This year, for the first time ever since embarking on big school, Back to School Eve was on a Thursday! And the Selph household LOVED it!
I know lots of people frown on a Friday start or don't understand the point of it, but the system I used to teach for does a Friday start every single year, so not only am I accustomed to it but I also think it's pretty awesome. The first day is basically about getting everyone settled, meeting new classmates, getting acquainted with your teacher and classroom, and learning new rules and procedures. Everyone is exhausted by the end of the day and everyone is in need of a weekend. So we are big fans of the Friday start!
With Back to School Eve falling on a Thursday, I made a few special plans for the boys. Nothing big or elaborate but just enough to get us all excited and motivated about the new school year.
Here's a recap...
Last Thursday morning after our usual summer morning routine I gathered the boys at the kitchen table and we made a big list of our "Back to School Favorites". Anything and everything we were really looking forward to about going back to school went on our master list. We came up with things they were excited about that would happen at school or that are a part of school, and things that aren't even school related but either occur in the month of August or don't happen until school starts back.
Once we felt our list was complete I gave all 3 boys a mini poster board and while Layton colored, the big boys and I took our personal favorites from the master list and created our own poster complete with illustrations. This little activity was a HUGE hit and we spent most of the morning working on our posters! The boys were starting to get pumped about going back! YAY.
Garrison's Back to School Favorites!
The back states his most favorite of all... Him and Austin being in the same school!! (Which is what he meant by class. =))
Austin's Back to School Favorites! Several words he traced but a few he wrote on his own... His list says Art, Swinging, library, books, fast slides, blocks, soccer, AnAn's room, friends, recess, birthdays
As another special treat, we went out for lunch and ice cream and ran into Nana so she made our picture. =) This was another big favorite for all of us!
We had a pretty peaceful rest time and then sometime around 4:00 after getting in trouble for fighting and being threatened with "separation", the big boys absolutely fell apart and became devastated about going back to school. Whaaaaa?? We'd had such a great morning and been so excited and overflowing with positive attitudes! It was so out of the blue and dramatic that it caught me completely off guard!
I honestly believe that the threat of separation made Garrison realize that we were all about to be separated anyway. They were sobbing and crying their eyes out and it was just heartbreaking. Garrison was saying things like I just want to be with y'all. I am going to miss y'all so much. I want to be with my brothers. Nothing at school is as fun as playing at home. School is 180 days and it's a whole year before we have summer again. And Austin just kept repeating I want to stay with you and Layton. And they were crying huge tears and SOBBING and I could tell their little hearts were hurting. Oh how I wanted to sob and fall apart with them! It made my heart hurt too. =(
Instead I stayed strong and reminded them of our back to school favorites. I told them about every single school holiday and break we'd enjoy for the entire school year. I reminded them how blessed we are to have every single day together right after school. I told them every positive thing I could think of related to going back to school.
They were just pitiful and it took us praying together and building up all the fun stuff we're looking forward to and a fun game of indoor baseball with daddy and a favorite meal (tacos!) for supper before they really cheered up and felt better and all was well again. Gracious. My heart just about couldn't handle it.
At bedtime we read two of our favorite back to school books and they were both big hits. Yay. Thank you Jesus that they were calm and at peace going to bed Thursday night.
And once all the boys were settled and sleeping soundly, I made lunches and prepared book bags and crashed. What a day filled with highs and lows!
Thankfully everyone woke up Friday morning and did GREAT on the first day back! Back to School Eve may have been a little crazy, but the 1st day was awesome!! And I must say this first full week is going really smoothly too. I'll recap tomorrow with Friday Favorites.
Happy Thursday! We've almost made it!!
I know lots of people frown on a Friday start or don't understand the point of it, but the system I used to teach for does a Friday start every single year, so not only am I accustomed to it but I also think it's pretty awesome. The first day is basically about getting everyone settled, meeting new classmates, getting acquainted with your teacher and classroom, and learning new rules and procedures. Everyone is exhausted by the end of the day and everyone is in need of a weekend. So we are big fans of the Friday start!
With Back to School Eve falling on a Thursday, I made a few special plans for the boys. Nothing big or elaborate but just enough to get us all excited and motivated about the new school year.
Here's a recap...
Last Thursday morning after our usual summer morning routine I gathered the boys at the kitchen table and we made a big list of our "Back to School Favorites". Anything and everything we were really looking forward to about going back to school went on our master list. We came up with things they were excited about that would happen at school or that are a part of school, and things that aren't even school related but either occur in the month of August or don't happen until school starts back.
Once we felt our list was complete I gave all 3 boys a mini poster board and while Layton colored, the big boys and I took our personal favorites from the master list and created our own poster complete with illustrations. This little activity was a HUGE hit and we spent most of the morning working on our posters! The boys were starting to get pumped about going back! YAY.
Garrison's Back to School Favorites!
The back states his most favorite of all... Him and Austin being in the same school!! (Which is what he meant by class. =))
Austin's Back to School Favorites! Several words he traced but a few he wrote on his own... His list says Art, Swinging, library, books, fast slides, blocks, soccer, AnAn's room, friends, recess, birthdays
I made a poster too! Here's the break down... The Summer Olympics are my favorite so I can't wait for them to start! I'm also pretty excited about watching my big boys play soccer again. We have 3 family birthdays we're celebrating this month plus Austin's birthday party that's going to be at the end of the month. AnAn's room is a favorite for the whole fam! =) Starting next week both big boys will go to her room right after school to wait for me to come through the car rider line. #auntperks I'm especially thankful and excited about both boys' great teachers and all the sweet friends they'll enjoy this year.
As another special treat, we went out for lunch and ice cream and ran into Nana so she made our picture. =) This was another big favorite for all of us!
We had a pretty peaceful rest time and then sometime around 4:00 after getting in trouble for fighting and being threatened with "separation", the big boys absolutely fell apart and became devastated about going back to school. Whaaaaa?? We'd had such a great morning and been so excited and overflowing with positive attitudes! It was so out of the blue and dramatic that it caught me completely off guard!
I honestly believe that the threat of separation made Garrison realize that we were all about to be separated anyway. They were sobbing and crying their eyes out and it was just heartbreaking. Garrison was saying things like I just want to be with y'all. I am going to miss y'all so much. I want to be with my brothers. Nothing at school is as fun as playing at home. School is 180 days and it's a whole year before we have summer again. And Austin just kept repeating I want to stay with you and Layton. And they were crying huge tears and SOBBING and I could tell their little hearts were hurting. Oh how I wanted to sob and fall apart with them! It made my heart hurt too. =(
Instead I stayed strong and reminded them of our back to school favorites. I told them about every single school holiday and break we'd enjoy for the entire school year. I reminded them how blessed we are to have every single day together right after school. I told them every positive thing I could think of related to going back to school.
They were just pitiful and it took us praying together and building up all the fun stuff we're looking forward to and a fun game of indoor baseball with daddy and a favorite meal (tacos!) for supper before they really cheered up and felt better and all was well again. Gracious. My heart just about couldn't handle it.
And once all the boys were settled and sleeping soundly, I made lunches and prepared book bags and crashed. What a day filled with highs and lows!
Thankfully everyone woke up Friday morning and did GREAT on the first day back! Back to School Eve may have been a little crazy, but the 1st day was awesome!! And I must say this first full week is going really smoothly too. I'll recap tomorrow with Friday Favorites.
Happy Thursday! We've almost made it!!
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