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Intervals of clouds and sunshine. High 77F. Winds light and variable..
Partly cloudy skies in the evening, then becoming cloudy overnight. Low around 55F. Winds light and variable.
Next to Christmas, “Back to School” shopping is probably the most lucrative time of the year for retail stores. Their target market is everyone who is enrolled in an educational program from pre-school to doctoral studies.
Every child in the nation must go to school in one way or another, so that means all kinds of school supplies, plus every parent and grandparent outfitting each child with a brand new wardrobe to wear to school.
When I was a little girl, we did back to school shopping for clothes, and I was homeschooled. So even those students on cyber school are deserving of a new wardrobe.
Families spend close to $1,000 per child getting them ready for the school year. That makes back-to-school shopping even bigger than Christmas sales, with the national average amount spent on Christmas presents per child around $300.
All those who attend elementary school, high school, technical school or college have an excuse to go shopping. And those of us who are no longer in the educational system might buy clothes and writing supplies anyway, just so we don’t feel left out.
Horace Mann organized the first public school curriculum in 1837. The “Back to School” shopping tradition dates back into the 1800s, but it was a much smaller event, because not everyone was required to get an education in America until 1918 — and then, that was only a requirement for elementary school attendance.
Massachusetts made a basic education a requirement for boys in 1642, but it was more of a trade school than an academic one. It was a long time before girls were allowed to have the same education as boys. A New Orleans Catholic School was the first to offer girls an education in 1727.
Children were expected to go to work and help support their family up to the early 1900s.
An education used to be something that only the wealthy could afford, but it was soon recognized that an education was essential for upward social mobility. In a nation like America that prides itself on achievement and “making good,” it was only logical that education should receive a strong emphasis.
Having a public school system made sense in the personal interest of the individual and also in the broader social interests of the nation. Daily school attendance was a good way to keep children off the streets and out of trouble. Public schools were an investment in the future of the nation. The higher the literacy rate, the greater the opportunity for the individual and the greater the chance for innovation and creativity in the nation as a whole.
In America, each citizen is supposed to participate in the nation’s governance. Having an education available to all citizens helps to increase literacy and ensure the success of our form of American government.
Despite the popularity of online shopping, the department stores are still retaining their customers when it comes to “Back to School” shopping. That is because it is a tradition to go to a brick-and-mortar store and have fun trying on clothes and browsing all the merchandise.
Online shopping is convenient and it may be cheaper, but it also removes the experience of shopping and the social aspect that comes with going to the store with family and friends.
Paper was expensive and rare, so slates were the most popular school item. A slate could be loud when moved around on a desk, so many slates had leather or yarn wrapped around the edges to make them quieter and probably less likely to break.
Writing slates dominated the educational system as the preferred teaching tool for centuries. Students had to memorize most things because slates were not for note-taking. It was only in the 1930s that their popularity began to decrease. Industrialization made paper less expensive and composition books became an essential school supply.
The first schoolbook was the hornbook. The hornbook was a single page mounted on a small wooden paddle with a handle. A thin sheet of cattle horn was used like a laminate to protect the page. The alphabet and the Lord’s Prayer were often printed on it. It originated in England and was used as a primer for schoolchildren until the end of the 18th century.
School supplies of the past may include: leather belts to hold school books, slates, slate pencils, pencil boxes, quill pens, ink, blotters, pen holders, a pen wiper, crayons, a composition book, a metal lunch pail, paste (glue), an abacus and a slide rule.
Modern school supplies are likely to include things like backpacks, pocket calculators, spiral bound notebooks, folders, mechanical pencils, colored pencils, markers, rulers, erasers, highlighters, white out, tape, glue and a USB flash drive.
One day, it is possible that electronic tablets could become an all-in-one set of school supplies. Although, I imagine it will be hard for many of us to completely let go of the paper and pens of yesteryear.
Going to school has become a part of who we are, and in reality, we never stop learning. School just gets us started in the basics of life, and we learn that there is a great big world out there to explore.
Even though many students complain about having to go to school, almost all of us share a nostalgia about our school days when we grow up. Possibly because it was such a big part of our lives for so many years.
We crave being back in school because it reminds us of the days of our youth when a bright and unknown future stretched before us. We might even go so far as to enroll in an occasional course just to give ourselves that fun, youthful feeling of being back in school.
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