School daze returns to Israel

August 31, 2009 - 8:56 AM by David

school_supplies1 You can feel it in the air. The relatively cooler temperatures and breezy evenings combined with actual sightings of clouds in the sky can only mean one thing – the kids are going back to school!

All those days of trying to figure out how to occupy the children without TV, computers or spending a fortune, are thankfully coming to an end, as the official Israeli school year begins on Tuesday, September 1st.

But that doesn’t mean parents are scot free yet. First, unless you’re amazingly well prepared and took care of it during the summer, it means running around this week and fighting crowds to buy the long lists of required books, and the ever-increasing collection of accessories that our students need to do their jobs.

Although some communities and schools have started adopting in part the American ‘recycling’ of schoolbooks to be handed down to the next year’s students, most parents need to go out and buy books fresh and brand new each year. And if you think that younger siblings may be able to use them in future years, the problem is that the Education Ministry regularly changed the curriculum, making those books quickly obsolete. Our shelves are filled with school books that nobody will ever use again.

However, there is one area we parents save money in. I remember growing up and eveyone arriving for the first day of school in brand new clothes – especially the girls. The first day outfit was a big deal, and it shaped how you were perceived for the rest of the year.

Thankfully, most schools in Israel now have their own school shirts or outfits that are required apparrel, so we don’t have to rush off to the newly opened Gap in Jerusalem for the latest trendy clothing. And students attending those schools that don’t require uniforms are just as happy to wear their torn jeans and t-shirts on the first day.

The important thing is, regardless of how they’re dressed, that tomorrow morning, sometime before 8:00 am, our children will be on their way to be handed off to our esteemed educational system where they will be intoxicated with the thoughts, concepts and philosophies that have shaped minds for generations. And if that doesn’t quite work out, at least there will be no kids in the house

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