We're Going on Vacation! {Telling your child's teacher you will be missing school, Yikes!}

At some point in your child's life you are going to take them on vacation during the school year.

It's almost inevitable. 

Rates are lower, rooms are more readily available, and there are fewer tourists during the off-peak season.  Even if you are fanatical about school and your child's education, chances are, you will find yourself seeing how much money you could save on your next family vacation if you only went in November instead of July.

This has happened to us this year.  It just so happens that we are going to be taking our family on vacation to Disneyland soon.  DISNEYLAND!!!!! 

Ok, so now that we have everything booked, and almost paid for, how do we go about telling our teacher that we will be missing school for almost 2 weeks. 

Hmmmmm???!!!

Now, remember that every teacher is different and chances are that the older your child is the harder it will be to take them out of school for family vacation.  However, if you follow these few guidelines, perhaps you can pull it off effortlessly.  :)

1.  Check your child's school calendar.  Make sure that as you are planning your vacation that you are aware of any testing periods, class pictures, or field trips that your child won't want to miss.  I can't stress this enough!!  Please don't plan your family vacation over testing.  Ever.

2.  Send a note to your child's teacher two weeks before you leave, telling him/her which days your child will be missing and where they will be going.  Make sure that you specify that you are willing to help your child catch up with any missed work when you get back, as well as help them complete assignments before vacation. 

scroll down to get this printable for free!!

Don't ask your child to gather their homework for you to take on vacation.  Most teachers won't have that ready until the week they are using it.  Asking them to get it early can strike a sour note with most teachers. 

Some teachers may send work with your child to complete during vacation.  I, as a teacher, never sent anything difficult, and I only sent it when a child's parent was insistent that I send something.  I usually sent a travel journal and the worksheets they would miss from classwork.  Most teachers understand that learning is done inside and outside the classroom.  Your child can learn a LOT from a family vacation, i.e. time, money, interpersonal communications...haha!  You get the idea.  Life is full of learning opportunities!

3.  Remind your child's teacher 1 to 2 days before you leave that your child will be missing school.  Just because your vacation is all you can think about, and you're counting down the days, doesn't mean that your child's teacher is thinking about it.  They have a lot on their plates.  Just give them a reminder heads up that you are leaving tomorrow or in the next few days.  Doing this through email is fine.

4.  While on vacation, if your child's teacher sent work, make time to do it.  You can complete it in the car or on the plane while traveling.  This is the easiest place to do it.  Also, have your child read.  Let them take a book with you and READ!  If your child's teacher wants them to keep a journal, just have them write down what they did every day at the end of the day.  If they are too young to write, have them draw it out.  Make sure that you are having FUN, though.  Don't sacrifice family time or fun time to do homework.  You can always catch up when you get home!

5.  Bring your child's teacher a souvenir from your vacation.  This sounds cheesy, however, believe me, it helps boost the spirit of that teacher that now has to make sure that your child catches back up with the class and the work that they missed for the all day every day work of school.  It doesn't need to be big or expensive.  A few years ago, when we traveled to Las Vegas, we brought back a pen from the M&M factory along with a bag of M&Ms for each of my daughter's teachers.  They appreciated the fact that we thought of them while on vacation.

6.  Help your child catch up with their homework they missed.  Some teachers will send extra homework while others will just send home basic homework that was missed.  It's your job to now help your child catch back up.  Even if it takes you 1 or 2 weeks...you need to invest a bit more time into homework!

So, now that you have some guidelines, how about a free printable?  Here is a note you can send to your child's teacher to notify them of your upcoming vacation.

download here

 Happy Vacationing!

Valerie

What's For Dinner? {Meal Planning for Busy Moms}

We are all starting to get super busy as we send our kids off to school. Between work, homework, carpool, cleaning house, and many other responsibilities, dinner can sometimes be put off right up to the minute your husband walks in the door and says, "What's for dinner?" Then, everyone is scrambling and trying to figure out something to eat. This is how we end up with leftovers, fast food, and pizza on our tables. A few years ago, my husband actually went past the what's for dinner question and said, "Maybe you could plan out the meals."

What??

