August 2008

We have our books ready, our supplies together, and schedules all made up. We’re just about ready to start school, next Tuesday, here at Keystone Christian Academy. We’re all excited to start a new year!

I would imagine getting ready for school here at our house looks very similar to how your family prepares for back to school. We had to purchase and gather new art supplies, pencils, and paper. The kiddos put together their binders and made sure they had rulers, scissors and glue.

It wasn’t just the kiddos who were getting ready for school to start, though. Their teacher had lots to do too… I had lessons to create, activities to plan, and books to read.

The following items will be fun new additions to our school experience this year. Some of these tools make getting back in to the groove of academia just a bit easier, while others make learning just plain fun!

Fun Felt has a wide variety of fun activities to keep your kiddos busy. My kiddos have had a ton of fun playing with their Math Manipulatives Felt Board Set and I’ve enjoyed watching them learn some basic math concepts while at play. This school year we will be counting, playing with shapes, learning fractions, numbers, math symbols, and all about money while playing store or working problems. This particular set includes play time lesson ideas, a manual, 273 felt figures, and a 23″ x 31″ felt board background depicting shelves in a toy store. It’s perfect, since my younger ones learn best through play!

Kumon Publishing is one of the fastest growing children’s publishers in the US, focusing primarily on kindergarten and pre-k educational workbooks.
THE KUMON METHOD is unique and effective as concepts are introduced in a step-by-step manner that allows the child to master each in turn without getting frustrated. Children gain confidence in their abilities, and are motivated to learn on their own, as they trek through fun and colorful pages. There are lots of great workbooks from which to choose at Kumon.

We needed a place to store our paint brushes, crayons, and extra desk supplies, and found exactly what we needed in this cute Tatutina Crayon Caddy from Oompa. The caddy is divided into four compartments, one of them large, the other three smaller. We love the bold, saturated paint, done in a butterfly and hearts theme, over bright pink with an orange interior. The yellow string handle is also useful for using the tote on the go.

All of my kiddos seemed to have a difficult time keeping track of their stuff until we started labeling everything…. We label sippy cups, toys, and even clothes. Stuck on You has some pretty fun labels for all of our personal items. They even have personalized school supplies with packs including pencils, sharpeners, scissors, and erasers. No more fighting over who’s is who’s!

For the dye-hard do-it-yourselfer, Dymo has a Personal Label Maker that is easy to use. We have created labels for all of our storage boxes, binders, and file folders. I find that I reach for my Dymo Label Maker quite often these days as I try to get organized for the coming school year. I’m sure I will use it all year long!

Are there any items that you think I should know about that might make the school year just a bit more fun for us?

Oh, and don’t forget to check out all of the great Back-to-School stuff you can win at the Mommies United Back to School Event!!

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