This year has been completely CRAZY but I’m happy that school is starting for us. My husband and I decided to do something special for the boys’ first day of home school. Hopefully, it will become a tradition for us all. I don’t know why we haven’t thought of this before! It’s not like we’ve been homeschooling for seven years now.
As a young kid, going back to school was exciting for me. My sisters and I got to go shopping for new clothes and school supplies. I adored brand new crayons, #2 pencils, and a new backpack. But homeschooling has lost some of the excitement for my boys. They have never “looked forward” to the start of homeschool in the past. It’s been one week into the new school year and I can actually say it’s amazing to see how they are handling it all.
Here’s what we did this year:
- We have breakfast together My husband and I wanted to treat the boys to donuts for breakfast, but our local donut shop was closed on this particular day. I made chocolate chip pancakes and bacon instead. We can still do donuts next year.
- Each child receives a letter Our boys received a typed letter from us (in case they couldn’t read our chicken scratch handwriting). It’s more like a little note. It’s not drawn out … just a couple of sentences telling them how excited we are for them, how much we love them, and how much we support them. Basically, letting the boys know that we are their biggest fans. We also offered words of encouragement.
- The kids open a gift We decided to give the boys a $25 voucher. That way they can spend it however they desire.
- We take school pictures This part is for me, personally. Since we don’t go to a traditional school, we wouldn’t have school pictures if I didn’t take them myself. And every year since I started homeschooling, I always take a photo of the boys’ first day of homeschool picture.
- We go out to eat It doesn’t have to be fancy. Chick-fil-a was the boys’ choice. They love that place! We ordered take away and had lunch at the house. This year is extra special since my husband was lucky enough to work from home. We are blessed to have him share these first-time traditions with us.
Besides all of the above, I explained to the boys what subjects they would be studying and what expectations we required of them during the 5-day homeschool week. I made a weekly chore chart that they must finish each day.
I think this was a BIG turning point for us as a family. The hubs and I laid out our expectations for each child, all of which was explained to them so they know exactly what is expected of them. This is the fifth day of homeschool for my boys. I can report that there are NO complaints…yet. And all the homeschool studies was completed for the week. YAY!!! Happy weekend to us.
What traditions do you have for the first day of school? I would love to hear your ideas. Have a great homeschool year, good luck to all you awesome Mamas and Dads out there, and stay safe.
Happy Homeschooling!
Laddie