Back To School!

For kids from preschool to college, we are in the “back to school” time of year.  It is time for buying school supplies and new school clothes or uniforms, getting back to a Monday thru Friday routine and the dreaded homework.  I am sure some parents can’t wait for their kids to go back to school and some wish that it was summer all year long.  For those of you that home school, this blog will apply to you as well.  While you are not sending your kids off to school every day, there is still a network of families within the home school community that you are involved with.

What a great time to get to know your child’s classmates and teacher. Why not host a party for your child’s class – NOW?  The “class” is for Kindergarten to probably 6^th, or even if your student is in a smaller school where the middle school or high school classes are smaller.  I want to throw a few ideas out to you for hosting a party like this.  Think of this as a networking party for kids, parents and even teachers.

If your home/yard/property is not large enough to accommodate everyone consider your local park or recreation center to hold your party.  Share the planning efforts with 1 or 2 other parents.  Scheduling a party in the fall you have to plan and accommodate for football, soccer, volleyball, winter baseball and other sport schedules as well as church/synagogue on Saturday night or Sunday morning.  My suggestion is to plan for a Friday early evening or Sunday late afternoon, but you will know the different events that are happening in your neighborhood and what timing is best for your group of students.

Invitations – first thing – get the class roster.  If possible get the parent’s names as well.  If that is not possible, which I am betting it is not, ask for the parents to provide their names when they rsvp.

Food and Drinks – I suggest planning a pot luck where you encourage everyone to bring their favorite dish or an A-I, J-P, Q-Z type of designation, where you are assigned a main dish, side dish or dessert based on the first letter of the student’s last name.  Personally for this type of event I prefer the former, especially if you have a wonderful ethnic mix.  I think thru people’s food – you learn a lot about them – where they are from, their tastes, food/non-food preferences (vegan, vegetarian, etc).  I will digress here for a second.  My son-in-law loves to cook and is also very good at it.  He experiments with all types of cuisines, from Thai, Vietnamese, Indian, Mexican, Italian, and good ol’ American type dishes (as well as others as they present themselves to him).  What this shows me is how open and welcoming he is to other cultures and their pallet.  Ok – back to your “back to school party” and the food. I love when I get to taste food that I either have never made or would not necessarily think of or know how to make.  What a rich experience!  Drinks – that you will have to determine based upon your school, your school environment, etc as it relates to having alcoholic beverages at the party.  I would suggest that you have each family bring their own drinks. Keep it simple!!

Decorations – Up to you, but one cute idea is to have something with each student’s name on it.  If allowed by the school, you can take each child’s picture and do something creative with it – but in saying that, I am leery that any school would let you come in and take individual pictures of the students (maybe a private school).   Depending on the grade level you will need to choose what you do accordingly.  Obviously what you would create for a kindergarten class is probably not the same idea as you would do for 5^th graders.  Part of your decor can be small take away’s or take home’s for each child that is personalized with their name.

Activities – you can rent an inflatable – such as a bounce house or other “climey” type rentals, depends on your budget and if the planning team is picking up the cost or you are going to have all the parents contribute. I personally would shy away from having parents contribute unless you know your child’s class well. My vote is to plan a bunch of games that not only the kids play but the parents play too!  There are always the good old fashioned (and free) games like – 3 legged race, water balloon toss, relay races with each person on the team racing differently (running, wheelbarrowing, hopping, skipping, etc – use your imagination).  Mix things up – students with students, parents and their student, parents and another student, parents with parents.  You get the picture.  Also from my last post – cornhole is a fun game for any age and the boards can be set to any distance apart.  Bocce ball is more for the older kids, since the balls are kind of heavy (well actually they weigh 2 lbs, but imagine a 7 year old trying to toss a 2 lb ball the size of a grapefruit down the court with 2 hands!).  Anyway – the games don’t have to be expensive.  Whether you choose to award prizes or just bragging rights – that is up to you!

Last couple of suggestions for planning a class party.  If you are not at someone’s home – make sure you have a first aid kit with you – someone always gets hurt, cut or bruised, no matter how careful you are.  Also if you are not at someone’s home bring trash bags, ziplock bags, foil, plastic wrap, plates, cups, silverware, napkins, hand wipes, couple of towels (you never know), scissors, sharp knives, and extra plastic serving dishes. Name tags for all!  Have name tags available for everyone to wear. Encourage the parents to put their student’s name on their name tag as well.

AND don’t forget to invite the teacher and his/her family and if there are any classroom aides.  What a great way to know who is spending 30 hours a week with your child.

Take lots of pictures and become the buzz at the school.  Be the school trend setter!!  Get your party publicized in the school newspaper.  While it is a “private” party and not a school sanctioned event (which removes the liability from the school) it still is a great way to encourage other classes to do the same! Especially when the buzz gets out about what a great time everyone had.  And you know you will be expected to repeat this event again next year!  Just sayin’!!!

Welcome to the new school year!  Happy Planning! What’s your next party?

“Develop a passion for learning.  If you do, you will never cease to grow.” – Anthony J. D’Angelo 

I got this recipe from my son-in-law when I was visiting them in Texas.  It is super simple and if your family doesn’t eat bacon, or even if they do you can get creative with the ingredients (other meats, veggies, etc).  I bet your kids will gobble this quiche up! I buy a large block of Swiss cheese, then grate it all in a food processor and freeze 4 oz portions for future quiches.

Crust-less Quiche (Courtesy of All Recipes)

Ingredients
8 slices bacon (I only use 3-4, and you know how much my family loves bacon)
4 oz shredded Swiss cheese
2 TBL butter melted
4 eggs, beaten
1/4 c onion, finely chopped
1 tsp salt
1/2 c flour
1 1/2 c milk

Preheat oven to 350.  Cook the bacon – I cook it on the stove, my daughter cooks hers in the oven.  Crumble or chop bacon and set aside.

Lightly grease a 9″ pie pan.  Spread the cheese and bacon on the bottom of pie pan.

Wisk together flour, salt and milk.  Add butter and onion.  Wisk to combine. Add eggs and wisk until smooth.  Pour over cheese and bacon.

Bake for 35 minutes or until set.  Can be served hot or cold.  Enjoy!