School is back in session soon and if your child wants to bring a little teacher gift on the first day of school, we’ve found the cutest gift ideas! From quick ship on Amazon to personalized pretties, scroll down to find the perfect little something for your child’s teacher. Plus, we have a free gift tag printable to make thoughtful gifting even cuter!

Cute Customized Gifts:

Need more gift ideas for teachers heading back to school?

Continue reading Back to School Teacher Gift Ideas! at Do Say Give.

Backpacks, lunch boxes, first day essentials, and more — today we’re sharing our tried and true favorites when it comes to school season. Backpack brands, lunchboxes, and other essentials! Scroll down to browse!

Best Backpacks: 

Lunchtime Favorites

Here’s a tip: The YumBox fits in the Pottery Barn Kids lunchboxes. I also like silicone cups for the divided lunchboxes. 

Labels
Pencil Bags
First Day Favorites

A little gift for the teacher is always thoughtful — and don’t forget the first day signs! 

What back to school products are you stocking up on, and what is your favorite place to find them?

Continue reading DoSayGive’s Back to School Favorites! at Do Say Give.

If you’ve been following DoSayGive on Instagram since the beginning, you’ve likely seen my annual post with our school bus cake. I’ve been doing this since my oldest went to kindergarten — every year, the night before the first day of school, I make a school bus cake for us to share. It’s something that all of my children look forward to, and it marks the start of a new season.

My college roommate, Megan, once told me that her mom did this for her every year growing up, and I filed the idea away for when I had children of my own.

Continue reading A Sweet Back to School Tradition: School Bus Cake! at Do Say Give.

We love books here at DoSayGive and today we’ve gathered some sweet back to school themed books. Whether you want to gift a book for a milestone year or use a good story to alleviate first day jitters, we have a great roundup for you below!

Some of these are classics and some are newer publications that were recommended by DoSayGive readers. If you give a book as a gift, be sure to write an inscription and include the year! 

The book pictured above is called The Hundred Dresses, a book for ages 6+ that brings up important topics like friendship, bullying, and inclusivity.

Continue reading The Sweetest Back to School Themed Books! at Do Say Give.

With all of the focus on school supplies, new backpacks, class lists, and all of the other back to school to dos, we don’t want to forget to show our children’s teachers all the love at the start of the new school year! We know that with all of the other tasks on our list it can slip through the cracks, but back to school teacher gifts go beyond gift giving. It helps set the tone for your relationship with your child’s teacher over the course of the school year and gives you the opportunity to get to know her a little bit.

Continue reading 10 Great Back to School Teacher Gifts! at Do Say Give.

As many parents are hurriedly purchasing school supplies and first-day outfits, starting to feel the pressure a new school year often brings, there are many parents who are feeling a different kind of pressure. The kind that only having one of your children begin actual school — whether they start in preschool or kindergarten — can bring, the kind that feels heavy on your heart and makes you wonder where all the time went.

Continue reading 10 Tips for Starting Preschool & Kindergarten at Do Say Give.

I’m often asked what one piece of advice I’d give to other mothers, or those who find themselves entering into the season of motherhood for the first time. It’s such a tricky question to answer, honestly, because every family is different and has a unique situation. But what I do come back to time and time again is the idea of habits — forming habits for your family that will help your children form strength of character and life-long virtues.

Continue reading 6 Childhood Habits that Have Served Our Family Well at Do Say Give.

So much of the early years is planting in children the virtues we want to blossom over time. Love, kindness, and sincerity yield more easily when empathy is behind them. But in a very “me” centered culture, it can be a challenge to cultivate empathy in children. I find I have to be very intentional in steering my children’s hearts outward, and in how I teach them to think of others and consider others’ feelings.

Continue reading 5 Ways to Encourage Empathy in Children at Do Say Give.

Last week, I shared several tips for selecting schools for the upcoming school year on Instagram. As always, our Instagram community blew me away with their words of encouragement and additional advice! Since we’re in the middle of “admission season” for private schools, and many families are considering moves to other states and evaluating different school districts, I thought it would be helpful to dive deeper into things to consider when choosing schools for your children.

Continue reading 20 Things to Consider When Choosing Schools at Do Say Give.

I never thought I would homeschool my children. No doubt, I liked many of the concepts of homeschool: The idea of my children being home with me more. Less time in things like carpool lines. More time letting them explore nature and the world around them. But I never thought I was cut out for the role of a homeschool mom.

But last year, things changed dramatically for us with COVID and I found myself in that role quite unexpectedly.

Continue reading A Different Way to Think About Homeschool at Do Say Give.