We should officially make it a national holiday. We have been treating it as such for years anyway. Back. To. School. The advertising in the daily newspapers, television commercials and radio broadcasts rival the ads of Christmas, Thanksgiving and Valentine’s Day. Back to school has become a time that we start preparing for even before the longest days of summer arrive. And, just like any other major holiday, everyone has their own way to prepare.
For some moms, back to school time is an event you take care of yourself. No dragging the kids through the rainbow colored aisles of school supplies. No way these moms are going to risk bringing along a cranky eight year old on the epic search for the 5 x 8 3 ring binder and spiral notebook graph paper that have shown up on the second grade school supply list. These moms are efficient, task motivated and in search of the bargains.
For other moms, the back to school process becomes an education itself. The back to school purchases for this group can take days. Working around the kids’ busy schedule, these shopping trips are more leisurely. Sometimes even drawn out across a couple of days, these young students find their own supplies, make their own price comparisons, and, sometimes, even make their own calls to search for the most illusive items on their lists. The 5 x 8 3 ring binder. The printable sticker labels. Those become part of the summer quest.
No matter which approach you take, the back to school shopping tradition is a growing industry. In fact, one back to school shopping trends report suggests that the average cost of kindergarten through 12th grade classroom supplies is nearing $700. Crazy, right? That’s a lot of numbered dividers, protector sleeves and number 2 pencils!
Organization and time management drive some of the items that teachers across America request on the school supply lists for their classrooms. For instance, our collective messy desks in this country, and the time spent looking for misplaced items, cost corporate America close to $177 billion annually. Nearly 80% of people think unorganized clutter actually hampers productivity. So, some of the teachers plan their supply lists to include a 5 x 8 3 ring binder and other organizational materials in an effort to start teaching even their youngest students how to manage their schedules and their assignments. Obviously, many teachers also generate a suggested list of student purchased materials to compensate for dwindling school budgets. No matter what the reason though, back to school time is as talked about, anticipated and dreaded as any other national holiday.
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