Growing up on 20 acres in East Texas was an amazing experience. My father raised just about every bird you can think of. He had everything from racing pigeons to ducks.
I loved every minute of it! But, I always joked that I needed a peacock to complete the total experience. Well I popped off one too many times. After years of asking for peafowl, my dad made it a reality. They are everything I imagined they´d be & more! Check out Pascal!
Here is a few more of our lawn ornaments!
My baby is starting Kindergarten this year! 😭😭😭 I plan on reading The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn the night before school starts.
School is starting in the forest, but Chester Raccoon does not want to go. To help ease Chester’s fears, Mrs. Raccoon shares a family secret called the Kissing Hand to give him the reassurance of her love any time his world feels a little scary. Since its first publication in 1993, this heartwarming book has become a children’s classic that has touched the lives of millions of children and their parents, especially at times of separation, whether starting school, entering daycare, or going to camp. It is widely used by kindergarten teachers on the first day of school. Stickers at the back will help children and their parents keep their Kissing Hand alive.
On the first day of school, I always read First Day Jitters by Julie Love to my 3rd graders.
Everyone knows that sinking feeling in the pit of the stomach just before diving into a new situation. Sarah Jane Hartwell is scared and doesn’t want to start over at a new school. She doesn’t know anybody, and nobody knows her. It will be awful. She just knows it. With much prodding from Mr. Hartwell, Sarah Jane reluctantly pulls herself together and goes to school. She is quickly befriended by Mrs. Burton, who helps smooth her jittery transition. This charming and familiar story will delight readers with its surprise ending.
Here are some other wonderful books to read before school starts back from summer break. Just click on the book. 🙂
I Love You All Day Long by Fancesca Rusackas is a favorite in our house. The main characters name is Owen!
Owen’s anxious question prompts this heartwarming, comforting tale of how a parent’s love stays with a child whether they are together or apart — all day long.
The Night Before Kindergarten by Natasha Wings.
It’s the first day of school! Join the kids as they prepare for kindergarten, packing school supplies, posing for pictures, and the hardest part of all–saying goodbye to Mom and Dad. But maybe it won’t be so hard once they discover just how much fun kindergarten really is! Colorful illustrations illuminate this uplifting takeoff on the classic Christmas poem.
Pout-Pout Fish Goes to School by Deborah Diesen.
Mr. Fish is nervously awaiting his first day of school, and he frets about not knowing how to write his name, how to draw shapes, and how to do math―until he’s reassured that school is the perfect place to learn how to master all of these new skills, in Pout-Pout Fish Goes to School from Deborah Diesen and Dan Hanna.
Splat the CAt Back to School Splat! By Rob Scotton.
It’s the first day of school and there’s only time for Splat to share one of his summer adventures with the class. Will it be the time he went searching for pirate treasure? Or the time he went swimming with sharks in the ocean? But before the end of the day, Splat knows exactly what to talk about—and it’s the biggest surprise of all!
Back-to-School Rules by Laurie Friedman.
School’s in session! When it comes to surviving school, Percy’s at the head of the class. If you can follow his ten simple rules, making the grade will be a piece of cake (and school will be a lot of fun). But there’s more to school than showing up on time and staying awake in class. If you have any doubts, Percy also shows exactly what not to do.
What’s your favorite back to school books?
With the new school year right around the corner, I wanted to share my favorite online boutique! Neither of my children enjoy trips to the stores, so I tend to shop online. Sydney So Sweet has some of the cutest outfits! Reasonable prices and free shipping have really taken the usual stress out of back to school shopping!
Use the coupon code REPFF4 for an extra 15% off on your entire order! 💜
Quinn loves dresses!
School shopping is done and no tears! It’s a mom win!
As a reading teacher, I know I have a tendency to neglect math from time to time. Well the kids were begging to have a water balloon fight, so I decided it would be a perfect time to throw in some math practice.
Bunch O Balloons have these awesome instant water balloons. You can have 100 water balloons ready to go in minutes! The time and hassle saved is worth every penny! I wrote some addition equations on the balloons. As they grabbed one to throw, they had to call out the problem and solve it. With Owen going into 3rd grade, his tub had a few higher level problems.
They had a blast without even realizing I made them work and review over the summer! ha
Being a 3rd grade public school teacher, I know the importance of early literacy. Every summer, I know I haven’t done a great job of keeping the kids reading.
