In our homeschool, we made a big deal out of the start of each school year. I didn’t want my children to miss out on the fun of new school supplies and the excitement of new beginnings. So, we started each school year with a celebration.
We always set an official start-of-the-school-year date and made a point of shopping for whatever school supplies we needed beforehand. Will and Christina even got new clothes to wear the first day of school. Then, the first day of every school year, all the way through high school, followed a family tradition.
Will (7), Terry, and Christina (2) during our first-day-of-school hike at the Missouri River, 1992
1. I put the new school year’s books and materials (not the Montessori materials but anything that could be easily looked through) on the table for Will and Christina. Even with unit studies, I let Will and Christina look at books related to the first unit we were studying for the year.
We always had some subjects that had traditional textbooks, such as math using Saxon Math books (after Montessori math in the early years). By tradition, I photographed Will and Christina looking through their materials every year as well.
2. We started our school year with some light schoolwork. The indoor part of the first day of school was shorter than normal.
3. We went on a field trip. In our first years of homeschooling, we often went on a hike near the Missouri River (not too far from where we lived). When we lived in the Black Hills for two years, we went on a field trip to a fun but educational area locally. Later on, when we lived in Colorado, we often went to the zoo. More photos, of course!
4. We had a party! This wasn’t a big party, but it was a celebration. We always had cake or whatever treat Will and Christina chose for the day. Photos again!
Some years, we took three months off during the summer before starting the school year. In later years, we homeschooled year round and started the new school year after a two-week break. A celebration was in order either way.
Even if you don’t homeschool your children, you can still make the beginning of each school year a celebration. I love new beginnings – and our children grow up too fast not to treasure each one.
Check out all these ideas: 100+ Back-to-School Celebration Ideas.
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Do you have a tradition for the start of the school year?
A few more homeschooling posts:
- Top 5 Homeschool Lessons My Children Taught Me
- How to Start Using Montessori at Home
- How to Set Up a Montessori Preschool Classroom at Home
- How to Set Up a Montessori Homeschool Classroom
- How We Homeschooled
- Should You Use Unit Studies? (includes a list of my unit-studies posts)
- How to Be a Relaxed Homeschooler
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Wow Deb – what a great 1st day! HIKING! Sign me up for that class!! How fun – creating those wonderful memories!
Thanks for linking up today and your continued support of the HSV (especially those RT's)!
Stef
Thanks, Stef! And I’m happy to support Homeschool Village. THANK YOU for all you do for homeschoolers!
This is my kind of school day: hikes along the river. What joy. 🙂
I think it is wonderful how you make the start of school so special.
Thanks for your kind words, Jeannine! I miss those days…
Those are great ideas! Our first day of homeschool is coming up soon, and I'm trying to plan a fun way to celebrate it. Thanks for the ideas!
Thanks for your comment, Nichole! You’ll find lots of great ideas at the Homeschool Village linkup … have fun planning!
What great ideas! I'm looking forward to when the weather cools off where we live (AR) so that we can enjoy outdoor fun again.
Thanks so much for visiting, Lora! I tend to forget about summer weather where it’s too hot to spend time outdoors … we savor summer in Colorado because the weather’s usually great. Have a great start of the school year!
I did not home school my children and they are all grown now we did have a couple of traditions. We too took first day photos and their father took them school supply shopping. It was a great bonding for Dad and the children. My sister and daughter both homeschool their children and I am going to suggest they take first day pictures, post pictures in their journals and measure how tall they are. This can be their writing lesson and math lesson for the day. Thanks for the post. 🙂
Thanks for your comment, Joyce! That’s a great idea for dads to take their children school-supply shopping – and I LOVE the idea of measuring height on the first day of school each year!
I love this idea! My oldest starts preschool this year. Hmmm, I think he would love a start to school party!
Thanks for your comment, Michelle! How great that you’re at the beginning of such a wonderful time – have fun!
Yes, our first week will start out full of suprises also! We have 2 scheduled field trips for the first week! LOL!! Homeschooling SHOULD be fun!! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Thanks for visiting, Jessica! Having two field trips the first week of school is a great idea … I think the more special you can make the start of the school year the better!
Deb, I love the idea of bringing in the new school year with a celebration. Will definitely have to plan on that. Thanks for the great idea, and just on time, because we are starting in the next couple of weeks! 🙂
Thanks for your comment, Kami! And you’re welcome – I love to share what worked for my family. I hope you have a wonderful, celebratory start to your school year!
This is so funny! We do the same thing: start off the new school year with a celebration!!! I've been trying to include a field trip as well but haven't been successful yet. I usually put the school supplies in a wrapped up box and let them open it as a surprise gift. THEY ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS!!! Thanks for sharing! I wish you lived closer so we could do things together…
Hugs,
Evelyn
Hi Evelyn! Great to see you! What a wonderful idea to have school supplies in a surprise gift – kids would LOVE that! I wish we lived closer, too – thank heavens for the Internet!
What a wonderful first day, Deb!
I’m all about making the first day a huge deal… balloons and all.
Thanks, Rose! BALLOONS – a great idea to add to any celebration!
Hi Deb! Thanks for finding me and following! I'm now following you back and really enjoying your blog. Sounds like you had some wonderful 1st days back. We're looking forward to starting our 11th homeschool year and will definitely be celebrating! 🙂
Lisa xoxo
http://RaisingFutureLeaders.blogspot.com
Thanks for your kind words, Lisa! Starting your 11th year of homeschooling is awesome – have a great celebration!
I loved those days, too! I had such a great time when we had a celebration at the beginning of the school year! I always looked forward to the first day of school. 🙂 You did a great job with Will and me! Xxx
http://ChristinaChitwoodPerformance.com
Thanks, Chrissy! I’m so happy those days were as good for you as they were for me! I LOVE reliving the memories! Xxx
Well I think that is a very effective way to start school. Kids especially the young ones need a bit of an adjustment period and that simple way could help a lot. I wish the school of my children could adopt that too.
Thanks for your comment, Katrina! Yes, it would be nice if all schools could find a way to celebrate the beginning of each school year.