Back to School for... Me!

Today, I returned to a my very dusty, furniture moved to all the wrong places, boxes everywhere, but NEWLY WAXED & SHINY FLOORED CLASSROOM!

The custodians in my school are really great. They do a great job of re-doing the floors every summer. Ms. Phantastic (my co-teacher) met me in the classroom and together we unpacked boxes, moved furniture back into all the right places, arranged the desks, ANDDDD got to some classroom decor!

Personally for me, the decoration part is what gets me most excited about back to school. I'm sure 98% of teachers would agree with me. We keep teacher stores in business! Especially during back to school time.

Confessions of Ms. Kimpop #1
I think about how I want to decorate my classroom all summer long, no scratch that.. all the time!!

The first couple of years of my teaching career, I definitely kept a consistent theme all year round but man, it gets tiring & costly to have bumble bees EVERYWHERE and you always are left with like 5 bumble bees from one year... 6 apples from another year so eventually you get to a school year when you gotta MIX all the decor together to make one nice... jungle/orchard/zoo. Haha.

This year is DEFINITELY the jungle/orchard/zoo year. We're putting up monkeys on our doors, name tags on the desks have book worms on em, and I used bumble bee trimming around our classroom bulletin boards.

Here are some pictures of our classroom that is about 85% done!

Looking forward to a brand new school year,

Ms. Kimpop

A Must Read!

My dear friend whom I look up to and love very much shared this article with me and the moment I read it, I thought man, this bloggers knows my heart.

It's a must read for parents & teachers and pretty much sums up the kinds of thoughts I have and are working through as the 2013-2014 school year approaches...

What I want the Parents of My Students to Know

Enjoy!

Ms. Kimpop

Summer Tip #3 Readjusting Sleeping Schedules

In about two weeks, New York City schools will re-open for students to jump start the 2013-2014 school year! I hope that back to school shopping is wrapping up for you and your children are excited to go back to school! I am getting ready myself.... have to shop for some new outfits... going into the classroom to set up next week etc... Summer is definitely winding down... trying to soak up what is left of it~ :)

One VERY important tip for you is helping your child readjust to a normal sleeping schedule starting as early as you read this post! 

Many parents tell me that during the summer, they let their children sleep past their bed time and most kids will go back to their normal sleeping schedules once school starts but if you want to ensure the easiest transition possible, you should start the readjustment a week or two before school! 

Some Tips on Readjusting Sleeping Schedules

1. Do something active with your child during the day... for the next two weeks, tire your kids out during the day so once night time comes, they are ready to K.O.

2. Gradually change their sleeping time. If your child's normally sleeps at 9pm and during the summer, he or she has been sleeping at 11pm, work your way back 30 minutes at a time. So tonight, put them to bed at 10:30 instead of 11. The next day 10 instead of 10:30... until you get back to 9pm.

3. Avoid giving your child anything sugary past 6pm.

4. Give your child a bath if they're young enough. If they're older, ask them to take a nice refreshing shower before bed... it usually puts them right to sleep! 

5. If all of the above fails, allow them to have a glass of milk at the dinner table... I know this is an old trick in the book but this even works for me! 

I hope these tips help you help your child go back to a normal sleeping pattern. 

As a teacher, I reaffirm just how important it is for a growing child to get at least 8 hours of sleep per night. I've had tired students fall asleep on me in class because they stayed up all night playing video games or simply refused to sleep on time! 

Here's to happy and focused students who sleep on time! 

Summer Tip #2 from Ms. Kimpop

Hello everyone!
I know it's been a while since I've posted... my apologies for I was away for a week with my church in Dominican Republic and Haiti.
If anyone is interested in reading my testimony here you go!
It was an awesome trip and I sure feel very blessed as the summer slowly starts to wrap up.

I know there is about a month or less before school starts again and I've been seeing back to school items at staples and target.

My tip for you today is to do back to school shopping EARLY.. AKA NOW!
I've seen parents shop for school supplies way back in July.
I actually ran into one of my parents from school at target and I couldn't help but think that she was SO smart for beating the lines and getting everything in order early on. I predict that 3rd and 4th week of August, these super stores will be PACKED with families trying to locate crayons, markers, scissors, etc. I think you should save yourself the headache and the trouble (sometimes supplies run out or low!) so... go now!! Staples has great weekly sales so you might want to check out their circular.

Even now is kind of pushing it cause some schools start earlier than others.

Another tip is to hit up stores like target on a week night. I absolutely LOVE going to target on a week night (plus they stay open till about 11pm at night but you should double check with your local target). There is practically no one there and it feels like you're free to roam and browse and take your sweet time. Never go to target on a weekend.... it's chaos!