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I discovered a  school days drawing, offering some neat school (or office) supplies at Little Fun, Little Learning with Karen’s Avery School & Office Supply Giveaway.

Karen also has a great blog for parents of young children, where she researches topics of interest and gives you information about them.

This giveaway of Avery school and office supplies runs through October 11. (Don’t leave your comments here for the drawing, but go over to the Little Fun, Little Learning blog for details about entry.)

Post from: Blisstree

Get in the Swing with Giveaways

According to Conservatree, you can estimate that…

• 1 ton of uncoated virgin (non-recycled) printing and office paper uses 24 trees
• 1 ton of 100% virgin (non-recycled) newsprint uses 12 trees
• A “pallet” of copier paper (20-lb. sheet weight, or 20#) contains 40 cartons and weighs 1 ton. Therefore,
• 1 carton (10 reams) of 100% virgin copier paper uses .6 trees
• 1 tree makes 16.67 reams of copy paper or 8,333.3 sheets
• 1 ream (500 sheets) uses 6% of a tree (and those add up quickly!)

Most schools most definitely use more than 8,333 sheets of paper a year. The Census Bureau estimated that there were 36.8 million children of elementary school age in 2003. That, of course was years ago. Even if you estimate that each of these kids use just ten sheets of paper each a year (way under what kids really use, not to mention the teachers and staff), that’s 360,000,000 sheets (720,000 reams) and a whole heaping amount of trees. So cutting back is essential if we want thriving forests.

What your school should be doing:

• Using recycled paper products.
• Using message boards and blackboards for basic staff and kids messages vs. paper memos.
• Using both sides of the paper for assignments, quizzes, homework, and more.
• Using email options for parents vs. paper newsletters.
• Using air hand dryers in the bathroom vs. paper towels.
• Using recycled toilet paper in the bathrooms.
• Using recycled paper napkins and paper towels in the lunchroom.
• Using computers for work or erasable and rewritable boards vs. paper all the time.
• Paper recycling bins should be placed in each classroom, the school office, the library, and in common areas. Plus kids and staff need to know how to use them.

If your school is not on board with reducing paper waste:

Talk to staff at your child’s school and talk to other parents with kids who attend. Let them know about the implications of cutting down too many trees vs. the pros of keeping those trees around. Talk about the cost savings to the school when waste is reduced. Send your own child to school with eco-friendly school supplies including recycled paper products.

[image via stock.xchng]

Post from: Blisstree

Reduce paper waste in the schools

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Items such as: anything electronic (computers, laptops, printers, calculators, etc), school supplies (you know everything on that teacher’s list), lunch boxes, bikes, locks and of course….clothes.

Now for some this isn’t much of a break so they hit the stores in previous weeks and others are waiting for those last minute deals when things are going to be on sale for next to nothing. I must admit when we drove by Old Navy and saw that they had shirts that were 3 for $10 we had to stop and look. It was CRAZY! I won’t be going anywhere on a tax free weekend, ever again. If you are going out, try to have a bit of patience.

Did you shop around this weekend? If not there is still one more day to get in on these deals.

Post from: Blisstree

Don’t forget: Tax Free Weekend

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everyone to be dressed the same for gym class. The only problem I have with this is they are charging an arm and a leg for the gym clothes. If they are simple shirts why can’t we dress buy them cheaper at the store? My guess is they have some logo on them just so they can charge the extra amount. UGH.

The only things we did not buy were:

- an erasable pen: this was off BalletGirl’s list and she’s only in the 4th grade. Do they even use pens in that grade? SoccerBoy never needed one last year.

- red checking pen: I grabbed a lot of red ink pens, which I hope is what she actually meant. But she only wanted one so really I’m not sure. I hated buying all those red pens but the only other option was to purchase 2 red pens for $2.50 or buy 10 for $1. Hmmm, you tell me? 

-  athletic supporter: a cup. Hubby doesn’t understand why they need one but I think it is to protect all those young boys that’ll be doing football and baseball this year in gym class. Right?

Is there anything on your list that you haven’t got yet or don’t understand why it is even there? Lets talk about it, I know I can’t be the only one.

Post from: Blisstree

School Shopping is DONE!

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yes you will get those lists in the mail, posted at the stores, new letters from the teachers that come home with your child that first but the real question is what do they need before school starts?

