Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Very much agree with you. While the 70s version was reasonably spot on, about the only part of the 2014 version is the school supply list. We never got school supply lists in the 70s, just used common sense. Here's an interesting observations while dropping our DD off at college this year we grabbed one of the school lists from Walmart in rural SC to compare to the lists here.
The list there was essentially notebook, notebook paper, pencils, markers, spiral notebooks (your choice) and that's about it. In contrast the list here for the same grade included three different specific size binders, Fiskars scissors, specific brand of round yellow pencils, 2-4 boxes, specific brand of colored pencils, specific spiral notebooks based on which teacher, specific type and color of folder per teacher, specific calculator, specific brand of dry erase markers, dry eraser, wet spray for the dry erase board, big bottle of hand sanitizer, big pack of paper towels, specific backpack requirements, ...
You get the picture.
My Son grew up in the 90's and first half of the 2000's, so I raised him a bit closer to how I was raised in the sixties and the seventies than how children are today.
But his school lists were unbelievable! We would end up spending at least 60 dollars each year, one year it exceeded over a hundred dollars for school supplies - and that was shopping at Walmart, Target and Dollar Stores! That free education could bankrupt someone, lol!
But I found out recently that teachers spend so much of their own money buying school supplies, for their students, so I do try not to complain.
I was raised up in the 70s and the 80s. I remember the striped shirts and cordory pants, and yea I had a Dukes of Hazzard lunch box. I am glad I grew up back then. Yea that comparison nails it, things are so complicated today. I am always telling my son how different things are today, and they are very different. Not for the better in my opinion.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,695 posts, read 58,012,579 times
Reputation: 46171
A lot has changed.... in the 60's and 70's
We seldom had TIME to go back to school, our parents were distraught / VERY busy when we finally did so, now kids and parents are eager to escape to school (?)
We didn't have to return to school till farm harvest was done and we had spent our week at 4H fair and if we won... State Fair.
Just today I was wondering where all the farm kids have gone... I have a tough time finding / hiring engineering grads who were farm kids and can tackle / succeed with complex projects the first week on the job..
Thinking of what I had learned (during the summers) by age 14, most kids today will never learn / know. Some will argue, what is the point?... but I will stick with 'quality of life'. Today I did kitchen counters for my 'poor' SIL saving her $3000 estimate, (I taught her how, so she can do herself next time)
My granddad taught me furniture building at age 8-12, we built a lot of stuff for widows / public library / schools.
Summer learnings...circa 1970s (If you did not teach your kids some of these things this summer.... you burnt some daylight ... robbed them of lessons to carry forward.
1) caring for gardens / plants / animals (ugh... watering, feeding, & weeding EVERYDAY (before we had breakfast))
2) sewing my own clothes (which some 'frostline kits' I still wear 50 yrs later)
3) preserving food
4) butchering
5) building barns and fences (have built many homes since, as well as my kids built their own home during Jr high as home school projects)
6) driving (and fixing) every vehicle on the farm
7) hunting / fishing (for subsistence)
8) Daily quiz from Grandma / English teacher "Enriching your Word Power"
9) Writing requests and reading Caper's Weekly
10) cooking (yum, home-made ice cream, made some today from grandma's recipe and in my 1950's maker!)
11) Welding
12) Electrical work
13) Plumbing (soldering / pipe threading / pumps / pressure tanks)
14) Fixing and redoing windmill (Leather seals)
15) Horsemanship
16) Sheep shearing
17) Cement work Making sidewalks and steps for disabled seniors
18) Restoring / refinishing furniture. (I have a chair in my living room that I refinished at age 8 (50+ years ago)
19).... so many more adventures, so little time each summer
I was in high school in the 70s, mom would ask me if I needed to get any clothes, I always said no, I have enough jeans and will pick up some t-shirts at the Yes concert I am going to next week, tickets cost $7.50. School started the day after Labor Day, the weekend was spent watching the Jerry Lewis MDA telethon after a long summer of picking beans, tomatoes, bell peppers and baling hay. The high school was only a mile away so all of us in my neighborhood would walk and stop at 7-11 for cigarettes to smoke in the smoking area between classes, sometimes we could buy a joint for 50 cents. School supplies were a pen and a notebook, a compass and protractor were required for geometry, we were not allowed to use calculators. Dad says I have to cut the grass, wash the car and stain the deck or I won't be able to go to the football game.
