world book day is a pointless, costly pain in the arse for working parents?

[LumpenProletariat]

Does it make any difference to reading levels? As a solo working mum, I find it a total pain and costly too.

Books yes. Pointless dressing up no. Dressing up is not magically going to Improve reading in any way shape or form. I exclude the dc (at thier request) from this waste of time.

@HiDay

Spare a thought, at least your children outgrow it....As staff I have made a forced effort every year for over 20 years....

As staff I happily and gladly joined in for years, until the school decided to do a certain book and as staff we had to set the right example, which is when I stopped doing it.

1.I don't want to buy/make something when I have plenty of suitable stuff for books I actually really enjoy and could talk about for hours.
2.I haven't read the book, I have no interest to or it's not one I actually enjoy.

So fuck it.

Oh there's always costumes for WBD in our local big supermarket with a proper clothing bit. Not in the smaller ones. It's definitely a thing.

I agree it's a right pain and I'm not convinced it benefits anyone. Someone mentioned about it being a problem if your kid prefers non-fiction. Personally I've not let that stop me. My youngest loves the Horrible Histories books so last year he went as a Viking and this year we've agreed for a Scottish theme. He already owns a kilt (for previous dress up day reasons) and I think we've got a plaid scarf I can use as a sash thing. If you pick your Horrible Histories book carefully you can reuse whatever dress up as Roman/evacuee/Egyptian theme they have that year.

Grenlei, WBD is for 'showoffs' we both work and certainly don't have much time on our hands but part of having children is understanding that many children enjoy doing childish things such as dressing up. Childhood shouldn't really be just about going through the motions and day to day drudgery like adults come to expect.

A better idea....from my very favourite independent bookshop. A great place to sit and read.

www.facebook.com/littleriponbookshop/photos/a.610706272351441/5297938760294812/

No one is saying that kids cannot have fun or that they should be subjected to a life of drudgery.

The expectations to wear fancy dress are not fair on parents or on many people's family budgets.

Some children like dressing up. Some aren't very bothered. Some actively hate it. It's weird to me that it's become such a default option for things. There are millions of other ways to have fun in school.

@HiDay

Spare a thought, at least your children outgrow it....As staff I have made a forced effort every year for over 20 years....

Tbf at least you could wear the same costume each year

It’s the same with any school competition really the winners are always the ones done by parents. It achieves nothing except emphasising that someone else will do the work. And if you’re on your own you get nowhere.

Sounds like a great teaching experience for your kids. You won’t always get a prize.

Google how to do it cheaply - most people have smart phones

This is why we can't have nice things.

But this stuff is just a normal part of parenting school age children in the UK.

Most kids in school enjoy it and they shouldn’t have it taken away from them just because some parents can’t be bothered. It can be done very cheaply with some effort.

Costly and pointless for everyone.

Only good thing about lockdown home schooling is we got to avoid it.

Hate it.

I dislike the constant dress up, gone are the days when most kids will make do with a costume thrown together with things you find at home.

I did this with my dd in yr3 when they had to dress up as an Egyptian goddess, I thought she looked great (so did she), until she saw all the others dressed up like sheep in Amazon costumes.

Bring the book and just to non school uniform day, all the supermarkets cash in on world book day costumes, mist are around £15 its totally unnecessary to dress up.

We've had the world book day email. I was very pleased to see that my boys school have stated no costumes. They can come in own clothes. This is due to they feel that the meaning of the day has been lost and has become a costly issue that detracts from that.

@FairyCakeWings

But this stuff is just a normal part of parenting school age children in the UK.

Most kids in school enjoy it and they shouldn’t have it taken away from them just because some parents can’t be bothered. It can be done very cheaply with some effort.

No, its BECOME normal in schools. It never used to be like this and it doesn't have to be like this.

Mine are too old now thankfully but no I wouldn't have time. so you had no free time between say January and March to have a rummage in the charity shop one weekend when you were shopping or to have a rummage through their cupboards for something? I'd think it unusual for parents to have zero free time over a period of months to be able to spare a couple of hours.

@Scoobygang7

We've had the world book day email. I was very pleased to see that my boys school have stated no costumes. They can come in own clothes. This is due to they feel that the meaning of the day has been lost and has become a costly issue that detracts from that.

Quite!

@sanbeiji

Also it would be a lot easier if they mentioned all these days at the start of term!Easy to source things with multiple uses. But no they just have to give a few days notice and usually the week you’re already up to your eyeballs in rubbish to do…

In the first year of school, yes. But once they're in year 1+, surely you know. So I know that the Halloween costume is extra useful if it can double up for Rockstars Day (werewolf costume), WBD will be something he'd choose to rewear or already own. Always useful to make sure they've got a cheap clutch of t-shirts in the main colours - red and yellow for ours (red nose day and mental health day), plus something spotty for CIN. Eye out in the second hand or sale aisle. There will be a few random ones but it shouldn't all be a surprise

@SleepingStandingUp

Mine are too old now thankfully but no I wouldn't have time. so you had no free time between say January and March to have a rummage in the charity shop one weekend when you were shopping or to have a rummage through their cupboards for something? I'd think it unusual for parents to have zero free time over a period of months to be able to spare a couple of hours.

No. January is my busiest time at work so lots of overtime. February currently is spent studying for work exams.

We don't stay close to charity shops and weekends are spent doing hobbies.

Actually can't think when I was last in a big town near shops at the weekend. Food shopping done in the evening.

Is it so hard to believe others have different lifestyles?

World book day wasn't on my radar until the school sent out texts usually 2 weeks prior. My eldest hated dressing up anyway and my youngest would just wear whatever costume he wanted to wear that he already owned and we found a book to fit around it.

@Scoobygang7

We've had the world book day email. I was very pleased to see that my boys school have stated no costumes. They can come in own clothes. This is due to they feel that the meaning of the day has been lost and has become a costly issue that detracts from that.

I suspect more and more schools will go down this route.

Our primary school (my youngest left last year) was always talking about "cost of the school day". It was a big thing discussed with the council as the reality is many families are struggling - that's likely to be more true now. Many use food banks. There shouldn't be financial pressure added from the schools for dress up days.

@Matildatoldsuchdreadfullies

Does it make any difference if I say it’s a costly PITA for teachers, too?

Makes no difference to reading levels, and doesn’t actually promote love of reading.

I guess it’s good for commerce, though. How many World Book Day costumes get sold in the various supermarkets every year?

The supermarkets only sell them because you, the parents, buy them! Like all the other over-commercialised tat, eg Halloween, instead of complaining here vote with your feet and purses, they'll soon stop.

I'm assuming people are practically apoplectic over Roahl Dahl Day?

@SleepingStandingUp

I'm assuming people are practically apoplectic over Roahl Dahl Day?

Our school did dress up for Roald Dahl day when DC1 was in reception… they haven’t done it since. I reused that costume for the following world book day!

I'm all up for introducing interest in the reading to the children community, but the dressing up?
No thanks. It's pointless. Just another pressure homework for parents.

I'm not going to hunt for a costumes, that the kids will wear only one single day and for the rest of the year gonna be shoved in the wardrobe and never worn again.

Our school had a similar event few days before Halloween- it was called Superhero day- all perfect apart the fact that they couldn't wear any Halloween costumes, so I was running like headless chicken few days before Halloween to get another costume.
And again- after the one single day of wearing it ,the costume now lying in the wardrobe- never gonna do that again.