T’was the weekend before school…WHAT?! I still can’t believe it’s time to start preparing for back to school! This summer has flown by so fast. I still can’t believe it is that time already.
Other than the kids going to camp all summer, not much changed on the homefront. The boys still had to go to bed at a reasonable hour to wake up for the bus. The kids still needed showers everyday because of the swimming, sweat and sunscreen. And, they still needed to wake up early, get ready, eat and get out of the house. And I still needed to make two lunches everyday (why can’t we get a break 🙁 )
Come to think of it, one thing did change. I can honestly say I don’t think one kid picked up a book if it weren’t for a few bedtime stories. Fine, fine, my oldest is going into grade 3 and is a great student. And no, I don’t think he forgot how to read. But literally, his brain was turned off for a solid two months! We didn’t do one thing that was educational. My bad.
My youngest who is going into SK, also didn’t do much besides play all summer. Its what he does best. He could live at camp if he could. Not that he doesn’t like to learn, but he would much rather be playing outside then inside learning. During the school year we worked alot on his learning of the alphabet due to his speech delays. And the end of JK he was caught up to learning his letters and most sounds. But he hasn’t practiced this summer. Like ALL SUMMER. So I’m a little worried about him starting up again.
And then there’s me…who lived each day vicariously this summer…each day was the same with the camp routine and I didn’t need to schedule anything. Now that September is looming its head around the corner, I know that calendar will fill up fast with programs and holidays.
It’s time to get to work.
So, I’ve decided that these last few days I’m going to start getting organized, getting the kids brains working again, and get back into school mode!
First up is me!
I needed a 2018 calendar to help keep me and my family organized. Luckily, the Quarto Group has come out with their new Busy Family Calendar. Just what I need.
Keep your family’s organized while enjoying charming artwork on in the large calendar grid, colorful reminder stickers, and handy storage pocket make it fun and easy to manage everyone’s schedule! BUSY FAMILY CALENDAR 2018 will organize and track up to five family members while enjoying charming season artwork by Alison Cole. The large calendar grid, colorful reminder stickers, and handy storage pocket make it fun and easy to manage everyone all year long! $15.99 US · $19.99 CAN
September is already filling up fast!!
Second thing I wanted to do was get my oldest to start thinking creatively again. He has always been big into puzzles and mazes. So when I heard about Brain Bend I knew he would love the challenge.
Brain Bend is a unique book featuring 25 wild, vibrant, architecturally themed mazes, along with black-and-white versions of the same artwork for coloring in. The stunning, mind-bending designs, range in style from joyfully freeform to impressively structured, offer a stimulating visual challenge to maze and coloring enthusiasts. It also includes maze solutions at the back of the book. And the perforated pages make it easy to remove the designs, and high-quality, heavy, uncoated paper make them a pleasure to solve and color. USD: $15.99 | CAN: $20.99
Lastly, we wanted to start incorporating just a little bit of education back into the little guy’s life and make it fun. And what makes it fun for him? Being able to colour, draw and play with stickers all at once!
Draw, Color, and Sticker Creative Lettering offers page after page of beautiful inspiration designed to get you drawing letters! Stickers and partially illustrated pages provide a rich canvas to encourage you to practice drawing with a multitude of elements and across multiple themes. Black and white drawings with touches of color will get you started, and invites further experimentation. The uncoated paper stock is perfect for drawing, painting, and coloring with any variety of materials. The included stickers are printed on soft uncoated paper so they can take color or additional drawing on top! USD: $19.99 | CAN: $25.99
There are so many more book and calendar options for you to choose from too. What would you choose?
Please share how are you getting your kids prepared for back to school!
xo
D
Disclosure: I received these products for free for the purposes of reviewing for this post. As always, all opinions are my own…
