Back-to-School Traditions
If this is your child's first year at school, consider establishing some first-day-of-school traditions. They don't have to be elaborate and they frequently become traditions after several years of doing. Here are some traditions that other families have used.		Related Articles Easing First-Day Fears Tips to Make Mornings Easier Back-to-School Traditions BeyondWork Easy Extras

• Take a picture of your child on the first day of school. Take the picture in the same spot every year. You'll be surprised at how much your kids change from year to year!
• Go out for dinner at the children's favorite restaurant on the first day of school to celebrate the beginning of a new school year.
• Plan a special breakfast. Pancakes in the shape of your child's new grade level might be a hit.
• Walk to the bus stop with your child during the first week of school. If all the mothers in the neighborhood do the same, it will be quite a sendoff! Start a walk-pool--a group of neighborhood kids who walk together to and from school.
• Start a school journal. Every day, have your child write one thing she learned that day (younger children can dictate to parents). These entries can be very simple: C comes after B or 1 + 1 = 2. At the end of the year, the whole family can see how much progress each child has made.
• Let children phone their grandparents to report on the first day of school.

Author Peggy Middendorf is editor of Atlanta Parent Magazine.