As you know, just over a week ago, my son and I took a trip to Bowling Green Kentucky to spend a day in Kindergarten learning about germs, the importance of washing (AND DRYING) our hands and we got to see first hand just how easily germs spread. 

We met the rest of the group in Bowling Green for our fun!

• Cooper from The Motherhood.com
• Ellen from Love that Max
• Tara from Deal Seeking Mom
• Niri from Mommy Niri
• Jamie from Blonde Mom Blog

We had a great dinner and the kids not only had the chance to meet and play but also had a great opportunity to meet their teacher, Mrs. McCrary!  We late headed back to our room to get a great night’s sleep before heading to class the next day.  Upon waking, my son was READY to go.  The highlight of his morning was the thought of riding a school bus.  Seriously, it does not get better than that for this little kindergartner! 

As soon as we saw the buses outside, he could not contain his smiles.  Loading that bus gave him a sense of accomplishment – HE HAD MADE IT!  HE WAS A BIG BOY NOW!

Our day was spent checking out germs, doing great arts and crafts and learning why it’s so important to wash our hands, cover our mouths when we cough or sneeze and the kids were able to see how just by touching something, their germs had already spread.  Very cool!

I really wish I could have gotten the Wheels on the Bus music to work with this one! 

Mrs. McCrary gave so many great tips.  It’s no wonder she’s an award winning teacher.  She spoke with such softness to the children.  I almost wondered if my kid would be able to hear her as we an overall loud family!  LOL

Some of her tips included:

• Have your children collect their shoes, bags, jackets, etc and have a basket in one location for them to place everything so it’s ready to go the next day for school.  This is great for us because I can’t tell you how many times we were running wild around the house looking for things in the morning. 
• Let them pick out their clothes the night before and have them ready.  While we are in a private school setting with uniforms, having these our each night and ready to put on will certainly save time.
• Engage your child’s mind by having them cross their mid-section.  Watch the video.  At the end, you will see her doing this with the children.  So cool! 
• Having trouble getting the kids down for the night?  Try moving their bedtime up slowly starting now so it’s not such a huge change and adjustment the week school starts.  Assign a place for your child(ren) to pick out 3 books and have them waiting.  This will give them something to look forward to at the end of the night and will help them relax and get ready for bed. 
• Talk to your children about their day but not in an overall sense of “what did you do today”?  Instead, break it down for them.  Ask them “what did you make in art today?” or “Did your teacher read a book for you today?”.  This makes it easier for them to remember and discus their thoughts, feelings and the events of the day.

The night before we went to class, there was an incident where Ellen’s daughter was crying.  Mrs. McCrary jumped to work and asked to see her hurting finger.  She smiled and said, “do you know what the doctor would say?  He would say this needed 4 and 1/2 rubs”.  With that she rubbed it once.  Twice. Then three and four times having Ellen’s daughter count with her.  By this point, the little girl had stopped crying and was fixated on counting.  With yet another smile, Mrs. McCrary said…oh wait…we need that 1/2 and gave it a 1/2 rub.  All was well and everyone was back to having fun just that fast!  We learned that by taking their mind off of the problem and getting them to focus their attention onto something as simple as counting, you can calm even the greatest of tears.

Kleenex wants to help us all prepare for the start of school so make sure to stay tuned as I will be posting VERY SOON about how YOU can win a ONE MONTH supply of Kleenex!  Start thinking of your great back to school tips – they might win you a month supply of Kleenex!

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I was compensated for my travel and we were given “goodie” bags in conjunction with this awesome event.  Our lodging for the evening and meals were also provided to us at no cost.

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