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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

698 replies

LumpenProletariat · 17/02/2022 09:18

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

OP posts:
SleepingStandingUp · 18/02/2022 15:50

@Momicrone

How come people don't mind sorting costumes for Halloween but not wbd?
I wouldn't assume people are Have you seen the comments about how awful and American it is?
SleepingStandingUp · 18/02/2022 15:50

Whereas if we're actually following the spirit of WBD and dressing as a favourite character, I'm going to have to fashion Dogman or similar. DS has thankfully picked Captain Underpants. I was DREADING having to make DogMan 😂😂

ldontWanna · 18/02/2022 15:51

@TheKeatingFive

There are a limited number of options for Halloween and all widely available.

Whereas if we're actually following the spirit of WBD and dressing as a favourite character, I'm going to have to fashion Dogman or similar.

I know plenty of people work the other way round, choose a costume they can do easily and tell their child they're going as X character that they may not have even heard of, but I don't see the point in that.

DD is going as little Petey. Orange tshirt,orange leggings and tiger tail and ears. Not the greatest but she seems happy and comfortable. Plus I can reuse and i deffo won't lose her in a crowd.Grin
TheKeatingFive · 18/02/2022 15:52

I love lil Petey 😍

SleepingStandingUp · 18/02/2022 16:00

Omg I have all that, well fox not tiger. Wonder if I can convince DS...

yikesanotherbooboo · 18/02/2022 16:19

My DC all liked it .We cobbled costumes from home so no cost.

00100001 · 18/02/2022 16:47

@SleepingStandingUp

Why should kids and parents be doing all this work outside of school?? It's madness. Why does a 7 yo need to spend their spare time doing bloody school projects??? because I don't expect my kids learning to finish at 3.10 pm.
They can learn non school things, surely. Life isn't all about making everything a learning moment.

Imagine if you had to bring your work home every night, and also spend your free time doing activities and going to places geared towards supporting whatever project is going on at work.

tigger1001 · 18/02/2022 17:23

@Momicrone

How come people don't mind sorting costumes for Halloween but not wbd?
Our school didn't dress up for Halloween, so only needed costumes for the school disco at night. I had a couple of years where they went to that but generally, in particular, my eldest, didn't do dress up so wouldn't bother getting into costume.
tigger1001 · 18/02/2022 17:28

"They can learn non school things, surely. Life isn't all about making everything a learning moment.

Imagine if you had to bring your work home every night, and also spend your free time doing activities and going to places geared towards supporting whatever project is going on at work."

I agree. And it usually shows which parents do the projects for the kids.

Our school deliberately didn't do these kind of projects with the very notable exception of p3. Project was an ice sculpture of a hand, using a rubber glove. Great. Apart from we didn't have the freezer space. And my child went to breakfast club so his ice sculpture would have been a puddle of water before school 😂😂

Learning takes many guises. Doesn't have to be formal school work. I'm not convinced a lot of homework has much educational benefits to primary aged kids.

Morgysmum · 18/02/2022 17:38

I did find it a pain in the bum. You had to find a character that, not only your child liked from a book, but was relatively easy to make or buy. For. The mandatory dress up, sure they didn't have to dress up, but my son did want too, but my patience to make a costume wasn't very high, I aren't very handy with a needle and thread.
But my son was tall for his age, so children costumes stopped fitting at age 8. So I had to come up with something that didn't require me to make it.
Then, you had to pay a pound, for the hassle to get it all together, the night before as your darling child forgot about it.
Which isn't a fortune, but might as well be, when you only have 60p in the bank and don't get paid for another week.

Fizbosshoes · 18/02/2022 17:41

How come people don't mind sorting costumes for Halloween but not wbd?

We don't generally celebrate or do anything at Halloween.(they don't at school) But we have a mask, a cape and a witches hat that have been used several times with own clothes (the cape and witches hat have also been used for the worst witch)

sweatervest · 18/02/2022 17:45

what irks me is that out of classes of 30 kids (primary school i work in) about 3 of them in each class have ever been to a library. nor do they know that it's free to get books.

i think there should be library appreciation day tbh.

