Back to (home) school
For most of us, this Back to School season is feeling really different, because it *is* really different. I haven't done any back to school shopping, the backpacks are hanging on their hooks where we left them way back in March, lunchboxes are migrating toward the back of the cupboard now, and we don't know when they might be needed again. My kids share a bedroom, so we have been able to work this summer to convert an extra bedroom into a home base for home school this fall. We're still working out the technology details and prepping for multiple people to be on zoom calls at once. And I have to keep telling myself it's going to be fine.
My typical advice to parents looking for a great Back to School photo of their kids is to not wait until the actual first day back at school. This is a task easy to accomplish in the week before school starts, and takes a lot of extra pressure off of that already busy and anxious first day. Consider it a little trial run with the backpack and the first day outfit. Plus it's fun to visit the school! Take the time before the first day to dash up to your school and let your child pose for some photos, without the crowds, friend sightings, and inevitable first day chaos. You can take your time, without worrying about bells ringing, buses rolling by, or nerves getting the best of your kids.
This year, do the same thing. Head over to the school sometime before the first day. It's almost sure to be quiet. At the same time, photograph your child at your home, in your yard or in front of your door. Just avoid the middle of the day when the harsh summer sun shadows will be in your way.
The Back to School Sign
Making a sign is a fun way to mark the years. You can include as much or as little as you feel like. Your child's name and grade, along with the year, are great places to start. Have your child make it, use a chalkboard or letterboard, or even print something fun from the internet and pop it in a frame for a cute remembrance of the start of the year. Go a little bigger if you want to by including details about your child right now--what they want to be when they grow up, what they can't wait for about school, favorite lunch, etc. Here's a place to be as creative as you'd like, or allow yourself to keep it simple.
My favorite thing about the sign is to compare the first day of school pic to the last day of school pic (year changed and "first" swapped to "last"), for a clear, sometimes startling, look at how they have grown and changed over the course of a school year.
But there's a pandemic!
For my family at least, this year comes with a bit more nervous anxiety than usual, including for me. I'm just hoping the technology will work, and no one will say anything too weird on a zoom call with the whole class. So planning ahead helps me deal.
Make the sign now. Instead of backpacks and lunchboxes, photograph your child in his or her work space at home. At a laptop, wearing a headset, lounging on the couch or laying on the floor. In front of your home is especially great this year, since that's where school is happening for now. Try your front door, but with your kids walking in, instead of on their way out to catch the bus or walk to school.
Catch the Personality
Keep it low-pressure. I don't know about you, but my kids *hate* being told what to do. Give some direction, and also let them be themselves. My goofy girl pretty much sums up how we are all feeling about the start of this year.
Whatever you do, make sure to document these strange times. Zoom in on the details, and pull back for the big picture. Years from now, when this is hopefully a blip in our collective memory, it will be fun and interesting and important to remember what we did and how we made it through.
