As the school year continues to fly by for me, I know that it isn’t quite the same for my son.  The bus ride is no longer a novelty; it is a way home and apparently not high on the “fun” list anymore.  I decided to mix up the routine a bit and offer a bit of cheer in celebration of the warmer weather we are having here in the South lately.  We’re having a Spring Fling Snack Party!

The bus stop is literally at the end of our driveway, and about a dozen or so neighborhood kids disembark at our stop.  Our plan is to set up a picnic table on the driveway, loaded with juice boxes, fruit and other healthy snacks.  Kids will have the chance to grab a snack and even stay for a bit to shoot some hoops, play with sidewalk chalk or throw a Frisbee.

Some important points to remember about this kind of mini-party is to notify parents ahead of time, even if just a day or so in advance.  No one wants to be waiting on the porch for a child who ends up staying for 20 minutes to play.  It is also a chance to gather neighborhood parents together to get to know each other and network.  Allow siblings who might not be in school yet the opportunity to come and play as well.  And, don’t forget - many kids will still have homework and other commitments after school, so keep the gathering brief.

So many times, I find myself focusing on my son’s faults in regards to school - rushing through work, needing to read a bit more, get that homework done and correct the ones that I’ve checked.  It is equally, if not more, important to let our children know what they are doing that is AWESOME in school.  Try some of these activities to make sure your budding einstein gets the recognition he or she deserves!

1. Frame It!  I bought an inexpensive frame at the discount store (less than $3) that will hold most papers my third grader brings home ( a 9 x 12 frame works well).  Anytime my son brings home work that he is exceptionally proud of, whether it is a test, a written assignment, an art project, whatever, it goes in the frame.  We display this on the counter in our kitchen and rotate the pieces through as he sees fit.  It is a great way for Dad to catch up with the good stuff from school!
2. Showcase It On the Computer!  Going a step beyond the framable work, I will take pictures from time to time of my children with their proudest work.  When I upload the picture to my computer, I save it as my backdrop.  It is a great visual reminder when I sit down to work at how amazing my children are.
3. Get The Family Involved!  Nothing feels quite as good has having a family member tell you how proud they are of you, so give that gift to your child.  Have grandparents, aunts, uncles, or even neighbors comment on your child’s successes.  Sometimes, it can feel a bit more special when it comes from someone other than “just” mom or dad!
4. Hang It High!  Create your own personalized magnets by simply mounting a photo of your child on cardboard or posterboard.  Cut around your child’s outline and glue this to a clothespin.  Attach a magnet to the other side of the clothespin, and use this awesome little display tool to hold report cards, important papers or awards won on the refrigerator!
5. Celebrate Over Breakfast!  When my boys do something exceptionally outstanding, such as participating in a class play or making good grades on a report card, we celebrate with breakfast out.  The kids get to decide where we’ll eat, and we enjoy some family time before we all start our busy days.

Do you have any ideas to share?  Leave a comment and let us know!

Many children are heading back to school this week (if not already back already).  It is a time of transition and change, of new faces and old.  It is a time of adjustment and a time of schedules.  And that’s just the teachers!

Whether your child is starting preschool or nursery school for the first time or is a seasoned pro at the education system, take a small moment to recognize your child’s teacher.  Creating a simple gift is a great way to introduce yourself and bring a smile to your child’s teacher’s face!  Here are a couple of quick and easy ideas to get the creative juices flowing:

1.  The traditional teacher-gift - an apple!  Apples are nutritious, easy to transport and even boys don’t mind sharing one with their teacher (my son absolutely cringes when I suggest a small bouquet of flowers from our garden, but an apple is “cool”).  Tie a note to the stem to finish it off.  I found a lovely poem online for a teacher-apple:

You plant the seeds of wisdom with patience and concern,
And your efforts all bear fruit as your students grow and learn.
You offer them good food for thought, you care right to the core.
There’s just no better teacher than the one this apple’s for!

2.  Another cute idea is to give your child’s teacher a small bag of Hershey Hugs chocolate candies.  Again, I found a cute poem online to accompany these yummy snacks:

You are a wonderful teacher - I think you’re very neat!
That’s why I put together this special little treat!
A little bag with Teacher Hugs to get you through your day,
And let you know that I am glad that you are here to stay!

