Looking for FUN Back to School ideas

[aecastleberry]

We switched over to HOD at the end of January and made it almost half-way through both Beyond and Preparing before breaking for summer. My kiddos are perfectly placed and we all thoroughly love HOD, and I am so happy that we made the switch. However....I am now disappointed that we don't have a grand, brand new Back To School start to look forward to next month. Anyone have any fun ideas of how to start our new school year off with a BANG! even though we will just be continuing with what we've already been doing? My littlest son will begin Little Hands when we start back, so I could also use some advice for how to add a toddler into the mix.

[Nealewill]

We don't every really do anything spectacular for the first day of school here. Regardless of whether my kids are starting a new level or not, I always have new school supplies. They get an unopened package of highlighters, colored pencils, mechanical pencils, glue sticks (2 pack), a pair of scissors, sticky tabs, and anything else I see for their supplies that looks fun. I also usually plan for them to have some fun treats at meal and snack times. Finally, we take the first week really slow! I usually do half speed or at least set a lower time limit for the day for the first 2 weeks. This helps ease them in. I have done things like skip spelling for the first two weeks and put of DITHOR for the first two weeks as well. This helps to cut down on the length of my day. I may even blow of math. For me, my goal is to get my kids ready for their guide and the items we are covering. My oldest did not finish her guide last year so she has a few weeks left to finish up. It is actually really nice having a child starting the year who is familiar with the expectations so I won't have to hold onto too many hands all at the same time.

[Tami]

Here are some things that we have done in the past:

Coco Key - Nationwide waterpark has a homeschool day sometime in August
Worlds of Fun (similiar to Six Flags) - homeschool day sometime in August
Family picnic/swimming at the pool or lake
Family food fight - we invite our extended family and have a blast!
Trip to the Art Museum
Science City trip
Movie during the day on the last day before we start school
8 mile bike ride - we have a beautiful area
Weekend get away - usually a trip to a zoo/museum/science center within 4-5 hours of home
Invite friends to a cookout

The possibilities are really endless....it's a great way to end summer and celebrate the new!

[TrueGRIT]

We try to do something different every year.
Last year we took a trip to our local zoo then went out for a treat (Sonic).
One year we packed a lunch and went to our city park's Splash area.

We also go pick out new school supplies that they get to help choose. Usually they get candy or chips of their own.

I need to get busy and plan this years big day! We did change our celebration day to Labor Day week instead of the first day of school. Since we do a modified year round schedule this gives us a day to look forward to as we add in more subjects in August. It's also very hot and very busy here that month.

[queenireneof3]

This post has got me thinking! I would love to do something fun to mark the "new" beginning.

Things I have already done:
--purchase new school supplies (markers, paints, nice colored pencils, paints, pencils, erasers, etc.) so something feels new.
--purchase some new educational games/toys for our school box. We have a box of toys reserved only for playing with when we are doing school and I am working with someone else

Some fun possibilities:
--A fun (easy) breakfast that is out of the ordinary for the first day.
--Streamers on our school room door (or kids bedroom doors) My kids LOVE this. Usually only reserved for their bdays.
--An end of the first week incentive (ice cream, pool, campfire and smores outside, family bike ride...)
--a new educational app. we rarely use the kindle,ipad, but with a new baby coming, I might need more options to help us get through our school day when I am distracted with new baby
--a card for each kiddo on the first day
--"school" pictures

I will have to check pinterest for more ideas. these were just off the top of my head...But i've found, simple traditions are best!

[aecastleberry]

This post has got me thinking! I would love to do something fun to mark the "new" beginning.

Things I have already done:
--purchase new school supplies (markers, paints, nice colored pencils, paints, pencils, erasers, etc.) so something feels new.
--purchase some new educational games/toys for our school box. We have a box of toys reserved only for playing with when we are doing school and I am working with someone else

Some fun possibilities:
--A fun (easy) breakfast that is out of the ordinary for the first day.
--Streamers on our school room door (or kids bedroom doors) My kids LOVE this. Usually only reserved for their bdays.
--An end of the first week incentive (ice cream, pool, campfire and smores outside, family bike ride...)
--a new educational app. we rarely use the kindle,ipad, but with a new baby coming, I might need more options to help us get through our school day when I am distracted with new baby
--a card for each kiddo on the first day
--"school" pictures

I will have to check pinterest for more ideas. these were just off the top of my head...But i've found, simple traditions are best!

queenireneof3 - I love the idea of streamers on the schoolroom door!! We always do this for the kiddos birthdays, but what a great way to add excitement to the start of school. We are going to do a cookout with friends the Saturday before as a "kick-off" as well, so adding excitement BEFORE we actually get started should be lots of fun! I always make cinnamon muffins on the first day before our "school" pics. I am just getting excited - but know that since we are just picking back up on what we were doing, I need to grab their excitement somehow. Thanks so much for your input!

[queenireneof3]

amber,

Cinnamon muffins sound delicious and easy! I may have to look up a recipe! Happy Streamer-ing!

[twolittlebears]

We always take their picture their first day of each boy holding a mini chalkboard with his grade written on it! We introduce a new puppet for circle time each year, that's always fun because it's a surprise!

[Mumkins]

I have cut outs from the school storr that say 'welcome to' and then I put their grade. I also write something on the chalk board, then each of their names and grade. I set down all their new supplies at their spot with a note. We do a special breakfast. That's about it.