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Starting a new homeschooling year can be both exciting and a bit overwhelming. But you can make the beginning of your homeschool year extra special with fun and creative ideas that can help set the tone for the rest of the year. Here are some suggestions to get you started.
- Go on a Back-to-Homeschool shopping spree and let the kids pick out their favorite notebooks, pencils, and other school supplies.
- Decorate your learning area with fun posters and encouraging quotes.
- Create personalized name plates or door signs for your learning space with the kids.
- Set up a cozy reading corner with new books, pillows and blankets.
- Host a back-to-homeschool party and invite family, friends, and other homeschool families you know.
- Plan a special breakfast for the first day of school.
- Take “first day of school” photos of each of your children.
- Encourage excitement in your kids for your new learning materials by having “curriculum unboxing” day.
- Decide on a family motto or mission statement for your homeschool and create a poster for it to be displayed in your learning space.
- Pick a specific learning challenge for the year such as reading a certain number of books or learning how to say specific things in multiple languages.
- Have kids create an all-about-me poster listing their current stats (age, height, etc) and their likes and dislikes. Put this away in a safe place to check out at the end of the school year to see how they have changed.
- Create a time-capsule journal where each child can record their special academic accomplishments, interesting experiences, and educational milestones throughout the year.
- Make your own homeschool t-shirt with fabric paints/markers.
- Have a family game night and play educational games together.
- Host a mini-book club luncheon for your kids. Let them read a book of their choice during the week, then on the last day of your school week, prepare a special lunch and let them share their thoughts about the book they read.
- Plan a family cooking day to prepare freezer meals to be used when life gets hectic. This is a great activity to incorporate math practice and international meals for geography and social studies.
- Take a stroll down memory lane with your kids where they can share their favorite and least favorite memories of the last school year.
- Weather permitting, go on a nature walk, gathering specimens and photos of things to learn more about.
- Start a homeschool wish list containing all the things you and your children would like to do and learn this year. Keep it handy throughout the year to add new items and mark them off as you complete them.
- Celebrate the end of your first week back to homeschool with a picnic or a special supper.