Nothing sets off the bells, whistles, and alarms in a woman's head faster than her husband suggesting she try to do something different.

Am I right?

Maybe it's just me... Anyway, after getting over myself and the thoughts of inadequacy I felt from his simple comment, I decided that maybe it would be a good idea. Maybe it could save me some time in the long run. Well, as is sometimes the case, my husband was onto something. I have been meal planning for a few years now, and it really is helpful. We don't always follow the plan to the letter, and there are still days when I'm too tired to cook, however, it works for the most part. So I will now share it with you.

Please don't get angry like I did.  :)

this is an example of my meal plan from april

First things first, you will want to write a list of your favorite meals. The ones that your family will eat no matter what. Or you can write down types of foods they love, such as Italian, Mexican, or Comfort Foods. This will help you as you look for recipes and start slotting meals to certain days.

here is an example

Next, you will want a calendar to keep all of your meals visible for the month. I found mine here. Once I downloaded and printed it, I pulled out my trusty laminator and put it to work. This way, I only had to print the calendar once and use it every month. You could also just slip it into a page protector (as seen below).  You just need a dry erase marker or wet erase marker. Make sure you get a fine point one. :)

here is an example from thirtyhandmadedays.com

Finally, we need to fill in the calendar with meals. This is sort of the hard part. Deciding what to eat weeks in advance. If you are like me, you might be thinking, how will I know I'll be in the mood for Hawaiian Chicken on the 28th? Don't worry, this plan is just for you, it is flexible, and you can change it at a moment's notice. That was one thing that I told me husband had to be understood if I were to do the meal planning thing. Nothing is concrete. This means that if he checks the calendar before work and sees one of his favorite meals, Porcupine Meatballs, he can't be upset when he walks in the door to see Pancakes and Eggs on the dinner table. If I'm too tired to make what's on the calendar, I just change it up. You can do that too.

Now let's share some recipes, ok?

Here are some places I have found yummy meals(recipes):

Dinner is Ready

this is the book i use for my frozen meals, though you can use the recipes without freezing them

The Food Nanny

here

Pinterest

just type 'dinner' in the search box

And, of course my mom.  :)

So what do you guys like to eat for dinner?

Please share in the comments your favorite recipe/meal ideas! Or, maybe there's a favorite cookbook you'd like to recommend.

Valerie

Sending School Notes {Plus, a PRINTABLE!}

All mommies are going to need to send a note to their child's teacher at least once a year.

Dentist appointments, illness, and vacations are all reasons to send in a note.

Really, any time that your child is going to be absent, late, picked up early, or for any other concerns you might have, you will want to send in a note.

I have put together this Notes for School printable.

For some reason this is showing a reddish background.  When you download it should have a white background.  Click here for download.

Aside from the usual things, there is a money section.  In case you need to send in money to school.  Just fold this up with the money and slip it into an envelope, or staple it to the front of the envelope.

Also, teachers, if you like the layout of this note, send a link to all of your student's parents.  That way, everyone will be using the same format for notes to the classroom.  :)

Communication between parents and teachers is one of the key factors in your child's education.  These notes will help when you need to make your child's teacher aware of something.  Print a few sheets off, cut them in half, and have them ready to be filled out at a moment's notice.  Just this morning I sent a note with my daughter explaining to her teacher that she is suffering from hayfever(allergies) and to call me if she is too miserable.  Without the note, the teacher may have assumed she came to school sick or with lack of sleep.  This way, everyone knows and there is no confusion. 

Valerie

Family Command Center {Staying Organized During the School Year}

Life with kids can be a bit chaotic.

We all know this.

That's why I like to take pages from my teacher's playbook to help with the chaos.  Next time you walk into your child's classroom, take a look around.  Most teachers are well organized and have things in their place.  At first you probably think the teacher does all of this by herself/himself.  Well, I guess some teachers do it by themselves, however, I always had the students help.  I've tried to make sure that my kids help around the house. 