Here’s a list of the top 5 must have items:

-  backpack-  Your child will bring home tons of papers that first week of school so help them out and make sure they have one. Currently you can get many on sale for as low as $5 or higher. The average backpack will run about $20-$50 and last slightly longer than the $5 ones.  My favorite brands are: Lands End, Jansport and the simple Walmart one.

-  lunchbox (if they will bring a lunch)- This can be the simple brown paper bags, dress them up a bit or let your child add their own touches. Or if you can spend a bit more there are lunchboxes from $5 on up and currently when you buy a backpack you can get the lunchbox for free.

-  pencils -  Every school I know demands at least 24 #2 pencils for their supply list, so grab up a box now or wait one more week for the prices to drop really low. Course having extra pencils at your house are always helpful, especially when your child doesn’t bring home that entire list of must haves that wasn’t meant for home.

-  paper- Depending on the grade of your child will determine if you need college rule or wide rule. I normally grab 2 packs of college just in case and about 15-20 of the wide rule.

-  clothes-  If you haven’t done school shopping now will be the time. Your child may have outgrown those school clothes from last year or during the summer and have nothing to wear. Have them go through their clothes now and see if they need anything. I like to make sure they have at least 2 pairs of jeans, a pair of nice school shoes and about 5 shirts. I know I’ll always buy more but this will get them through that first week of school.

What are your 5 must haves for school?

Post from: Blisstree

5 Must-Haves for School

So what do you really need to create a home study area at your house?

Start with a well-lit, solid surface with plenty of elbow room. In my house it is the kitchen table, but a desk would work well too. Just make sure there is enough room to spread out and write. Another reason I like the kitchen table for us is NO TV. The kitchen is pretty distraction-free.

In addition to the supplies you buy your kids for school, middle school expert, Joe Bruzzese recommends keeping the following supplies at home for all those homework project needs:

• 2 packs of loose-leaf paper (a.k.a. binder paper, usually found in packs of 100 or more)
• 1 Box of pencils (24 pencils)
• 1 Box of pens (12-24 pens)
• 2 packs of Post-it notes (2-inch square notes)
• 1 Stapler (Buy the desktop size. The mini-size version holds about five staples.)
• 1 Box of staples
• 1 Box of paper clips (Look for the large size.)
• 3-hole punch (Buy the heavy version and it will last for years to come.)
• 1 File crate (The traditional egg crate variety will do the job.)
• 1 Box of hanging files (The hanging files fit neatly into the egg crate.)
• 1 Desktop calendar (Check the date on the calendar. Look for a calendar that begins in the summer months and continues through the new year.)
• 1 Pack of index cards (3×5 or 4×6)
• 1 Pencil sharpener (handheld or electric)

I keep a large basket in the study area stocked with these types of items year round. Joe recommends printing out the list and keeping in the home study area. As you use certain items up, note them on the list so you can replenish them before that last minute project appears!

Post from: Blisstree

Creating a Home Study Area

1. Check ups and doctor’s notes. My son has his annual physical tomorrow and he will get all of his required shots for entrance into middle school. While I am there I need to get a copy of both of the girls’ shot records, too. I also need to get a doctor’s not for the cafeteria that says my daughter is lactose intolerant and can not be served milk at lunch.
2. Backpacks and lunch boxes. For the past two years my kids have been impatient and wanted to buy the first backpack and lunch box we have seen. Needless to say one changed her mind before the backpack was a month old and the other one was so hard on the backpack that it disintegrated by Christmas. As much as I had to admit this, I think I have to splurge on the quality this year.
3. School supplies. I have printed out each child’s back to school supplies list and keep it in my purse. I have been picking up a few items at a time and will get anything remaining on the list this coming weekend when our state has its tax free shopping weekend.
4. Shoes. Each child will need a new pair of tennis shoes for PE class this fall. I will most likely wait until the last week of summer to pick these up – just to account for the August growth spurts.
5. Clothes. School starts in late August and it will still be hot here. The kids can wear their favorite summer outfits for the first month of school and once they have checked out all the fall fashion trends and temperatures start to go down a bit, we will go through the closets and determine what we need.
6. Essential Binder. Each year I have a three ring binder that is split into 3 sections. In the front pocket I keep the master school year calendar from the school district. Then each child has a section. I keep important handouts, reminders, and info for each child in there so there is no scrambling to find important papers as the year goes on. I need to get the new one ready.

Do you have a master list or another strategy for staying organized at this time of the year? Share it with us!

Post from: Blisstree

My Back-to-school Checklist