We will be starting school next week. We'll have a precious three week window after our last summer guests leave and before our first fall guests arrive. We've designated Monday as a clean and sort day, Tuesday as taekwondo and half school (probably reading aloud and a math review) and Wednesday as our first full day.
This will be the year that our youngest is officially a kindergartener. He's already on lesson 20 of Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. He's looking forward to math lessons (especially if he gets to play with pattern blocks or frogs).
His first official day of school will include a modified Schultuete (school cone). This is an idea that we picked up in Germany. First graders there get a giant paper cone filled up with cool school goodies, small toys and candy. We have done actual Schultuete several years; other years we had cotton shopping bags filled with goodies. This year, our kindergartener will probably get a paperbag that was decorated by his older brother. (Or we may try to make an actual Tuete on our own using these directions.) It will be filled with glue sticks and pencils and crayons and matchbox cars. Maybe even a special new puzzle or a math toy.
One of our other first day of school traditions has been to visit the aquarium. We fell into this a bit accidentally, but I continued it because I liked how it underscored the freedom we have vs. schooled kids. One year I bought a couple tubes of plastic fish and the kids looked up each fish and what they ate. Then they made a little diarama with them. We've been spending a lot of time at the beach over the last few weeks, so this year's aquarium visit may be put off until the beginning of next week. Then we'll take a day to visit the Waikiki Aquarium for the first time.
The other thing that I'm going to try is to make sure that I have a couple of higher quality breakfasts planned. Scrambled eggs and baked oatmeal will probably be high on the list.
So what are your great ideas for the beginning of school? Are you still planning or have you already started?
Friday, August 17, 2007
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2 comments:
We love to visit the zoo during the first week the others go back to school. The crowds are minimal & it's great to have so much space to ourselves! My 4 year old desparately wants to visit Chuck E. Cheese's too, so I promised him once the other kids go back to school, I'll take him. Hoping for less crowds!
I love your idea of the "school cone". What a cute idea!!!
For the past two years we've started school on Labor Day and my hubby has been able to be a part of things. Then we hit the pool for the it's last open day. This year we're starting later (there's a wedding in the family on Sept 8th). We'll still make it to th last day of the pool, though :) Loved the goody cone idea!
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