I’m a big fan of traditions. I love holidays and special occasions and want to make special days memorable. In my opinion, the first day of school is a pretty special day. At least it always was for me growing up.
As a kid, the first day of school meant a special outfit and a new backpack filled with school supplies. There was always the obligatory first day of school photo and most years I can remember my mom putting a note in my lunchbox.
I still remember the yellow satchel I carried on the first day of Kindergarten and the red shirt adorned with numbers.
I started many of the same traditions when Jackson started PreK and carried them into Kindergarten. I bought a “School Years” memory book and filled out details about his teacher and interests.
But here we are starting first grade and we’re doing school differently. We’re homeschooling and our first day of school doesn’t look the same as it did when he was attending public school.
A few weeks ago my Facebook feed was flooded with photos of kids headed back to school. Seeing them was bittersweet.
I started thinking about ways I could make our non-traditional first day of school memorable and unique.
Here’s what I came up with…
Decorate the Learning Area
The night before our first day of school, I decorated our learning area with a sign and a few special gifts. I wrote Jackson a special note letting him know I was excited to kick off his first grade year! I told him I was looking forward to being his teacher and learning new things with him.
I also gave him two new books. I chose Only One You and You Be You because I feel like he’s beginning to realize he’s different than other kids his age. These books are a good reminder (for both of us) that we’re all unique and wonderful. We read the books and did a corresponding art project – we painted our own unique fish.
Take a Photo
I’m a photographer, so I can’t not take a first day of school photo!
Donut Shop Stop
Jackson was wide awake at 4 a.m. thanks to storms that rolled through. He was hungry before the donut shop was even open. So he had breakfast #1 around 5 a.m. We stopped by the donut shop for breakfast #2 before our speech therapy appointment. Donut holes and echolocate milk are the way to this kids heart!
Field Trip
I wanted our first “official” day of school to include fun/laid back learning activities. We have plenty of time for stress!
The temperatures were much cooler so I thought we’d hit one of our favorite spots – the zoo! Too bad we had monsoon rains ALL morning, which made a zoo trip impossible.
Jackson loves learning about animals, whether it’s at the zoo or through his Ranger Rick Magazines, so we plan to visit the zoo as soon as things dry out!
Special Art Project
Jackson isn’t a big fan of art projects, but I wanted to do something to commemorate the first day of first grade. I had him make his handprint with paint and write his name beside it. Tuesday a few of his letters came out backwards, but that’s okay. It’s a snapshot of this season. Some days he writes his name perfectly and some days a letter gets written backwards. I just wanted to do this quick project so I could always remember what his handwriting looked like at this age.
You’re a Smart Cookie
Jackson loves Chips Ahoy cookies, so I put a package on the table with this note! Simple, but totally his love language! He ate three of them for breakfast.
I hope these fun little surprises made his first day of first grade special. I hope he remembers these traditions as fondly as I remember the traditions from my childhood.