StinkerTroll · 18/02/2022 17:45

World book day is about promoting reading for pleasure, this didn't work for all children (nothing works for every child!). It is individual schools choice to do dress up, hence why supermarkets have jumped on board to make a profit! A lot of schools are no longer doing dress up for to the expense, some are compromising and asking kids to come on pj's to do bedtime stories instead

TheYearOfSmallThings · 18/02/2022 17:48

what irks me is that out of classes of 30 kids (primary school i work in) about 3 of them in each class have ever been to a library. nor do they know that it's free to get books.

Where on earth do you live?

I live in a poorish borough, and I am certain every child in his class has been taken to the library, even if the family don't read much or borrow books often.

LuckyAmy1986 · 18/02/2022 17:51

Don’t bin it after, donate it… Hmm

Sassoon · 18/02/2022 17:52

As an English teacher, it's become ridiculous headache for all involved and doesn't improve reading in any way. Expensive and a nuisance for busy parents. Every day should be book day with parents and children reading for a bit, library trips etc. Far more useful.

Timmytoo · 18/02/2022 17:52

I laughed at a post from a member of a FB group about this very thing. She said she would keep her child at home and when questioned, her reply would be “She was there, she went as the Invisible Man!” 🤣

ldontWanna · 18/02/2022 17:57

@Timmytoo

I laughed at a post from a member of a FB group about this very thing. She said she would keep her child at home and when questioned, her reply would be “She was there, she went as the Invisible Man!” 🤣
That's brilliant.Grin
cherish123 · 18/02/2022 18:02

No difference to reading levels.
More about creating a reading culture.
It is a bit of a faff.

ldontWanna · 18/02/2022 18:03

@TheYearOfSmallThings

what irks me is that out of classes of 30 kids (primary school i work in) about 3 of them in each class have ever been to a library. nor do they know that it's free to get books.

Where on earth do you live?

I live in a poorish borough, and I am certain every child in his class has been taken to the library, even if the family don't read much or borrow books often.

Because income is not the only factor.

We have kids whose parents are illiterate or have learning difficulties . Parents who are addicts, parents that live in b&b's or a room in a shared house,or left in the night with just the clothes on their backs. Parents who have no aspirations for their kids and see school as a waste of time and space. Parents who aren't supportive if it requires any effort. Parents who work 3 jobs to keep food on the table and barely manage to see their kids,much less take them to a library. Parents who struggle for various other reasons. Parents who have never been to a library themselves so it just doesn't occur to them. I could go on.

ArthurDear2021 · 18/02/2022 18:03

@sploshsplash

How about you forget about all the reason you don't like it and focus on the fact that you're child might like it 🙄
Totally agree ..and for children that don't like dressing up like my son didn't you can easily adjust...let them pick there own clothes/ outfit for the day and take a book they like my son took a comic as he loved reading them it should just be focused on the reading part..his school banned princess dresses or anything from a film! Hmm
ldontWanna · 18/02/2022 18:06

his school banned princess dresses or anything from a film!

Which is stupid as most princess films are inspired from books and tales. Are Narnia characters banned too? The Gruffalo? Stick man? Harry Potter? Peter Pan?

If not it's just snobbery.

TimBoothseyes · 18/02/2022 18:10

I remember WBD. DD hated it, not the book part she adored reading and still does as an adult. It was the dressing up she didn't like so every year she went as George from the Famous 5. She didn't really like the books she just used it as an excuse to wear jeans and t-shirts to school.

ClaudiasWinkleMan · 18/02/2022 18:13

World book day isn’t about reading levels, it’s about trying to get more children to enjoy reading or keep up a love of reading. Many kids get turned off reading due to constant pressures to speed their way through the reading levels and have to do reading homework every night. They don’t see reading as something to enjoy but a chore to be endured until they are old enough to stop reading because they are no longer at school.
It’s to inject fun into books. Reading is an enormously enriching activity and opens us up to different cultures, issues and perspectives. Not to mention reading being a vital life skill and how it increases vocabulary and ability to spell well. It’s a fun day that the kids really enjoy.

cheekyasfish · 18/02/2022 18:25

Oh no. When is it? 🙈