Yearbooks in Elementary School?

Oh my son (and me) loves to look back on his year book, and for the price they really are worth it. I would get it. We got them K-3 (so far!)

My daughter is in her first year of college now and I bought one every year. They were very inexpensive in the early years and didn't get bad until high school. Love looking back at it all.

It's a moneymaker for the PTO. Yes, when my kids were in elementary, there were yearbooks. My rule is that the year you graduate from each school - elementary, middle and high school, I will buy you a yearbook.

Yes, and yes, I bought one per year, per school. That is to say if more than one kid was in any given school, I only bought one. They were about $20 bucks.

I'm glad I bought them. Now my kids are 19, 17, and 14, it's a hoot looking through them.

However, if I HADN'T bought them, it's unlikely we'd all feel some huge empty void in our lives.

So do what's best for YOUR fam, you know?

:)

Eh...my parents never bought ours. We never suffered for it. I really couldn't care less.

It is common for most to do yearbooks, yes. Your choice as to whether you need one or not, though.

Ours cost $20. The private schools charge $60 and include a photo cd.

I bought them and worked on it. One company even allows you to personalize which candid photos your book has.

Last year the yearbook volunteer did not believe over half the parents who refused to preorder. she just knew they would ALL buy one once they saw how cute they were. She sent home 7 order forms and parents started joking "What part of no doesn't she understand?" She had worked too hard for a 40% buy rate. The school still has boxes of yearbooks left over and now a policy that only up to 25 extra can be ordered. No, you are not alone.
The dumbest thing I heard was having kids(2-6 in a family) share one.

We do year books. In kindergarten I didn't buy one, and boy did my daughter get upset. She was one of the few that didn't get one. She got one in first grade and she flipped through that thing constantly. Ours had pictures of everyone in every class and the teachers and activities. Over the summer when class assignments came out she was finding the pictures of the kids she heard were in her class and her teachers. I would get one i were you.

Yes we do. Nice full color hard backed yearbooks. My son got O. in K-2 and will get O. for 3rd grade this year. He LOVES his yearbooks and looks at them often, so it's worth it! Ours are $20 if you order before January.

Your question floored me, and the responses too, I never knew there were people out there that chose not to. My mom always did for me back in the 80's I actually would look through them alot to figure out teachers that my cousins had etc. or to remember what the hottie senior looked like in third grade with missing teeth.

I get them for my kids, they are paper magazine ish. My kids LOVE them, they show off all their friends to me, when they switch grades and start talking about a kid I don't know that wasn't in their class last year we look them up and see who they are. For that reason alone, putting a face to the names my kids talk about, it's worth it. Plus I feel like i am more familiar with the staff at the school by having seen their picture even if they aren't my child's current teacher.

to me it's worth it but if it means you don't feed your kids then it's really not a choice.

Just wanted to add that if i were going to skip buying anything, then i wouldn't buy the portrait package of school photos and just get the yearbook instead, somethign to think about for next year.

I know! When I got our order form I was floored. I felt like if I ordered one, I would be playing along, trying to keep up with everyone else getting everything for their kids. But when I voiced my opinion to friends whose kids were there last year, they all told me the yearbooks are actually nice...there are a few PTO moms who goes up there once or twice a week and to all the events and their sole job is to take pictures. So apparently, there are "thousands" of pictures of the kids throughout the year and I might just catch a glimpse of the things my kid did while in school that I never would have seen.

So I ordered one.

Most of my schools growing up had yearbooks. I thought it was really strange that the school my son went to for a year *didn't* have them.

I enjoy looking back at any yearbook or photo I was able to keep. The yearbooks for little kids are usually less $ and thin, easy to store. I would buy them for DD, at least the big years (K, whenever they move to a new school).

Abbie:

We too were a tad taken aback when we got our notice in October for the yearbook. It's not hard cover. it's laminated paper. It's about 35 pages.

Our yearbook is NOT like a high school year book - it's much thinner and has class pictures....at this point - the kids don't even ask people to write in it - it's just a "book" of pictures of their life at school.

No, you won't be the only one not to get one.
Yes, our elementary school does them.
Yes, we buy them - ONE. Even though we have two kids. ONE.

Our daughters elementary sold them and we purchased them every year. They are paper back. The PTA sponsors it by putting it together taking photos etc all through the year.. then they take orders and fill the orders, but not for a profit. They make enough money the rest of the year.

