Start School Like a Champion!
I think that’s probably a life goal for me, and maybe even a 2016 one, with a little help from Sam’s Club. Kindergarten and first grade were easy for Scarlet, but they were hard for me. While she was thriving, amid the nap time and playtime of kindergarten, and then the reading and writing of first grade, I’ve been trying to piece everything all together since then! I’m still working on how I feel about the changing of seasons, grades, and years, and how I can get more organized so that I stop feeling quite so overwhelmed when Labor Day weekend ends, and school begins. It’s always a bit of a whirlwind for me.
Of course when I first started seeing “back to school shopping” signs in stores, and “back to school supplies” checklists on Pinterest, I balked. Who wants to think about back to school when it’s sunny in July and I’m at Cape Cod wearing a bathing suit? I certainly don’t, and I’m back to school phobic as it is. I prefer to deny and avoid. Or at least I used to feel that way. And I used to cry while listening to Don Henley’s “Boys of Summer.” Although I’m fairly convinced that will always happen.
Something changed for me this summer, though. I started doing my back to school shopping at Sam’s club, for some good one-stop shopping. You see, Scarlet made some incredible leaps with reading in kindergarten, and that skyrocketed in first grade, as expected. She’s attended the Summer Reading Olympics at her school twice, and we plan on attending the third time too. I learned to read at a young age and it’s one of the greatest loves in my life. I was surprised when Scarlet didn’t start as early as I had, but then she surprised me and worked so hard in kindergarten and first grade that she sailed through reading levels.
*Five Ways To Get Your Kids Excited About Reading:
1. Make a special reading nook, room, or hideaway in your house. For us, we got the kids giant bean bag chairs and special lights. Des can’t read yet, but he enjoys looking at pictures and having us all read books to him. Often.
2. Attend the library or other summer reading clubs. This is a great way to get kids together before school starts again.
3. Draw pictures together of the books you’ve read, and the images they create in your minds.
4. Have your own parent/child “book club.” My mom and I used to do so over lunch at a burger restaurant. You can also attend author readings together, or go to meet/interview local authors. We have a lot of those!
5. Take book-related field trips. We have a very cool one because we live near Mt. Greylock which is the site of an imaginary wizarding school in J.K. Rowling’s writing. My kids think that’s VERY cool. And of course, I do too.
(Not Mt. Greylock, but still showing the places we go because of books we read!)
*Big Bonus Round! Start school like a champion at Sam’s Club! I went last week for back to school items, and even found a FREE Rice Krispy Treats sample from a machine. Have you ever seen such a thing? It wound up being quite a fun shopping trip:
Sadly, in some ways, but also happily, it’s nearly time to turn the page on summer and dive head first back into school. Sam’s Club has an incredible book initiative through participating Kellogg’s and J.M. Smucker Company products. As we’re already getting all the lunch and school supplies we need at Sam’s Club, you can receive TWO free books when participating in the Scholastic “Start School Like a Champion” offer. Everybody is a winner here. You can receive a free book for your family, and a free book for a local classroom, just by shopping at Sam’s Club for the products you already know and love.
This is such a valuable offer because each Sam’s Club is partnered with a local school, and makes a donation to that school. So while you’re doing back to school shopping, you’re also getting free books for yourself and for local schools.
So, how does it work?
Start school like a champion! Get two free Scholastic books– one for yourself and one to donate to a local school – when you buy any participating Kellogg’s® or J.M. Smucker product at Sam’s Club®. Products must be purchased now thru 9/30/16, while supplies last! Over 80 full-length Scholastic titles to choose from for beginning readers to teens!
Redeem your free books in three easy steps! 1. Buy any participating Kellogg’s or The J.M. Smucker Company product by 9/30/2016. We LOVE Kellogg’s Nutri-grain bars. 2. Then upload your receipt at FreeBookOffer.com/Sams within 30 days of purchase. 3. Lasly, redeem for your free Scholastic book and one book will be donated to a local classroom as well!
