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100 Days School Celebration

Parents, I gotta say it — What the Heck — 100 days of school celebration?

Don’t get me wrong, I love celebrating my child’s success on top of his birthday and holidays. Things like riding a bike with no training wheels to successfully landing off the balance beam in perfect formation to even beating me at any Hogwarts game. Maybe not the last one is a cause of celebration.

I don’t think I am that old but back in my day, we didn’t celebrate every moment in school growing up. To understand where we might have gotten this idea of 100 day celebration I did a little google search.

JAPAN

Kodomo no hi is celebrated every year on May 5th. Children on this day are honored for their individual strengths and happiness. This day is a national holiday. Pre 1948 it was called Tango no Sekku, the translation meant boys day. In 1948, they changed it to Kodomo no hi to celebrate both boys and girls.

Cloth carp streamers (Koinobori) are flown outside of buildings to bring luck and good fortune to the children inside. Carp/Koi fish are considered strong spirited fish in Japan. Symbolizium is an important part of the Japanese culture. There is an order to the carp from father to mother and down the line. To start your own Koinobori tradition one website to try is http://www.koinobori-japan.jp/

GERMANY

Germany’s Schultüte or candy cone is typically for the first day of 1st grade. 1st days of school can be hard. Parents and teachers try to make the transition easier with welcoming party with songs and poems.

The tradition dates back to the 1800’s. Legend has it there was a teacher who had a tree covered with Schultüte for every child. Once the tree matured, it was time for school to begin and each child received a cone. I have lots a questions about this tree — like did the teacher start a new tree each year for that years birth of babies. Could you imagine a forest of candy cone trees. Kinda cool image.

German kinder cones are huge, usually bigger or the same size as the 1st grader. When the child looks back at the pictures they can fondly remember think they were bigger than life but not as big as the candy cone. You might not be in Germany but that doesn’t stop you from celebrating. Find a kindercone at www.kindercone.com

USA

Maybe it isn’t so hard to believe in celebrating 100 days at school. There are some theories that the 100 days usually fall right around when kindergarten curriculum covers how to count to 100. My child could count to 100 before kindergarten. My theory was we count the 100 days of a presidency, so why not 100 days of school. (I thought this before 2017.)

100 days of school is big. After talking with some moms, I heard things like….

“It’s a big deal at our schools! We make posters, hats, t-shirts…”

“Finger trees with a hundred finger prints”

“Big deal last year for TK we did a crayon art piece as a family and several other bead projects at home. “

“Baseball hat with 100 safety pins, 100 baseball cards on a poster if u have them lying around… last year I put 100 marshmallows/ chocolate chips / pretzels in a mason jar and drew one hundred 100’s on the jar in 10 diff colors… bought a t shirt and drew a big 100 on it and then counted out the #’s.”

I think the best one was from my friend Sally because it celebrated her teacher on 100 days of school.

“I also remember my 100th from when I was a child. My grandfather was a rose grower he owned nurseries and a flower shop. For my hundredth day as a child; I brought my teacher a bouquet of 100 roses. I will never forget how happy the teacher was. To reinforce the importance of 100th day; it can bring lasting memories and be lots of fun.”

I am pretty sure that teacher still remembers receiving a 100 roses.

After all my google searches, learning about different cultures and thinking about education, the relationship of teacher and student, I realize I only have 4 days to come up with something awesome. If your not creative or need a jumpstart, here are two websites that might help.

http://tipjunkie.com/ideas-for-100th-day-of-school/

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/themes/hundred.shtml

P.S. I love the idea of giving something to the teacher, a 100 roses would do!

All pictures taken from Google.com search engine.

Social Sarah

Who ever thought I would call myself Social Sarah, especially after I became a mom. Reality check...being social is more than just being glamours. I am closer to 40. These years have allowed me to travel to many European cities, India and Turkey. Lived in Dublin, Ireland both as a graduate student and beyond. Born and raised New Yorker with Southern roots. Best lesson I ever learned-- ladies do not get called "You guys" it is always "Y'all". Something I have lived with all my life -- sever dyslexia and ADHD. Many tutors later and deep thoughts, I have learned to push myself and understand my limitations. I grew up with two entrepreneur parents. I have lived through their successes and their failures. A few years back I started my own blog under WifeMotherDaughterSelf. It took a back seat after my father feel and had major brain surgery. I am the andDesign Editor for Rug News andDesign, a family business around rugs and home. Throw in a dog named Ophelia, who may or may not be a goldendoodle, a surfing snowboarding loving husband and an energetic fun loving son, you would think I had my hands full. My mantra is the 4 pillars -- Friendship, Love, Honesty and Trust. Some call me crunchy. Most say I am a good listener. Many say I throw a great party but all say I am a great friend, adventure and researcher.