Our daughter loved hers. For their Senior year we used the old yearbooks from all of the schools that feed into the high school to make a flashback video of the kids.. very cute.

don't know how they do it nowadays, my son is still in preschool, but when i was in elementary we had one. it was a small school and the "yearbooks" were small and paperback. but still nice, from a printer and everything. i doubt we paid more then ten or fifteen dollars for them. now, if you're talking the $50 hardback 300 pager, then yeah, that's a bit much. but it was still fun to go back and look at all my classmates as we got older. we also stayed with basically the same group, k-12, so that is something to consider. if this is a huge school that she probably won't know these kids in a year or two, then what's the point?

I have every yearbook from my kindergarten through graduation as do my older two, the younger two have up to their current grades obviously.

So if you don't mind junior coming home with a hang dog look and a couple sheets of loose leaf with their classmates autographs on them then just ignore it.

Oh your kids will take them with them when they get married or move out for good. It is also a really good indicator if they plan on coming back. My older two are still storing theirs here. :(

Yes our elementary does yearbooks. Most people ge them. They are not that expensive at the elementary level.

My daughter is now in 11th grade and we have all of her yearbooks. I have all of mine which began in 7th grade through college. Hubby has all his too.

I pay about $70 at the sr high school level with personalization.

Yearbooks are a big deal around here, we love them!

It's ok if you don't want one. Just do what you want to do for your family!

Yes, my daughter had yearbooks starting in Kindergarten. I 'm not sure how big your son's school is.... My daughter went to a primary school k-8 with about 700 kids. The "yearbook" was $20 and basically a flip book / magazine size - maybe 20 pages and soft cover. No big deal to store. They all signed their names and there were TONS of candid shots and it was neat to see all the field trips and projects they worked on through the years.

If you are worried about space - scan the images and store them on your computer.

I have gotten one every year for my son since he was in kindergarten and he is now in 4th grade. The first year the school raised enough money that they were given to the kids for free. The last 3 years it has been $5. I order him one and I usually help with the yearbooks, they usually give us one for free when we sort them the week before school is out. My son has his own set and I have a set put away that isnt ripped up.

But there are alot of parents that dont buy them and wait till the kids are in high school. Our high school yearbooks run around $40.

I dont have a yearbook for every year myself. My parents got me one when they closed down the one elementary school I was in, 6th grade, 7th grade and my senior year. It didnt cause me no harm and truthfully they sit in my closet and every now and again my kids will pull them out and look at them.

LOL yes, my kids' elementary school had a yearbook and I was actually one of the yearbook moms because I love to take photos!
As long as the cost is reasonable order one. Ours were always simple and paperback and cost between $13 and $20 each, they were like a cheap little magazine, nothing fancy. Almost all the kids get them, they are a really fun reminder of what happens each year. There's nothing to "store" just slide them on your child's bookshelf among the rest of his books :)

Wow! I'd never heard of this-- thanks for the warning!

Our son's school does yearbooks. They are $15 hardbound. They are very thin books and my son keeps them on his bookshelf in his room. He LOVES looking through them and remembering things. He is in 2nd grade this year. We have an excellent photographer though.

Ask what the year book looks like. We had them in our k thru 6 school and they were thinner than a 60 page spiral.

Ours only does the 5th grade. I would not be able to afford 4 kids yearbooks every year.... yikes!

My daughter's elementary school was grades K-5 and there was a annual yearbook. The yearbook included all grade levels but the main focus was on the 5th grade class. Very few kids other than 5th graders purchased them.

My granddaughter's school did when she was in kindergarten. We didn't buy one. They haven't done it since so I think it didn't go over so well. If they do one when she's in 6th grade, I'll buy that one.

My daughters pre-school has a yearbook. This is her second year and I think the yearbook helped her transition to going back to school. She Loved The Yearbook. Looked at it all summer, asked to read all the kids names, even in the other classrooms. Now she can more easily recognize kids at school and elsewhere (like ballet class) because she studied them all in the yearbook. She knows each teachers' name and fully appreciates all the "4 year old" activities highlighted in the yearbook that she has been looking forward to.
I think the kids enjoy the yearbook no matter what the age. go for it :)

My kids school did them years ago and I thought it was strange. I did not
buy any until their last year in elementary school. High school yearbooks
are the ones that are special and important to have. I have no idea why
they started creating them in elementary school. What is there to look forward to later on.

