Halloween Safety Tips

Wear comfortable shoes!!

Carry a flashlight or wear reflective tape on your costume.

Wear something with a reflector on it – Help others see you.

Never go into a stranger’s house, even if they ask you to come in while they go and get some candy.

Throw away all homemade or unwrapped treats. Be safe… not sorry!

When walking down the street, have the adult walk closest to the road.

Do not pet strange animals while trick or treating.

Do not eat candy as you go.

Always be nice, even when people do not have any candy to give out.

Do not knock on doors where the lights are off.


Have a plan before you start. If you are walking in an unfamiliar neighborhood, it is easy to get lost.

For older kids who want to go out alone, send them on a predetermined path, send a cell phone if possible, and set a time for them to come home.


When you get home, check all candy before eating any of it.


Have a safe and fun Halloween-and take lots of pictures!

I am a big proponent of seeking help for myself, my family or my business.  If I read an article, attend an event, or listen to a webinar and gain some bit of knowedge, then I deem it successful.

The following webinar is one I feel could benefit parents or teachers.

Help for Struggling Middle School Readers

It is on Thursday, November 8th.  All the information regarding it is included. 

I believe in following your parental intuition.  If your child has a strong adversity to reading, it could be more than just a dislike.  This webinar may give you some helpful hints for what to look for in your child, and where or what to do next if your suspicions are confirmed.

Good luck!

The Write Stuff predominantly uses Scotties Tissue in our school supply packs.  Why?  There are a few good reasons:

1.  The tissue is soft, durable, and competitively priced. 

2.  The company itself is eco-friendly.  They plant three trees for each one they use.  In the past 50 years, they have planted over 800 million trees.  They are the only major US facial tissue provider who is linked with the Renewable Forest Project. (source)

 We are excited to annouce on their behalf the Scotties Trees Rock! Contest!!

They have create a contest asking schools (grades 3,4,5) to put a video together of 3 minutes or less.  All the contest rules and resources can be found here.  The contest invloves having students share the information in their Trees Rock!  education packet and complete the following statement in  their own unique way.  "Trees are so important to me, my school and my community because...."

The winning school will receive $10,000 to beautify their outdoors for play and learning.  The winning family will receive a trip to the Grand Canyon or Yellowstone National Park + $5,000 in spending money!  Click on the link above and get started today!  Contest deadline is November 30, 2012.

The Write Stuff pledges to help any and all schools who we service that choose to participate in the contest.   Please let us know, and good luck!

There are days that I feel as if my life is "Ground Hog's Day (the movie)" in that I am inevitably trying to figure out what to feed the family.  With four children, in a plethora of activities, I'm never quite sure what we are all supposed to eat when there are multiple shifts through the kitchen, and my husband or I are not always there to play short order cook!

Enters.... MakingTimeforMommy! This blog offer practical advice, and a weekly menu plan! The meals don't always meet our needs, but I can tell you I appreciate someone else doing the thinking!  Check it out!

Links are there for recipes... or just some good ol' stand-bys are suggested.  The thinking part can be the hardest! Thank you MTM!!

Our intention for this blog is to provide valuable information for parents, teachers, and schools.  This being said, The Write Stuff would like to share a program that one of our vendors - Dixon Ticonderoga (yes, the pencil people) has that applies to schools.  It is called Prang Power!  Prang is a line of high quality art products - sold at great prices - that we included in thousands of school supply kits this year. 

Prang Power is a program very similar to Box Tops for Education.  A collection of UPC labels is done, mailed in to the company, and redemption points are issued.  The good news is many of our schools, have glue sticks, colored pencils, crayons, and markers all sitting out there in students' desks with UPCs waiting to be redeemed!  We will be letting our schools know individually if their school supply kits had these products in them so they can take advantage of this opportunity.

The points can be used to earn more art products, pencils, highlighters and more. 

It is easy to enroll.  Click this link to enroll your school.  After a day or so, you are approved, and they send you instructions to get started.  This form is submitted with your UPC labels, and then the points are put in your "bank."  Once you have accumulated enough points to redeem product, you choose what your school needs and they ship it to you. It is that easy!  

Pinterest is a content sharing  service that allows members to "pin" pictures and videos to boards.  The Write Stuff has a Pinterest account where we have shared items of our own, or repinned from other crafty members out there.  There are over 10 million Pinterest users, 80% of them women.  50% of all users have children. 

We have several different "Boards" on Pinterest - most applying to Parent Organizations and teachers.  Here they are listed for you.

For the classroom - This board is mostly decorations, inspiration, and organization driven.

Lesson Plans - a board for sharing creative ideas to teach common lessons in math, reading, writing, etc.

Craft and Snacks - There are some really creative people out there!  There are holiday crafts and snacks here that are too cute!

Teacher Gifts - This section id self explanatory, however it is a great resource for a PTA/PTO for Teacher Appreciation Week in May.

Parent Organization ideas- a couple of ideas to get the volunteers knocking down your door!

Trade Shows -Well, we have to show off a little about what we do!

Products We love - With 10 million pinners, there are certain things we women at TWS can't pass up repinning and liking.  This is our place to just "share" .

Tell us what you think or recommend.  Happy Pinning!

Each year in our prepackaged school supply kits, we pack all varieties of flash cards. There are several styles, but  the most common is the 0-12, in all four operations - addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.  Obviously, if a school requests them we fulfill the order.  However, as a parent of four children, I think I have repurchased flash cards each year! 

So, in an effort to help our schools and families, we provide the following resources if they prefer to have students make their own.  A teacher can request a pack of 3x5 index cards be included in a supply kit (1 pack for each operation), and in about an hour, a child will have made their own, at a fraction of the cost.

This web site makes them in all operations and you can simply print them out.  They can be glued to an index card for sturdiness if you wish. Or, a teacher can project these on a class screen, and children can make them together. 

http://www.aplusmath.com/flashcards/Flashcard_Creator.html

Good luck!

A great article appeared in a local newspaper about how parents can help their children be happier students.   Enjoy!

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20120904/entlife/709049983/

Today was the day!  The kids are back to school, and they (and I) were excited!

Summer here in the midwest has come and gone, and the kids were ready to go back.  I think the local schools here do such a great job of welcoming back students.  We were able to visit school yesterday, drop off supplies, and have "popsicles on the playground."  I've heard others do "lemonade on the lawn" as a welcome back too.  These activities are usually led by the parent organizations, and seem to ease everyone's "first day jitters" (parents included!)

Does your school host an event to start the year off right?  Please share!

We are so excited—and not just our usual excitement over the back-to-school season.  We are excited because we have partnered with ABC’s Good Morning America to offer an amazing deal on some of our most popular back-to-school items.  We are thrilled to be part of GMA’s ‘Back to School Daily Deals’, which are exclusive discounts for GMA viewers—and now, it is an exclusive offer for our readers as well!

Click here to order a Primary Kit (grades K-2), Secondary Kit (grades 3-5) or our Middle School Kit (grades 6-8) for 50% off our regular pricing.  YES—50%!  This allows you to get all the major supplies you need without having to break the back-to-school bank.

Do not hesitate to take advantage of this offer—it is only good through Friday August 17th.