I decided this year would be different. I challenged the Owen and Quinn to read 100 books this summer. The very first day of summer, made a special trip to the local public library. They each checked out 2 books and we plan on going every Tuesday. Not only did I put incentives in place to keep them focused on the goal, the library has prizes for every 2 hours they read. It even had a play room for children up to 4 years old, Quinn is already begging to go back. The county library has events from magic shows to movies planned throughout the summer as well.
Our school library is also open for the summer. I plan on taking the kids next week to check out some more books.
So, check out your local libraries. I bet they have lots of fun activities planned throughout the summer. Because, well…Libraries Rock!
As a third grade teacher, I can not express enough how important it is for children to read at home at least 20 minutes every day! Thank you @bookroo_love for adding a little extra excitement and love for reading with individually wrapped books delivered right to our door! The Best Birthday Present Ever by Ben Mantle and Chicken Lily by Lori Mortensen make amazing additions to our bookshelf. Thank you Mimi for helping set such a wonderful example for her to look up to. I know she’ll follow in your bookworm footsteps. 💜
Use the code PASTPRESENTPURPLE to get $10 off your own #bookroo order!
As the standardized tests creeps closer I have been adding more independent reading passages into the school day. While I understand that test strategies are not the most interesting thing in the world, it is a necessity. I have found over the last few days that throwing in a brain break about every 45 minutes has really improved my students attention and added some motivation.
Our favorite website is GoNoodle! Seriously, it’s awesome and free to sign up! You can’t beat that! It has math and reading practice built into dance moves and songs. I put on the Word Jam vocabulary practice every morning.
Another favorite is just finding YouTube videos of Just Dance. We love the Super Mario song!
Next time you see your students starting to zone out give GoNoodle a try! They’ll love it and you can get them engaged again!
A few weekends ago we decided to be spontaneous. We loaded up and headed to Hot Springs, Arkansas. Once we got there we did a google search for family activities. We ended up at Garvan Woodland Gardens. It was so beautiful!
They even had activities to engage the kids. The children received bingo cards to look for certain attractions throughout the trails. It had everything from pink flowers to fairies on the card. The kids had a blast trying to get Bingo first! I would highly recommend if you’re ever in the area, stop by and take a walk. I could have spent the whole day there.
Owen’s been begging to start a garden. While browsing through Tractor Supply yesterday I spotted the Miracle-Gro Root Viewer Rainbow Carrot kit.
While we are still planning on planting an outside garden with him, I thought this would be a neat experience.
We had so much fun putting this together this morning!! I mean who doesn’t love dirt?!?! They got the biggest kick out of adding the water to the dirt and watching it grow.
Both kiddos had awesome questions about how much water, how long they would take to sprout, & where the perfect spot with enough sunlight would be. I love watching them learn through exploring.
I can’t wait to see if we end up with purple carrots! 💜💜💜💜
Dr Seuss Week is one of my favorites! I look forward to it every year. Our librarian does such an awesome job of planning enrichment activities throughout the week. Plus, she turns to whole school into Seussville! Every detail is so well planned out. The students enjoy every moment and hopefully will motivate them to open more books! 
This year’s schedule-
Monday: Cat in the Hat Day. Student’s wore their favorite hats and a guest read the Cat in the Hat to every grade level.
Tuesday: Fox in Socks Day. Students wore crazy socks!
Wednesday: One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish Day. Students wore red or blue and a special guest read the book. She did the dancing milk activity and explained how having a fun positive attitude will spread out to everyone you meet. 
Directions: Pour a thin layer of milk into the bottom of the tray. Add the drops of food coloring. Dip the q-tip into the dish soap. Last, dip the dish soap q-tip into the the milk and watch the colors spread out and dance!
Thursday: Green Eggs and Ham Day. The cafeteria served green eggs and ham for breakfast. Then, we had a guest come read to every grade level.
Friday: Hop on Pop Day. Wear pajamas for popcorn and movie during specials rotation.
Next year, I hope we can fit in Oh, the Places You’ll Go and have students dress for what they want to be when they grow up.
Some of our classroom activities:
We thought about what this Lorax quote meant to each student, then wrote a paragraph explaining how we could show we care a whole awful lot everyday.
We had a blast this week! Thank you to everyone who made this week possible. I can’t wait until next year!
Check back! I’ll add more Dr Seuss activities as I find them!
