I’m consolidating all my prior posts and adding some new traditions we just learned about.
– decorate a new t-shirt for the school year (be sure to include year)
– butcher paper banner across the door, decorated with school year on it for kids to run through!
– back to school cake & special dinner.
– kindercones (Schultute) w/treats and new school supplies.
– new composition book/journal and let them decorate it (modpodge it.)
– Kit suggested buying some easy lunch stuff for the first week back into school so Mommy will eat. 🙂
– new school year blessings at FHE.
– breakfast of ABC pancakes.
– let them pick whatever they want for bfast, lunch or dinner.
– go out for a special lunch or pack a picnic lunch.
– go have school pictures taken.
– pick special new outfit for school pictures.
– go shopping for school supplies (best sales are in fall) & let them do a scavenger hunt to find them or pack into backpacks.
– have a “teacher” meeting to go over curriculum, goals
and routines with both parents. August & January.
– plan a special back to school fieldtrip to a location like the park, zoo, or a museum. Most PS don’t have fieldtrips in the first of the year so those places are empty.
– make “All About Me” sheets at the beginning and
end of school year, including self portraits and list of favorites.
– have a family conference and let each child pick the areas of focus they want for the next year. With young kids maybe pick one special topic. With older kids this needs to be a much more in depth special date to go over their areas of concern, what they want to focus on, having them establish their schedule, setting up time to review with them, etc. But for grammar stage, just picking a couple special topics to get library books or coordinate field trips around.
– write a list of books to read aloud as a family
– “NOT back to school” picnic with other homeschool families.
New Ones:
– Russian Day of Knowledge on September 1st, students bring flowers to teacher (that would be me, right? 🙂 ) Make tissue paper flowers or get real ones.
– Japanese nyugakushiki, formal celebration: dress up for a candle lit family dinner the night before school starts.
– Maori haka: show children “primary school haka” on internet and let them create their own new school year dance.
– Indian Praveshanotsavam (admission day) is during monsoon season. Make a fruit smoothie with marshmallow “rain clouds” and paper cocktail parasol.
– Israeli kita aleph (first grade) walk under canopy or arch of older student’s arms, release balloons. Create an arch of balloons or tissue paper, etc at home and take photos under it, write new school year wishes on rainbow arch, get balloons to keep around home and cheer up first new week.
This was fun, from our first back to school picnic with friends in 2007:
