Wednesday, August 27, 2014

5 Ideas for a Not-Back-to-School Tradition

I've learned that many homeschoolers have their own Not-Back-To-School tradition around this time of year. This is the first school year in which my kids will not be returning to public school, but already I think we we have a not-back-to-school tradition of our own!

1. Back-To-Pool Week!

While every public school student returned to school last Monday, we celebrated our homeschooling freedom with a Back-To-Pool Day, which turned into Back-To-Pool Week! I see us doing this every year!

The summer heat was too brutal to enjoy over the summer and we pretty much avoided the pool except for maybe a day or two. These days, however, it's been hard to stay away.

If you do not have a pool, visit the beach and enjoy it all to yourself.

Or... throw a party...

2. Not-Back-To-School Celebration

Get together with your homeschooling friends or find a local homeschool group hosting a party.

It's common among homeschool groups to host Not-Back-to-School parties. Some celebrate at a local kids' indoor playground, the park, or at a member's home.

3. “First Day” Field Trip

Schools never take field trips on the first day of school. That would be crazy, right? Well as a homeschool mom, you can declare any day as field trip day. Go to the museum, visit the zoo, or stroll through a nature trail.

If you can't think of activities, ask for help. From your kids, that is.

4. Kids Can Plan Too.

Each year, around the first week of July, I ask my kids to create a list of things they want to do or learn throughout the summer. We do as many of the items on their list as possible. They love that we call it “our own summer camp.” Now that we homeschool, I ask them frequently what they would like to do? Is there something they want to learn? They've gotten pretty used to it because they are starting to let me know without me asking.

During the “first week of school” (in quotes because we don't follow any school-year schedule), I had my kids take turns planning out a day.

My 6 yr old, who likes to create checklists and thrives on schedules, handed me an agenda of things to do in the order she wanted to do them. Of course, don't expect your child to be the experienced little planner, at first, but I bet they'll come up with at least an activity or two they really want to do. They'll be so excited they got to lend a hand in planning the day's activities.

For those curious, or in search for more ideas, here is the agenda my 6 year old created:

  1. Breakfast
  2. Go to the pool
  3. Take pictures of her glittered shoes project
  4. Cook
  5. Sew
  6. Make paper dolls
  7. Free time
  8. Snack time
  9. Read to her little brother
  10. Activity with mami
  11. Read to herself
  12. Dinner
  13. Recess
  14. Take a walk with papi

And here's what my 10 yr old wanted to do:

  1. Go to the pool
  2. Cook
  3. Science experiment
  4. Dance
  5. Learn to do a hairstyle
  6. Math
  7. Create homemade lunchables

5. Bye Bye Summer Tye Dye

Actually, I did this a few months ago. It was a perfect activity to transition from public schooling to homeschooling. We tye-dyed old public school uniform shirts (white ones), and gave them a new purpose. But you can do this during the back to school season or whenever you begin your (home)school year, if you plan things out that way. You can tye dye some shirts and wear them on field trip days throughout the year.