This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group®, Kellogg’s and The J.M. Smucker Company but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #SamsClubBTS http://my-disclosur.es/OBstV
You pretty much loaded your cart full of all of my favorites! Um, I mean my kiddos favorites… I saw that Kiosk the last time I was there. Isn’t that the coolest?? The things they think up these days. Number 5 on your list is another reason why my family needs to take a road trip your way sometime!
haha, right. My favorites too. I mean, my kids’ favorites!
I want the kiosk in my house for certain. I’m looking into it!
And you should absolutely come this way!
I am so lucky as both my girls love to read and just last night we were heading for frozen yogurt and Emma asked if we could go into Barnes and Noble, which is in the same shopping center here to get the newest Descendants book. How could I say no to that, as I am seriously just over the moon that she is excited for reading. So yogurt, new books and reading before bed last night was the way to go here 🙂
Ah, and the smell of new books. Scarlet finally loves it and I’m like, “Welcome to this never-ending bliss!” Ah, it’s so awesome. I wonder if she’ll want to read all my old Sweet Valley books!!
The tips on reading are helpful, Tamara. I love the idea of taking a book-related field trip. Such a great way to experience a book in a different way.
My mom used to do that with me, so I thought it would be a good idea to start with my kids!
I’m so happy my babes are all about reading! It’s the best, isn’t it? Although, I wish they’d love a little more Mommy and Me reading, but they’re all starting to get more…. sigh.. independent.
Soooo… how do I get a Free Rice Krispy Treat Sample Machine in my house!?!?! I need one!
XO
I totally want one in my house! I wonder how long it would take until it was empty, though. A day??
Lady friend we are blog twins again today 🙂 I love your tips- funny thing my post is about starting a kids book club- great minds think alike!
I truly love twinning with my blog friends. It’s heartening to know someone else saw the same potential in both of us for something!
Kid book clubs are genius!
It’s getting to that time again already! Summer goes way too fast, at least for us moms who’s children are grown adults…I do recall the summer being a little long when they were small LOL.
ha! And I remember it being super long when I was small. It seems like it gets shorter and shorter!
I love the idea of book field trips. How cool is that? Hope you had fun on the cap. Btw, my kids has been in school for two weeks! And Halloween decorations are out in the stores…and it’s still 90 degrees.
“Cape”
So strange! We go back in 2-3 weeks. But before then I’ll have already gone to Alaska and back!
I did not enjoy reading when I was little, but I fell in love with it when I made friends with a group of readers. Now, reading is an addiction 🙂
Well there you go! I guess it strikes at all times.
I love your ideas to get the kids to read. Our library has a great program that has motivated my son to read. Or, better yet, in the summer, I just tell him he can stay up late to read. It’s actually worked because he will read a full chapter book and be so proud. Thanks for the other ideas.
Our school has had a summer program and it’s so priceless! I love it!
That’s awesome about your son. I remember sneaking books under the covers with flashlights and my parents caught me and sad, “We’re not mad! We’re ecstatic!”
Nutrigrain bars bring me back to when I was in grade school. Those apple cinnamon ones specifically. Mmmm I loved those things so so so much ! And I would eat them and think “these are healthier” so my mom can’t get mad at me – Uhhhh right?! Nice logic! hahahahaa! Ohhhhhhhhhh to be you and naive, am I right?! 😉 You know what I cannot wait for? I can’t wait to see Scarlet get older – and see what she gets herself into!!! HA! I feel like I know her and you – I think it’s because your photography is just. Is just… UGH! SOO great! 🙂
For me it was the strawberry ones. Every single day of high school!
Your logic is ironclad. I would never get mad at you.
Also, thanks about the photography. MADE MY LIFE!
Oh, I want to have mommy-daughter bookclubs with Eve when she’s older! Eve has a deep love for books, like me. She could read book after book before nap and bed, and now I sometimes catch her looking through books on her own. It makes me so happy!
I’m only now ready for the “back-to-school season”, even though it doesn’t actually change anything in our routine for us. Well, just a little, but there’s certainly no shopping involved! It’s hard to think about it in July, though!
