New School Year Rituals for HS

[Hopefulmama]

I remember a post about this last year but couldn't find it so I thought I'd start a new one. What things does your family to do start the new school year? On the first day of school we take a picture with DC holding a paper that says "First day of school, grade, date, etc" We have a picnic lunch and celebrate by doing something that she couldn't do if in a traditional school-i.e. go to the park in the middle of the day.

What are your ideas?

[elizawill]

well, we started school monday and didn't do anything.

*but* the first day of co-op is next friday, and we always take a picture by the front door & make a big deal out of it...i bake muffins, etc. before "school" starts, my kids enjoy back to school shopping and stuff (new supplies and bag, etc - they love that...my mom bought them a new outfit for co-op, lol). to celebrate the first week, we'll have a big breakfast on friday & my kids each get $5 to spend when we go shopping.

anyway, pretty uneventful this year.

[proudmamanow]

this is our first real year, and we are planning on wrapping up some new school supplies and books (under $10, we are on a budget!) to open on the first day--also have a special breakfast.


As a bonus this year, we have planned a trip to a nearby big city for the first week of school where we will enjoy visiting museums and science centres that will be nice & empty! But I don't necessarily expect to do that every year.

[mommariffic]

We are starting in October because we will be coming back from "vacation" mid September and the month will still be warm enough to do trips and I'll need time to get out of our wacky "warm weather" rhythm.

I'm going to wrap up new supplies, and prepare our fall book basket. The morning of we will have a big special breakfast, and some friends over for the first fall art project + slow cooked meal!

[nov05mama]

There was another thread a week or so ago I think. I posted my favorite 'go to' list from a friend of mine's blog...
http://www.mothering.com/discussions...meschool+ideas

We opened up our 'time capsule' from last year (I put our first day's 'work' in the capsule) to look at how things had changed and look back on that day. Then, I had him draw his self-portrait again this year...HUGE change and I LOVE having it from both years...I think it will be a tradition we keep for quite a while! I would love to have one for each year to eventually put in a book format! <3

We are planning a big field trip with our local homeschool group on the 25th, which is when traditional school is back in session, so we are hitting the local Science Museum and enjoying it crowd-free

[jrcronewillis]

Well, we school year-round, so I don't usually think about "first day of school" stuff, but yesterday DH, DS & I all happened to be up early. DH suggested that we go out for breakfast at the corner coffee shop. While we were there the manager asked DS if it was the first day back to school for him since it was the first day of school for the PS kids (we answered with our standard "No we homeschool and go year-round" spiel). DS mentioned that we had been there for breakfast every year for the past 3. So I guess we have an accidental not-back-to-school ritual. Now we'll have to make it intentional!

Juliette

[frugalmama]

We're going to the local kiddie park for a day of play, then the next day is our first PE class. The day after is our first field trip - to the dinosaur exhibit done by Dinosaur George!

[earthmama369]

A group of local homeschoolers gets together and we have a Not Back to School day -- usually at the beach.

[lorrielink]

Originally Posted by nov05mama

Then, I had him draw his self-portrait again this year...HUGE change and I LOVE having it from both years...I think it will be a tradition we keep for quite a while! I would love to have one for each year to eventually put in a book format! <3

I love this idea so so much! I wish I'd heard about it last year. Thank you!
We're not "officially" starting until Oct. first (besides wanting to take advantage of the last of the good weather, frankly I won't be ready until then) but Sept. will have several not back to school events in the community as well as a few classes online and locally.

[tankgirl73]

I love that idea too!! DS has changed so much this year, he's a very "late bloomer" and is finally really starting to... well, become something. *I* can look back and see how far he's come, but it's harder for him to really comprehend it. A 'time capsule' just sounds fantastic.

We also school more or less year-round so have never done a real 'first day of school' thing. This year will be the closest to a 'first day' ever, since a few weeks ago we just happened to finish 3 or 4 curricula (or a level within a series) at the same time, and now he's in the final week of 3 straight weeks of summer camps... so when we get back into it, a lot of his stuff will be brand new or the "next level".

Before we moved a couple years ago, the homeschool group we were part of had a "not back to school picnic" every September. It was great fun! I think if we were to institute some sort of ritual, it would not be to mark when WE start school. Because we don't. It would be to mark the day that everyone ELSE starts going back to public school, but we aren't.

[HeatherB]

I am looking for ideas to help us get back into a routine (we've been too long without it due to major, ongoing household events). We're not going to be getting a lot of new books this year (at least not right away), which is typically our "kick-off" event: box day! Since we still want to read through what we didn't finish from last year, that will not be our highlight. But I am loving some of these ideas!

I can see the time capsule being a lot of fun! And we may find something fun - perhaps going to the science museum as my 5yo has been begging to do - on Monday next week when everyone else starts back. Perhaps we can even splurge and go ride the zoo train nearby when there's no one else there!

I really want to get them excited about picking back up where we left off, so I appreciate the ideas!