3.  Other simple ideas:  give a cute pencil with a small note:  “You’ve got the ‘write’ stuff!”; tie a note to a ruler: “You really measure up!”; or a can of his/her favorite soda with “We’re bubbling over with excitement to have you for a teacher this year!”

Here’s a fun activity to try with your child that promotes critical thinking and school readiness.  This idea can be adapted for any age from preschool through grade school and beyond.  Best of all, no supplies are needed!

Have your child turn his or her back to you.  Using your finger draw a letter on your child’s back and see if he or she can identify the letter.  After he or she guesses the letter, see if they can come up with a word that begins with that letter!

If this is too difficult for your child, try it out first on the palm of his or her hand.  That way, your child can see the letter being written.  With younger children who might not know their letters yet, try simple shapes, like circles, triangles and squares.  Older children will enjoy the challenge of entire words or a more complex picture, such as a tree, a plane or a house.

Have your child do the same to your back as well.  It is great practice for writing, spelling and simple fine motor skills and dexterity!

August is here, and soon (if not already), children will begin to head back to school.  Whether it is preschool a couple of mornings a week, a traditional grade-school program, college or even homeschooling, establishing a routine can make the next day run so much smoother.  The key to the entire process, though, is to start NOW, not the night before.

1.  If your child has been staying up later in the summer, chances are he or she is also sleeping in.  To adjust Little Timmy’s bedtime schedule, do it gradually over a couple of weeks.  Put him to bed 10 - 15 minutes earlier one night and for the following 3 -4 nights, then adjust another 10 - 15 minutes every several nights until the desired bedtime is reached.  A gradual change is much easier on our bodies than an immediate one (think jet lag!).

2.  One of our biggest adjustments is our morning routine when school begins.  The summer has been filled with leisurely breakfasts, cuddles under the covers and hours in our pajamas before getting dressed for the day - a stark contrast to the rest of the year!  To prepare for the get-up-and-go routine of school, I plan early morning activities for my kids that involved getting up and getting ready.  We plan early morning bike rides, watering the plants, taking a walk, or doing our grocery shopping first thing.  My kids are dressed and ready, and we’re doing something we enjoy to get our day started (okay, not the grocery shopping, but they tolerate it well!).

3.  If your child is attending a school that holds a “Meet the Teacher” night, then go MEET THE TEACHER!  This is the evening where it finally sinks in for my almost 9 year old.  He gets to see his room, his desk his teacher, and his friends, and we get to casually visit where he will spend the next 9 months during the days.  In our district, we also drop off our school supplies on Meet the Teacher night so that our son doesn’t have to haul all that stuff to school on the first day.

4.  For kids that are just getting into a formal education routine, following directions can sometimes be daunting, especially in a group setting.  Check with your local library for story times where you can go with him or her and learn how to be a listener in a positive, casual atmosphere.  Also check into local museums for programs for children; our local children’s museum has a storytime each day that lasts about 15 minutes, which is the perfect length for small children.  Parks and Recreation departments also offer similar programs.

5.  Begin those healthy habits before school starts.  Work with your child on hand-washing, not just after going to the bathroom and before eating, but at other times, too.  When children are in a group setting, germs are plentiful; teach your child to wash his or her hands frequently to limit the spreading of germs.  Also, evaluate your breakfast menu.  If you tend to be the “pop tart mom” or the “sugar cereal queen”, consider healthier choices for breakfast, such as yogurt, hard-boiled or scrambled eggs, fruit and whole-grain breads.  These choices are great for improving attention spans and limiting that “sugar rush”.

6.  Don’t wait for the homework to head home before working on school work.  Establish a reading time now for your kids, and limit the amount of time the television is on in the house.  Children of any age enjoy being read to, and what a great bonding time for you and your child.

Here’s to a great start to school this year, no matter where or when!

The bell has rung, supplies have been brought home - school is out for the summertime here!  Each year at this time, we wish our teacher farewell and start making plans for the next couple of months, days filled with playdates and activities and evenings filled with family and sleepovers.

