This year, I’m trying to get in on the whole “back to school” excitement just a little bit. Maybe have a special “Not Back to School” day with games planned, a field trip or a get together with friends. A special breakfast would be nice; chocolate chip waffles with whip cream would certainly be a hit around here.

It’s also a special beginning for us this year – little sister will be joining us do do real, actual work at the table for her kindergarten year. She’s all set to go with her very own math book and penmanship workbook. And she’s picked out her very own pink, sparkly binder.

There is also some excitement in our house related to all of our outside activities beginning again soon and the addition of some new ones – we will be meeting twice a month with friends for gym time, art, and music; taking a weekly gymnastic class, monthly field trips and Kids Club at our church. We are also hoping to add a French class in there as well but it hasn’t been confirmed yet.

In a few short weeks I know that my Facebook newsfeed is going to be filled with all the cute pictures of my friends’ and family’s little ones going back to school. We’ve never gone “back to school” and in fact homeschool year round, but I thought it would be nice to have the cute pictures anyway as a momento and a record of their growth and development.

I love the chalkboard look, but I haven’t yet mastered the art of beautiful lettering so I cheated and made some chalkboard style printables instead. And because it only took a few extra minutes to make a full set for all grades, I made some for you too! Right click on the images you would like, save them to your computer and upload them to your favourite photofinishing site to have them printed! They make perfect 8x10s to frame or use as is – just add your adorable, smiling, excited children and *click!* you’ve got a great back to school shot! (You may notice that there are two different Third Grade prints, I did the cursive one especially for big sister who is particularly excited to be learning cursive this year!)

If you would like to share these with your homeschooling (or public schooling!) friends, please do! I only ask that you share by linking to my site and not by sharing the files directly.

Have you got anything special planed to celebrate ” Not Back to School”? Let me know in the comments below!

Be sure to stop by The Canadian Homeschooler, and check out how the other members of the Canadian Homeschool Blogging Team are kicking of the new school year!

This post is also linked up at Trivium Tuesdays and Hip Homeschool Hop.