Bouquets of Newly Sharpened Pencils

"Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me wanna buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address."

It's almost here! Don't forget to notify the state of your intent to homeschool (New Mexico residents--the deadline is THIS WEEKEND!)--hopefully you're all set with the boring paperwork side of home school--now it's time for the fun part! Lesson plans! (Just kidding, I know I'm probably the only weirdo who loves lesson planning!)

Seriously though, do you have any fun back-to-school traditions? We've tried different things over the years. I generally try to plan one super-fun field trip to anchor our studies right at the beginning of the year. One year it was a roadtrip to a Billy-the-Kid bank robbery re-enactment (complete with our own nerf-battle re-enactment of the re-enactment afterward) down near Ruidoso. Another year, we got to go up to Brekenridge, Colorado and tour a gold mine and the kids got to pan for gold (they actually found some...sort of!). Last year we went on the Chama train and learned about wide-versus-narrow gauge trains. Either way, it starts of the year with a bang, brings history to life, and gave us a launching point for read-alouds, science projects, nature studies, hands on STEM experience, geography lessons, and more!

Of course, in 2020 that didn't happen, (or at least we stayed more local!) Another tradition, which can be enjoyed right from the comfort of your home, is a back-to-school questionnaire, which is fun to revisit every year to see how the kids change...or stay the same. You can find hundreds of different questions in these if you search on Pinterest, but I compiled my favorites and I thought I'd share it with you in this printable back-to-school questionnaire. Enjoy!

What are kind of things do you guys do to welcome in the new school year? 

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