It is! We were in Sturbridge today and I thought about going there to meet you two for a fall excursion! That makes me feel more back to school like!
We definitely need to make a special nook in our house! Simply sitting at the edge of the bed is not enough! I love NurtriGrain, I’ve loved them since I was a kid and honestly any snack that is mommy’s gets eaten by the kids by default!
I used to eat them for high school breakfast so they taste like nostalgia to me. I dig it.
I might be counting the minutes until they go back to school!
haha! Well we were away for awhile. Now there’s.. 11 days until school?? I don’t even know but I want to know now..
ha, I checked. 11 days!
That’s a great offer. My kids both love books. Right now they are both loving Fancy Nancy books.
Those are so good! I sometimes steal them to read for myself.
I love the idea of taking field trips about the books you read! Totally stealing that one. I like to borrow books that my preschoolers make art of in school. So if they make an octopus, I’ll borrow a few books about them 🙂
So cool! I really love that – thank you!
We love Scholastic and Nutragrain bars! It is hard to believe that school is almost here again!
I know! Ten more days.. maybe even nine. Yikes!
I was SO ready to get my kids off to school! This summer kicked my A$$ and I am honestly celebrating the next season- not that I don’t want the summer sun and the pool to stay open- because THAT is my joy. But the kids in school is a MUCH needed break- as I was nearing a BREAK. LOL
I love Nutrigrain bars for my kids. Have boxes stored in the basement right NOW. 🙂
(btw- I just read back from your most recent post and caught up on everything. LOVED every single one, (Especially well hey hey… I get all swoony with that one too! LOL) and I cannot WAIT to hear about your trip!!!! AAAAHHHHHH ALASKA!!!!)
I have mine stored in the hallway closet! I used to spread peanut butter on them for the kids. Like PB&J.
Thank you for reading my posts! I’ll do a whole series on the trip! A part II to “How I Met Your Father.” It will be “How I Honeymooned Your Father.” Hey, I’m clever!
T loves to read, too and I’m starting to see it with L, too. Bedtime reading has always been a favorite time at our house. Though it’s not always easy trying figure out what to read to both a 7-year-old and a 4-year-old. I wish my girls would eat more Nutrigrain bars, but I know I love them!
I really hear you on the book thing. Generally Scarlet picks something out and then reads TO Des, but I’m not often sure it’s his first choice book!
I love your tips! We have recently started attending our local library’s story time and my toddler loves it. She has shown more of an interest in her books at home and I hope to encourage her to turn to books instead of TV.
I love the story time! It’s so great for toddler sand I will miss going when my youngest is in kindergarten.
I wouldn’t mind back to school shopping if it involved buying the NutriGrain bars. However, the majority of our back to school shopping dealt with binders and pencils. I miss those days when it was just crayons and construction paper.
We haven’t even started with school supplies yet! I know I will be unprepared when it finally starts. I remember my parents taking all five of us back to school shopping. Yikes.
I always struggled with getting my kids to read when they were younger, but I love your tips! Maybe I should have bribed them to read with a NutriGrain bar. 😉
ha! It would work with my son. He would eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
My son is all about fixing his own breakfast. He likes things like eggs but will grab a breakfast bar for after school.
I love pairing my eggs with a bar! I can’t wait until my kids fix their own breakfast. Ahhhh…
I can remember eating NutriGrain bars when I was a child. Now my son loves to cut up the apple cinnamon ones and put on ice cream!
What a delicious idea!! Thank you for that. Delicious.
My daughter puts peanut butter on the strawberry ones for a “PB&J” experience.
Love the idea of setting up a special nook. What a great way to encourage reading and at home learning!
It is what I always dreamed of as a kid. A reading nook!! The best!
My kids love the Nutri Grain bars. I keep them in our pantry for those hectic mornings for on the go breakfasts!
Same! I love buying them in bulk because they last long. And it’s nice that my kids have different favorite flavors.