Now, my kids are still quite small and their participation involves me a LOT.  In order for my son(3) to make his bed, I not only have to remind him, remind him, remind him, I also have to help him and correct him in order to ensure it is done properly and to my standards of clean.  I know that if I just keep up what I'm doing, eventually he will be able to just get out of his bed and make it quickly and neatly.  We are a few years off of that, however, I am proud of his accomplishments thus far.  He has been making his bed since he was 2 and already we are seeing improvement. 

Another thing I expect my kids to help out with is homework/paperwork they bring home.  Once your child is in preschool/kindergarten they are able to empty out their backpack and go through their homework and paperwork with a parent/responsible adult.  One of the things that really bothered me while teaching were students who stuffed their backpack full of homework and paperwork and went off home only to return the very next day with their backpack still stuffed with everything.  I didn't really blame the parents, it was the child's responsibility to empty their backpack and take care of their things.  I also saw kids that would walk ten feet out of my classroom only to throw away all of their backpack's content into the closest trash can.  You can bet I dug those out for them and put them on their desk the next morning.  :)  This is why kids think teachers have eyes in the back of their head. haha!!

I know that there can sometimes be TONS of paperwork coming home.  Now if you have 2 or 3 kids, you can just multiply that paperwork.  Teachers send home past assignments with grades(so you can get a sense of how they are doing), old art projects, flyers from the office, monthly and sometimes weekly newsletters, and of course homework.  This can all add up quickly.  That is why before my oldest started kindergarten I decided I better get my FAMILY COMMAND CENTER set up.

I started with one large magnetic board and went from there.  I added what I thought my family needed and a few fun cutesy things as well.  If you are interested in making a command center for your home, may I suggest that you 'google' command centers, take a look at what others have done, and then decide what will be needed by your family and what will work for the space you have in your home.   Might I add, that my favorite thing about this command center is the key rack.  That alone is a life saver for me and my forgetful brain.  :)

Our Family Command Center

In addition to this wall I have printed out Mique's Family Binder Printables at Thirty Handmade Days to keep more information in a smaller location.  I use that binder every single day.  I also added our cleaning lists and my child's daily responsibilities so that if I am not home, someone else can take the reins and lead the house for the day.  This really came in handy while I was in the hospital after my c-section with my youngest.  My husband stepped right into my spot and everything still got done with my checklists.  :)

Some of my favorite parts of the command center are those pictured above. 

I got the magnetic board at Roberts, which has gone out of business in my area, however, I'm sure you could find something similar at Hobby Lobby or Michaels or another craft store.  I made magnets for each family member with their initial.  This is where I keep a weekly schedule for each person.  It helps me remember important times and days for everyone in the family.  It also makes it easier to not over-schedule our week.  I like to use small post-its for each day and make special days a different color.  Their back to school nights are something special we are doing this week.

The rail, basket, and pencil bucket came from IKEA.  I wanted to put real greenery in that basket, however, I knew that I would ultimately kill it with neglect, so I opted for tissue poms in a bright green color.  :)  The pencil bucket is high enough that my kiddos can't access it, but I can! 

The monogram letter came from Michaels and it was already white - SCORE! 

The letter organizer was bought on Amazon.  I really use it to collect sunglasses, receipts, and odds and ends.  I also stick bills in it for my husband to pay.  (That is one of his many jobs)

The magazine rack is from IKEA, though I bought it on Amazon.  I just stuck some puffy sticker numbers on the side and assigned everyone in the family a number. This is where everyone is held responsible for putting their paperwork and homework. 

The printables that are framed came from multiple places.  I love us came from Eighteen25.  The calendar came from TomKat Studios.  Choose Happy came from Paper Coterie.

Here is a closer look at those printables along with our chore boards.  I just bought plaque boards from Michaels, painted them white, and epoxied sheet metal on top.  Then I used rub-on letters to put their names and to do and done.  I also bought small wooden discs, painted them white, and mod podged the chores onto them.  You can also buy them here, in case you would rather not DIY.

So, if you are dreading the upcoming school year due to the overwhelming amount of paperwork you will soon be receiving daily, then take a page from a teacher's book and organize that paperwork with the help of your kids!  Once my kids are a bit older I am going to put them in charge of writing out their weekly schedule so I don't have to.  I see this command center growing with us as my kids slowly take it over. 

What do you do to keep organized during the school year?