Back to school can bring mixed emotions for moms and kids! It’s both exciting to start a new year and scary with all the new: new teachers, new classes, new classrooms, and sometimes, new schools. One of the ways that we can help bring JOY and PURPOSE to back to school season is by making it a celebration.
In my house, sometime during the week of school starting, we have a Back to School Dinner. I decorate the dining room with school-themed decor, print out an interview sheet where we can talk about how they’re feeling about school, and then we talk about our mission and purpose for the school year. The Henderson School Mission has become: BE KIND, WORK HARD, HAVE FUN. We spend the first month of school talking about those concepts at dinner time and memorizing scriptures that go with each (see scriptures below).
You can make this super fun by letting each kid pick or make part of the meal or you can include their favorite dessert. This can also be a breakfast or lunch celebration. I used to be adamant about making sure we did this the night before school started or the night of the first day of school. HOWEVER, those days are full and stressful and I had to let that go. If it works out to do it one of those days, GREAT. If not, I’ll do it sometime that week or the weekend following. I want this to be something fun and intentional for my family, not something stressful for all of us.
I’m loving the new Back to School Kit Gather Moms released on Etsy that is making this even easier this year. The kit includes:
đź’› Back to School Interview
đź’› School Year Mission Statement Sheets
đź’› Celebration Dinner Decor:
Pennant Banner
Pencil Name Cards
Ruler Napkin Holders
Apple “Stem” Plate Printables
💛 First & Last Day Signs (Kindergarten–Senior Year)
đź’› School Year Pennants
đź’› 30-Day Prayer Calendar (with prompts + scripture references)
đź’› Printable Lunchbox Prayer Notes (“Today I’m Praying That…”)
How we implement our school year theme or mission:
- We put it on our family chalkboard
- We focus on each of the concepts over the following weeks at dinner and during school car rides
- We kick off the theme with the first concept: BE KIND and do that by reading the book: How Full is Your Bucket for Kids. I have little plastic buckets that I got from Hobby Lobby years ago and we write encouraging notes and put them in each other’s buckets and read them aloud. It’s a good way for the kids to instantly realize how good it feels to fill someone’s bucket!
- Here are the scriptures we use to go with each verse:
- BE KIND: Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:32
- WORK HARD: Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord. Colossians 3:23
- HAVE FUN: This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24
- Fun ideas: make a scavenger hunt for your kids to find your family theme, let the kids take the lead making lessons, create a competition with a prize for whoever memorizes the verses
I hope these ideas bless you and that you enjoy making a new tradition! Love, Kate
