Scrapbooking and Organizing Kindergarten

On the scrapbooking side, you want things that you can only get on the first day. A picture of their faces when they first see the school bus, maybe the bus pulling away with their faces out the window (if they happen to be looking), or if it's possible, a picture of them with their teacher or teachers.
You also will want memento kinds of things, items from their first day that they bring home from school. If they don't bring anything home, maybe you can ask them to draw a picture of their classroom or their teacher.
You might think of some questions to ask them about their first day. What was your favorite thing to do in the classroom? What did you do first at recess? What did you have for lunch? (if they ate school lunch)
There are more things you can do. I saw a scrapbook layout once that show two pictures, side by side. The first one was the first day of school, taken from the back, but the boy was turning to wave good-bye. So you saw his face, backpack, outfit, shoes.
The second picture was the last day of school. He tried to pose exactly the same as the first day, had the same outfit, shoes and backpack. You could see so many differences in the two pictures! It was a great idea.
I hope this information helps you!

We started kindergarten last week too, I got this tip from a friend of mine. She has a three ring binder she keeps in her kitchen, every member of the family gets a page protector. For example, mom, dad, oldest child, second, etc.. Information important to that child goes in their file/folder and she reviews it as needed. She also added a change purse for coupons, menus, etc. I use it for the box top things..

Hope that helps.
M.

Hi there,

I homeschool my kindergarterner and first grader. I have a three ring binder that I keep for each. I bought one of those packages of dividers in office supplies. It goes from A-Z. It comes with an index to fill out. This is how I filled mine out...

A..........Phonics and Reading
B..........Arithmetic
C..........Bible
D..........Social Studies

And when you flip to A, you'll find phonics and reading papers and tests and if you flip to B you'll find all math stuff that comes home. In the front of the binder, you could slide your calendar in or just post it up on the fridge so it's there all the time.

Anyway, as they finish their papers, I three hole punch them and put them right in so I don't get a humungous pile on my desk to sort through. (Don't forget the date). At the end of the year, their art projects and their three ring will go into a box labeled Zoe's Kindergarten Stuff (2007-2008).

I hope this helps and it didn't sound too complicated. Trust me, it will be nice when she's 20, and you can just pull out the binder and see everything nice and neat.

Hi M.,
I've been keeping my kiddos papers from school since kindergarten. What I have done is, first we have a wall file, the acrylic kind you see holding magazines in doctors offices, and when they bring papers home I put them in the wall file. Then at the end of each month I sort thru the papers and keep some of them and recycle the rest (I 3-hole punch them then). I don't just keep the good papers either, I sometimes keep the bad ones too. You won't be able to keep everything because if your girls' school is anything like mine they come home with just about everything. I keep the papers I'm keeping in a box until the end of the year. Then I sort thru that stack and organize them by subject and discard any that I feel I don't need now. And then I put them in a 4" 3-ring binder and label the binder with the year and grade they are in. My oldest is now in Middle School so I don't know what will come home, but we still have the acrylic file on the wall and will use it for whatever she does bring home. I hope this helps some.
As for pictures, if they haven't left yet, take them getting on and off the bus and if you are bringing them to school take a picture of them in front of the school or the school sign. Pictures with their backpacks and lunch boxes. Take a pix of them walking into the school. Don't worry you won't be the only one. I did that with my girls when they started school and when we moved and started a new school. I even let them take a camera and take pictures of their first day. Those were interesting. Good luck and God Bless.

Hello there about the scrapbook well Creative memories have a great school bundle. It has everything you need to scrapbook there first year. and also dont forget to get there teacher and when they get to school if you take them. If not take there photo when they get on the bus and when they get off at the end of the day. hope this helps you out

T. Gillespie
www.mycmsite.com/tracyg
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Since there is so many projects they come home with from school, you might consider taking a picture of them holding some of those paintings or drawings. The paper will tear and yellow in the years to come and the art work might not make it along the way. YOu could photograph the girls holding some of the projects, save on storage room and give you some scrapbooking material!

On the orginzation front I'm probably the wrong person to comment. However, I will tell you from experience that if you have a calander on the fridge, make sure those dates carry over to any dayplanner you might have for work as well. It's really easy to doublebook!

I saw a couple of things recently that I thought were cute about first day of school and scrapbooking - one was a picture of a child holding a paper plate with the date on it - and the mom said something about ignoring the plate - it was a family tradition. It would be fun - given that they're just starting kindergarten - to come up with a little traditional picture, and one with them holding something with the date on it that you could do every year could be cute.

Another one I saw -- which isn't just about the first day of school, but relates -- is that the mom takes a picture of her kids the first and last day of every school year, then does them side by side to show how much they change. I thought that would have been a really fun thing to do.

You might also try www.twopeasinabucket.com and do a search for first day school in the gallery. I bet they would have some cute ideas -

Okay - just read you're post again - thought you said "next week"!!!

Hi M. - I also love to scrapbook. My daughter is starting 2nd grade. I just finished her Kindergarten scrapbook. We are fortunate, at out school, they have a school box kit that you can buy. It includes all the supplies she needs for that grade, but it comes in a cool, sturdy box with a handle. It is great for all her school work. But I keep almost everything, so the box isnt quite big enough. I dont work, but my husband brings home the copy boxes from work and they work really well too.
As far as pics for the 1st day,I took pics of her in her new outfit, outside of the house and at the school. I took some with her teacher and sitting at her desk. Also, every year, my husband goes in late that day and we take her to school. I have a pic every year so far, from behind. Daddy holding her hand as they walk down the sidewalk. I didnt mean for it to me an annual pic, but after the first year I really liked it so I have done it the last two years. Also, how did they act that day? Were they excited, anxious, nervous or shy.
Definitely keep a calendar handy, it seems like there is always something going on, especially in kindergarten. Good Luck - R.