Every school I have ever attended in my life, every grade, had yearbooks. Its awesome to look back at them now, as I am still in contact with some of my childhood friends

I didn't have yr books until jr. high and high school. I too was shocked that my children's elementary school had them. I bought one so far because my daughter was all over it, but that was it. I did not get to see last years in advance, so I didn't buy it. Our schools book is paperback and runs for $12. Not too bad, but I don't have room to collect this stuff every year. $26 is pretty steep for elementary.

For my son, he didn't care too much about getting year books in high school. He just wanted his senior year. That was $85, so 1 year was good for me.

My son is in elementary school and he loves his yearbooks. He still looks at his first one from a few years ago. I am happy to spend a little money on something that makes him happy and supports the school.

My son is in first grade but we did get a paper backed year book for him last year and hope to continue to buy throughout his elementary years. My son looks at them quite often to remember names of kids he met or just met. At our school they do a good job of taking pictures of all kids during different school acitivites throughout the year like Halloween Parade, Thanksgiving celebrations, Christmas celebrations, Art shows etc. He likes looking at the pictures of his friends and their older siblings. For us its about $18.00 a year. I also refer to it when he brings up a name I don't know so I know who he is talking about.

I didn't have yearbooks until high school, and while I pull them out once every blue moon, I definitely wouldn't pay for them in elementary, and I may have my high schooler pay for his/hers when they get there. I say they're a waste of money for younger than high school.

Our preschool does them, too -- $65 for a hardcover book, one for each class. It's put together by different parents each year, so they're not consistent in size, format or style like the ones I remember from middle & high school. And, it doesn't have the individual student pictures, just the class picture on the cover, and random pictures from throughout the year on the inside. We did end up buying them, but only 1 per class per year even though we have twins -- didn't want to be the only one to decline. I didn't even consider having to buy and store them through high school. Wow! That's going to be 16 volumes. YIKES!

We always had yearbooks in elementary school. I'm sure my parents bought most of them, as a few are still around their house. Anyhow; maybe ask if your son wants one. It is his first year of school! :) He should be happy. If he does not get one, he may regret (or maybe not). I'm sure it isn't too costly?

Good luck!

my mom always bought the school yr book its something to look back on and i plan on doing the same with my daughter when she starts school

My elementary yearbooks were paperback and I still have them (I am in my 30's with my own kids). It was always fun to have friends and teachers sign them at the end of the year. My son started Kindergarten this year and I have not heard about a yearbook.

I just had this same conversation with some K moms (I'm one too). We were all on the fence with it...I'm opting against it, and the others seemed to be leaning that way too. Most were concerned that their child would be the only one who didn't get one, but they'll be on sale for past minute buyers so I guess if my daughter is hurt she didn't get one we might but my guess is she won't care/realize even what it is.

When my daughter started school I felt the way you did. Theirs are paperback and cost less than the school pictures. I got in the habit of purchasing them because the school pictures were SO bad the first few years but I still wanted her to have a class photo. The yearbook was less than most if not all the packets of pictures so that's what I started. Now we do both but I don't order a lot of pictures.

Girl.... I thought it was just me! My daughter is in the 4th grade now and we still get these flyers and she is having a challenge understanding why I'm saying no. What in the world are we going to do with 13 year books?!?! I'm sure your child won't be the only one without a yearbook. And since he's in K, he doesn't even know wht it is.

I never had those in elementary school.
My kids, do. They are both in elementary school.
It is, what is done, now.
No, you are not the only parent that says no.
I have 2 kids in elementary school now. That means, buying TWO yearbooks now??? Talk about, budget buster!

One year, I did not buy the yearbook. I told my daughter I didn't have money that year to buy one. She was fine. Because, prior to that, we had to purchase other things for school. So, the yearbook purchase was nixed.
I explained that to her.
And no, she was not the only one, who's parent did not buy it.

Don't feel guilty if you can't buy one.

Yes, I buy them every year. My kids were in the same school for a couple years and I bought one for each of them. My son just moved to middle school and still looks back at his old year books. Such a great memory for them. $26 is a little pricey, but I think I would still buy them. I