<p>I personally am a big fan of Jansport bags. We have a Jansport outlet here where they are 50 percent off. I’ve had my Jansport laptop bag for about three years and my Jansport backpack for about nine years.</p>
<p>I like the idea of archival and active binders. I usually did a variation of that: I’d combine 2-4 classes in one binder, depending on my schedule, so I’d have a binder that I’d carry around all morning and then one for the afternoon. If the teacher was insistent that I have a separate one, I’d go up and say that wasn’t how I preferred to work, but on binder checking days, I’d be happy to put the stuff into a separate binder. I kept an extra binder in my locker.</p>
<p>Of course, I was a well organized, straight-A student, and very petite so they bought the idea that I shouldn’t be carrying too much stuff and trusted me to come up with my own binder system. </p>
<p>I am a Jansport fan too… they’re just so sturdy!</p>
<p>There are always such great ideas here! Thanks, everyone. I had no idea that there was online access to textbooks. This could have saved my older son quite a few times last year, because he was always losing or forgetting his books. And I like the active/archive binder idea. In our MS, they require separate binders for each class. They have said, though, that my son (who is a champion at being disorganized) can use whatever system he wants. Maybe he’ll want to try this system this year.</p>
<p>The archival binder system worked great for my ultra-organized son. But, when my daughter tried it in middle school, papers somehow often didn’t make it back to the archival binder. Periodically, I would find several subjects worth of notes and homework stuffed into her planner. I guess it takes a good bit of organization and will power to keep this system going.</p>
<p>lkf725, How did you produce an ultra-organized son? Can I send mine to you for a few weeks of training?</p>
<p>I’m at my wits’ end.</p>
<p>My 2 college students are still using the Land’s End backpack they got when they started high school. (In fact, one just graduated from college!) The backpacks are in fine shape. However, my youngest has not found a backpack that he can’t destroy by over stuffing. He is about to head off to college and will likely need a new one soon. He has always felt it necessary to take EVERYTHING to and from school every day. I finally gave up nagging him about it. Fortunately, he is a big kid and can handle it. I don’t know how some of these little guys do it.</p>
<p>Can’t the students just get more of the work done at school so that less needs to be taken home? I realize that means cutting corners, but it won’t matter in 10 years if they were an A student or B student. If it means the students have to cut back on the Honors classes in their weaker subjects, that won’t matter in 10 years either. Nobody is obligated to be the class brain.</p>
<p>NYMomof2,
I don’t know how he got to be so organized. I think it was just inborn because he was this way even as a small child. If only it would rub off a little on his sister!</p>
<p>JHSU:</p>
<p>It is not a matter of getting a B or an A. The school schedule is simply not structured for accommodating homework. Whether you are in the CP track, the AP track, the Honors track, you will still be expected to do your homework at home, not in class. Homework is just that: work done at home.</p>
<p>i really don’t understand why schools just don’t spent money to buy an extra 30 copies of textbooks to keep in the classroom so kids can just keep their books at home.</p>
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<p>Could the answer be money? While I have been concerned about the weight of textbooks, I am glad my kids HAD textbooks. There are many many schools in this country that do not have the funds for buying textbooks, or are using totally outdated textbooks.</p>
<p>It’s not 30 extra copies, it’s more like 250 extra copies- of one subject! In our middle school there are about 250 kids per grade. I like the on-line idea. 5 years ago when my just graduated son was in 8th grade they did a survey and found out that 86% of the households in that 8th grade class had internet access at home. I’m sure it’s even higher now. If they let all the parents and students know about that option and then just bought a couple of dozen extra books it would be great.</p>
<p>Kathiep:</p>
<p>Interesting stats. A couple of years ago, a teacher in our HS reported that all the students in AP classes had computers at home, but only 2/3 of those in CP classes had–a real correlation between SES and access to AP classes.</p>
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<p>It’s just a lot of money! Each text is anywhere from $50 to $75. A student might have 4 to 5 texts. The texts usually change every 5 to 7 years (at least here in CA). My D’s high school does buy class sets, but the PTA raises all the money for it.</p>
<p>i remember my spanish teacher in 9th grade handed out our books and told us to take them home and use them for a door stop because we wouldn’t be using them in her class… and we learned so much spanish that year it was amazing. i mean, when i got to spanish in 10th grade it was just relearning what i learned the year before because our teacher covered so much stuff without the text book.</p>
<p>then when i took spanish in college our prof loved the text book… Probably because she wrote it. i really didn’t like that lady.</p>
<p>I know one of the middle school social studies texts was available in one large volume or broken down into 3 smaller volumes. Also, one year’s science book had a different small volume each quarter. It’s a decent alternative if books are available that way.</p>
<p>Our middle school has classroom copies and about 300 kids per grade. But since only three classes are conducted in any one subject area simultaneously, only about 100 (at most) classroom copies are needed. I mean…not all 300 kids are in Math at the same time. Some of our classroom copies are donated by publishers as well. If a school is proactive, deals can be made. Our teachers have also been very good about setting up websites and McGraw links for online texts. Now if we could just get them to give up all those three inch binders.</p>
<p>Another suggestion might be to buy the books. We did it because he himself was not physically robust. We didn’t like the idea of a 12 year old walking like an old man. I think it was money well spent. Only recently we learned about the side benefit. He told us that because he had books at home, he would ‘read’ math and science books for fun.</p>
<p>Today is my little sister’s first day of middle school. I really feel for her!! She has a broken wrist, and may be in a cast the entire school year. We had to buy her 4 binders, 2 notebooks, and a huge pencil bag, and I’m sure her books will be heavier than elementary school.</p>
<p>Students aren’t allowed to carry backpacks around during the school day, and I remember how difficult it was to carry all my stuff in middle school… and I had two good arms and weighed a good 50 pounds more (she’s gonna be a late bloomer). We didn’t have any class sets in middle school, and I hope they’ve changed that! We had class sets in some classes in high school, so maybe they’ve implemented this at the middle school. </p>
<p>I’m about to go pick her up and bring all the other school supplies she couldn’t fit in her (HUGE) backpack this morning. She was able to ride her bike in elementary school, but I’m afraid she won’t be able to balance with her huuuge backpack and a cast.</p>
<p>Have one of your parents call the school and ask for a second set of books to be left at home. Next, have your sister leave each textbook in each class. That should definitely cut down on her load. Also, I can’t imagine a school not allowing a student to carry a backback when she obviously has an injury. I would think a medical note from a doctor would be all that you would need for the school to allow that.</p>