Homeschool Here

Eventually the late Summer nights have to come to an end as the days grow cooler and the leaves get ready to turn those beautiful Autumn colours. Sun kissed little faces will soon be bundled up with wooly hats and scarves. Before you get back into the school routine why don't you give some of these fun back to school traditions a try. We are a family of traditions. I love it, the kids love it even more, husband tolerates our craziness but I am sure he secretly loves it too. He just wants to show up and not have to do all the planning and executing. Totally fine with me! I have found that having some fun back to school traditions is a great way to start the year off on the right foot. By the end of Summer I am definitely ready to get back into the normal routine. My kids have other ideas despite me knowing how much better life works when we are on a schedule and everyone is getting appropriate amounts of sleep and far less junk food! The kids have love having something exciting to look forward to, to wrap up the Summer. It is good way to mark the transition between vacation mode and school mode. Big Field Trip On the day that the public schools go back all the homeschooling groups in our city converge on a big water park just out of town. It is a great way to celebrate that we have all the parks, museums, playgrounds etc back to ourselves! Let's be honest it's annoying when everything becomes crowded during school breaks. Those swimming pools are like kid soup. I don't even want to think about how many chemicals they need to use to keep that water clean. While you can do a big field trip by yourselves it is so much more fun as a big group. This year our smaller co-op is planning a big BBQ and water fight. It seems like the perfect way to say goodbye to Summer. Fancy Breakfast Who doesn't like a bit of a fancy breakfast? We start our first day of official school with a big pancake breakfast. We tried waffles one year but everyone was asking where they pancakes were. See? we are creatures of habit and breaking from tradition is not good for our family! Full tummies are always going to be a plus for the first day of school. Here are some ideas that you might like to try: Pancakes Waffles Cinnamon Rolls French toast Bacon and eggs Croissants Donuts Pastries Fruit salad You may even want to delegate the cooking and cleaning up to someone else and go out for breakfast. I am trying to convince my family that this is a good plan, all I am getting is blank stares though. Yearly Family Theme This is a brilliant idea that I want to incorporate this coming year. We are a bit lucky here in the Southern Hemisphere that our school year coincides with the actual new year. My husband and I have started thinking of a theme for next year already. We actually just finished out school year last week! We had a theme for this year but it was more a theme for just us as a couple. I really feel like extending it to the whole family will bless us all. Some ideas on finding themes for your family could come from favourite quotes, scripture or even something you just come up with yourself. I plan on having the children memorise the theme and reciting it each morning as a part of our morning basket routine. If this is going to work it needs to be displayed somewhere in the home. I am going to get mine designed into a beautiful piece of art that can be printed, framed and hung on the wall. Eventually (maybe, let's just see how this year goes first) I want to have each of our yearly themes displayed on a wall in our home. I have a lot of big plans that often don't actually eventuate so we will see how this goes. Goal Setting Dates I know that I myself as a homeschooling mother do most of the planning and preparations for the school year. I choose the curriculums, I do the teaching, I make most of the decisions in regards to who does what and when, I go and buy all the stationery (mmm new book smell). However I think it is important to make time to have a one on one date with each of my children and husband to make sure we are on the same page and to set some goals. Goal Setting with the Kids When I do goal setting with the kids I take them out for lunch and let them choose where to go. This whole lunch thing works out well for me since I get to go out for lunch every time! Thankfully there is a bit of variety in their favourite restaurants. I talk to them about what I have planned for them this year and the things that they are learning. I cover the core subjects, there isn't really much wiggle room on those decisions at the moment. As they grow older I will be more willing to hand over some of the decision making to them. Next we talk about things that they want to learn to do this year and things they would like to accomplish. These don't even have to be education goals. I encourage my kids to select an academic, emotional/mental, physical, and spiritual goal. Once they have set their goals we make a plan for how we are going to accomplish them. That may mean I need to purchase different things for them, or enrol them in a class or just help keep them motivated and be their accountability buddy. Last year my daughter Lili wanted to get over her anxiety about being away from her family. So we enrolled her in a choir. Last weekend she sung her heart out in front of 2000 people and spent and entire day away from us. We also talk about what kind of projects they may want to work on during the year. I like to encourage them to select project ideas that are going to take a few months to accomplish or that are a skill that develops over time. Last year Auron wanted to learn Japanese and Lili wanted to learn to sew. Goal Setting with Husband I love any excuse for a date with my husband. On this date though we set goals for ourselves as a team for our children's education. As homeschooling parents it is important to be on the same page as each other. There have been times when we have disagreed on the approach to take or what the kids should be doing and it has required a bit of compromise on both sides. This is the opportunity I use to tell him what I need from him. Usually this is an hour of peace each day. This is for my sanity. I love my kids to death but I need that break. I do all my work and planning at night after the kids are in bed so I get one hour at least every morning to get in my Netflix, YouTube, Social Media, whatever I feel like. This year I asked him to take over making sure the children's piano lessons were done. He is way more musically talented than I am so I felt he would do a much better job and enjoy it more than me. He also likes to offer suggestions and perspectives on how our previous year went and what changes he thinks could be made. I love to hear his thoughts on this because sometimes getting different perspective really changes things for the better. I also share with him the goals I have set for myself as a teacher, mother and wife. He will share the same. I love having someone else who can cheer me on when I feel like giving in and chucking in the towel. He is my rock, my best friend and my biggest supporter. Back to School Feast I first learnt about this idea from Stephanie Neilson from Nieniedialogues. Every year she puts on an incredible feast for her family. This is actually when she presents the yearly theme to the family. I like the idea of honouring and celebrating our children and the work that they will put in during the year. I think this would also be a perfect way to end the school year as well. It will be like a full cycle if you know what I mean. Letters of Love and Encouragement My mother used to write me notes and little letters all throughout my childhoods. Even now she still sends me encouraging letters (emails these days). They seem to come at just the right time. I have all the letters she has written my from childhood in a folder tucked away in my memory box...in her garage because I am too lazy to store stuff at my own house. When I went home earlier this year I had a look through and it just brought back so many memories. I made me laugh at some of the things that I thought were a big deal at the time that she was encouraging me about. They are such treasured keepsakes. I am sure my kids will enjoy reading those letters one day too. Write each of your children a letter expressing your love for them. Share with them your hopes and dreams for them. Tell them all the things that you admire about them and leave them with some words of encouragement. I promise you that these letter will become a treasure for them as they grow into adulthood. I find that every day life has a way of taking over and we forget or neglect to tell each other how much we love them and share our more emotional and deep thoughts with our children. Pray Over Your Children We belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. As a part of our religion many fathers use the start of the school year to give their child a blessing or to pray over them. This is a special tradition in which we can bring our faith into our homeschool and start the year off with God at the centre. I also have my husband give me a blessing and pray for me as their teacher. Even if you don't belong to our religion you may find it a wonderful tradition to start in your own family where you as parents pray over each of your children individually and seek guidance from God for that child. If you aren't part of the Christian faith perhaps there is something in your own belief system that you could do that has a similar meaning.

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