25 years later daughter starts high school in the same building, the area is ruined by sprawl, it's mid August but the kids don't have farm chores anymore. All the girls are on MySpace trying to figure out amongst themselves what to wear. The school is a smoke free zone, the teachers are not even allowed to smoke on school grounds, not even in their cars. I take a bunch of teenage girls home in my minivan after color guard practice, they want me to drive them to the N'Sync concert, tickets are $44.95, they don't have any money, the graphing calculators they needed cost $59.99. I can't take them to the concert because I have to mow the lawn, wash the van and stain the deck. Kids can't bring aspirin to school because of the no tolerance policy.
Very cute. I grew up in the 70's and 80's and there was not much fan fair for back to school. What I remember is everyone showing up in their new duds that were meant for late fall or winter (because that was what the stores were selling).
We had our spiffy back to school sweaters on even though it was still 80 degrees out. By the end of the week everyone was back to wearing their regular t-shirts. The big deal was at least one new outfit, new shoes, a new lunch box, a trapper keeper and maybe a haircut.
Definitely much different when my son was in school. He graduated high school last year. I do not miss the back to school preparation.
I agree about how it was growing up in the 70's, not so much with now. My last child graduated 6 years ago from HS. As for the lack of chores, that's on us as parents. My kids didn't have as many chores as I did but they did have to work to earn their own entertainment money. Our sons painted our deck several times and all of us trimmed the bushes and pulled weeds. I know kids that grew up on farms around here and they absolutely still had chores and as young adults, some of them are mostly running the family farm now. My one son earned money fixing computers - that wasn't an option for us.
Also, we've found on this forum that what schools ask parents to buy for schools varies widely and can vary even from school to school. We only had to buy notebooks, pens, pencils and papers. Some years it was more specific, down to color of notebook, and width of ruled paper, but that was just a couple of anal teachers. No tissues or reams of papers required. My last child had to have a flash drive but now the kids have lap-tops and if they want to bring them home they need to pay for the insurance. A child that gets free and reduced lunch, has that waived.
One difference is travel in schools. In my rural high school, the foreign language teachers offered a Spring break trip to their country - Germany, France or (I guess) Spain. In our area, they do that but in addition, they also offer a trip to some exotic location during the summer and it's open to any HS student. It's not super expensive, considering what the kids get, but they go to places many of us adults save for years to go for a special life event. My kids either went to camp in the summer or worked. We knew that college was coming and they could do an abroad for a fraction of a HS trips price and be there for months as opposed to weeks.
I think all kids wore those fringed poncho's back then. Mine was particularly hideous - and I loved it!
Or the granny square crocheted vest!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Crazee Cat Lady
By the fourth and fifth grade my Mom would send me on my bike to the corner store about a mile away to buy her cigarettes for her - try doing that today, lol.
Yes, and they would give you a dollar, and you could spend the change sometimes. We used to go for my friend's mom...pack of Newport 100's and 2 freeze pops = less than $1....
My Son grew up in the 90's and first half of the 2000's, so I raised him a bit closer to how I was raised in the sixties and the seventies than how children are today.
But his school lists were unbelievable! We would end up spending at least 60 dollars each year, one year it exceeded over a hundred dollars for school supplies - and that was shopping at Walmart, Target and Dollar Stores! That free education could bankrupt someone, lol!
But I found out recently that teachers spend so much of their own money buying school supplies, for their students, so I do try not to complain.
Yup, teachers spend about $500 of their own money on supplies for the students
The '70s one made me laugh- I can definitely relate to many of those (although I was born in the very early '70s, so I was under 10 the entire decade). I loved my lunch boxes, but they started to smell nasty and get crud in the corners early on I generally threw away my wonder bread bologna and cheese sandwiches in favor of the apple (and I LOVED the OScar Mayer song- especially the "Jimmy Carter" version that went around).
Can't really relate to the modern version quite as much, except for the extensive school lists. I have three young tween/teens right now. When they were in preschool and elementary school, the list included various cleaning supplies (even toilet paper). I was also an elementary teacher, and tried my darndest not to spend too much money on my classroom. Being in the lowest paid state when cost of living was factored in didn't leave much extra
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
... I have a tough time finding / hiring engineering grads who were farm kids and can tackle / succeed with complex projects the first week on the job..
. Today I did kitchen counters for my 'poor' SIL saving her $3000 estimate, (I taught her how, so she can do herself next time)
Making sidewalks and steps for disabled seniors
I generally threw away my wonder bread bologna and cheese sandwiches in favor of the apple (and I LOVED the OScar Mayer song- especially the "Jimmy Carter" version that went around). 