It is a time of reflection; a time to look at where we’ve been for the past nine months.  Where did we start?  Where are we now?  And, where do we want to be in August when the whole process starts over again?

It is also a time of celebration in our house.  It means we spend more time together as a family.  We set a new routine each day (or no routine as the case may be!).  We stay up a little later in the evenings and sleep in a little later in the mornings.  With the passing of each school year, we mark the occasion with a recognition of sorts.

Tonight will be a special dinner for our family.  This year, we are opting to cook out on the grill and eat on the patio.  Tomorrow, we will head to our local pottery-painting place where my boys will each paint an ice cream sundae dish for the summer.  We will either take in a matinee or rent a favorite movie and watch it over popcorn and lemonade.  We will welcome Summertime with open arms and a hope of great possibilities.

Summer is here.  Welcome!

She is the one who taught your son to subtract.  He is the person who helps your daughter with her understanding of science concepts.  She is the constant influence of a love of learning in your child’s life.  And, it is time to honor that special person.  Next week, May 5 - 9, is Teacher Appreciation Week!  Here are some simple ways to tell your child’s teacher how much he or she is appreciated.

• A picture is worth a thousand words - Take a class picture and put it in a frame.  To make it even more personal, have the class sign the frame in metallic or dark marker, or place the photo in a mat before framing and let the students all sign the mat.
• Invest in the classroom - make a donation to your child’s class that the teacher would appreciate: a jigsaw puzzle, a new book, or an education game such as Scrabble or Uno are good choices.  Also consider a basket of teacher goodies, such as pens, post it notes or notepads, healthy snacks and fun desk accessories.
• Handmade gifts speak volumes - have your child decorate a flower pot and place a plant in it.  Or, decorate a clipboard with fabric and paint.  Another idea is to take a blank canvas book bag and personalize it with fabric markers.
• Donate to a worthy cause - find out some of your child’s teacher’s interests and make a donation to a charity in your child’s teacher’s name.  If your child’s teacher loves animals, donate to the local animal shelter.  Or, make a donation to the local Head Start or Child Wellfare organization.
• Meals made easy - prepare lunch for your child’s teacher one day, or offer to supply dinner one evening.  Our favorite is to deliver breakfast (a day early so we don’t have to trudge over to her house in our jammies!) consisting of homemade banana bread, juice, bagels and cream cheese.  Or, get your child’s teacher a gift certificate to a great restaurant or other eatery such as ice cream!
• Take a rest - teacher’s feet are awfully tired by the end of the day, so why not purchase a gift certificate for a pedicure at a local spa?  Some can be found for very reasonable costs, and simply having the opportunity to enjoy a bit of pampering is a great gift!
• Write a letter - let your child’s teacher know how special he or she is to your child, and have your child do the same.  Design a card with a heartfelt message inside and your child’s teacher will enjoy one of the best gifts of all - appreciation.

My second grader came home last week with a small note stapled to his take-home folder.  It seems that a project is to be created for a parade his class is having.  This project could be an instrument, a flag or a banner, but the idea is to make the entire thing from recycled materials.  Use things that you would normally get rid of in a new way.

Naturally, my son’s idea was to take an empty water bottle and put some pebbles in it for a shaker.  I, however, swayed him down a more involved path than rocks in a bottle.  We ended up making a banner.

We took a torn pair of jeans that my husband had in a pile of clothes of which he needed to dispose and cut off a leg.  We split the leg open down the seam to make a long, denim banner.  Since this parade was in preparation for a big, statewide test the older children at my son’s school would be taking, we came up with a slogan and wrote it in large letters on the material with glue.

Then, the fun began!  We took shredded paper (I had spent the weekend, purging old tax documents) and sprinkled it in the glue.  Since I had been shredding various types of papers, everything from old checks to colorful brochures and documents, we ended up with a myriad of colors in our banner.  It was quite impressive!

This entire process reminded me that, while recycling is a valuable and (should be) necessary part of our lives, reusing is even more important.  Being able to take something that is no longer being used and finding a new job for it is even better than simply recycling.  Look around your house, your trash can, your recycle bin.  Are there things you are getting rid of that might be used for something else?  Giving new life to something is the best way to improve our environment.  See what you can come up with today.