isn't the way to do it/ makes light of it/ takes the focus off the real issue, or it's not that serious a deal in which case, well, enjoy your vent.

ruubbish (can't you have a better name?) I can't get used to calling someone rubbish....

Does your school let you read and comment on library books instead or not?

Banging head against wall comes to mind...yes, agree this might not be the best way of sorting it but kids enjoy it and it resonates with other parents.

rubbish is a lovely name! library books are fine...the kids will be writing reviews of books they like too so it's not all negative.

I know someone who received such dirty falling apart books (30+ years old) that she was too scared to read them with her DS. She is a little worried about germs/dirt etc but nevertheless I do think that the books were disgustingly manky even though I did read them with my DS.

Noooo! If I had dirty, smelly books they'd not get read and they'd be returned in a carrier bag and I'd wash out my daughter's book bag. Yuk!

Yes, I know the ones you mean, when the cellotape is so old, the glue turns bogey-like and they smell too.

Hi there, we've moved this thread into Bloggers. Thanks.