Category: Current Giveaways

Scholastic Children’s Dictionary Back To School Blog Tour - With $100 GC Giveaway

My son loves trains so it seems sort of fitting that I am the final stop on the Scholastic Children’s Dictionary Back To School Blog Tour. I’m the caboose! Choo choo!

Are you familiar with the Scholastic Children’s Dictionary?

With exciting features, accessible definitions and helpful illustrations and photographs throughout, the new Scholastic Children’s Dictionary is the essential resource that belongs in every home, classroom and library.

The 2010 edition of the Scholastic Children’s Dictionary features more than 1,000 full-color photographs, simple sentences, illustrations, and diagrams as well as newly commissioned maps of the world, the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Central America. There are hundreds of new and expanded entries written by a prominent lexicographer as well as thousands of additional sample sentences to illustrate word usage. The dictionary also includes guides on grammar, punctuation and idioms and simplified pronunciations created with real kids in mind! The new Scholastic Children’s Dictionary is an essential resource that belongs in every home, classroom, and library.

Here in New Jersey school starts back up in a couple of weeks. I’ll be moving my boys towards their school year schedules consisting of earlier bedtimes and earlier wake up times after this weekend. I like to make the adjustments slowly so they don’t suffer culture shock. The one thing that I’ve never understood about back to school is the actual back to school night. In our area back to school night for most (not all) schools is sometime from mid-September until early October - AFTER SCHOOL HAS ALREADY STARTED. That makes no sense!

Back to school night is an important night for parents. It provides an opportunity to meet the teachers and learn about what’s going to happen during the year and what expectations are. In recent years back to school night has also included the topic of school supplies. In our district teachers are able to specifiy what school supplies are required for the class. The list used to be sent home towards the end of summer. As my son got older it happened that teachers weren’t giving the list out until the first day of school. By then all of the stores were picked clean. What sense does that make! I like to find out what I need aheadof time so I’m not hunting supplies  down.

So back to back to school night.  You wouldn’t believe how many back to school nights that I’ve gone to for my older child where the room was half empty. Parents should be going to back to school night. It lets the teachers know you take your child’s education seriously. It also lets your child know te same. The most helpful thing that I’ve found is to find out what your child’s teacher’s expectations and policies are. It’s great to know ahead of time what the policy is for make up work or missed assignments. I like to introduce myself to the teacher and make sure they know how to reach me. I also discuss any potential problems and share any information I feel they may need. Lastly I like to ask what items they recommend that may not be required - a dictionary, for example. A dictionary was not a required item but one I felt would be helpful for my son to have based on my own experience. I wasn’t required to have a dictionary in school. But I always did, because my Mom (a teacher) thought it would be helpful. And helpful it was. A dictionary is one of those books that I think everyone should have. Yes, you can look stuff up online now but nothing replaces having to actually turn pages, look for, and find a word. To me that’s part of the learning process.

If you’d like to read more more posts about the pending school year from some terrific bloggers, feel free to visit any of  the first fourteen stops on the tour. They shared stores and advice on back to school, saving money, nutrition, reading and much more.

1. Jolly Mom
2. Momma Findings
3. The Mommy-Files
4. The Dirty Shirt
5. 1StopMom
6. MommyMandy
7. Guessing All The Way
8. Serendipity Mommy
9. The Divine Miss Mommy
10. From Dates to Diapers
11. MomDot
12. My Sentiment ExactLee
13. Mommy Niri
14. 3 Garnets & 2 Sapphires

WIN IT!

ONE winner will receive a 2010 Scholastic Children’s Dictionary and a $100 Visa GC.

HOW TO ENTER. (MANDATORY)

To enter leave a comment on this post telling me one question you’d like to ask at this year’s back to school night OR the strangest/funniest question you’ve heard asked at a back to school night.

BONUS ENTRIES - LOTS OF THEM!

1 - Subscribe to my newsletter. (sidebar)
1 - Subscribe to my RSS feed. (sidebar)
1 - Follow me on Twitter AND leave your Twitter name here. (sidebar)
1 - Tweet this giveaway.
1 - Friend me on Facebook. (sidebar)
1 - Leave a comment on the Lady Foot Locker Facebook wall that valmg is helping you get back on track.
1 - Blog about this giveaway, including a link here.
1 - Place my button on your blog. (in sidebar)
1 - Visit one of my other blogs - From Val’s Kitchen, Val’s Views and Game Review Network - and leave a comment on any post there. Then return here and leave a comment on this post telling me one thing you read or learned there. (That’s two comments you need to leave for this bonus entry, one there and one here.) Unlimited entries for this method of entry.
1 - Visit HereAndThere.US (my Mom) and leave a comment on any post (except a giveaway post) there. Then return here and leave a comment on this post telling me one thing you read or learned on my Mom’s blog. (That’s two comments you need to leave for this bonus entry, one there and one here.) Unlimited entries for this method of entry. Leave an additional comment for each entry you qualify for. You must have completed the first entry according to the instructions to be eligible for any bonus entries.

THE SMALL PRINT.

US addresses only please, no PO Boxes. This contest will end on Friday 09/03/10 at 11:59 pm est. If you’ve entered any of my giveaways before then you know that only comments containing all of the requested information will be eligible for entry. The winner must contact me to confirm they wish to receive the prize within two days of my email notifying them they’ve won. Good luck to everyone!

I received financial compensation and a copy of this dictionary to thank me for participating in this blog tour. As always, my post has not been influenced by the sponsor or compensation and my reviews and recommendations are always my own and represent my genuinely held opinions.