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MaryMary
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| Posted: July 21 2006 at 12:23pm | IP Logged
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Not sure whether I should be posting here or not, but here goes...
Do any of you have any special traditions, celebrations, or distinctive ways of celebrating the first official day of your homeschool year? One of my greatest regrets of this past year was that we trickled in at the beginning of the year (due to some September home renovations), and fizzled out near the end of the year, with no clear starting or ending point. Although I like to live a learning lifestyle all year long, (and we certainly don't put learning on hold all summer)there is just something about "back to school" fever that gets me excited. With new books and new supplies it is a fresh start, a new beginning, and I'd like to make that a bit more memorable for my children this time around.
So what do you do to celebrate the first day of homeschool? Tell me about when and how you make that day special...I'd love to hear your ideas!
Mary
Mom 2 3 
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JennGM
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| Posted: July 21 2006 at 12:34pm | IP Logged
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Mary,
I don't have the original post from her Yahoo group, but Cay sparked an interest in Schultüte, a German Tradition for the first day of school. See Wikipedia for more details. I agree, making a "production" about the new beginning school year is good for all of us.
I forget all the things Cay did, but she made a little celebration of the opening of the school year. Special breakfast, the Schultüte filled with goodies, perhaps opening the school year with Mass?
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to  & ds1  '03 & ds2  '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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margot helene
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The first few years I started right in with all subjects gung ho! and my kids were in tears. What happened to the beautiful summer we had just yesterday!! So then I tried doing just a few subjects and easing into.
At last I came up with something we could all enjoy, mark the end of summer (sort of), and turn our minds to the school year. We take a field trip the very first day! What's really great about that is that by the time I have a first day, all the other kids are back at school and exciting venues that we avoid in summer due to the crowds are wide open for us. One year we drove to Philadephia to the maritime museum and then took the ferry across to the New Jersey aquarium. Best part was the boat ride!
Margot
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MaryMary
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| Posted: July 21 2006 at 2:57pm | IP Logged
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JennGM wrote:
| perhaps opening the school year with Mass? |
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Yes! I definitely see that as a big part of 'opening day'. I was also thinking of inviting Fr. over to bless our school room, but that will be just prior to the first day of school. Anyone want to pray a novena with me for a successful new school year, say mid-late Aug?
Thanks for the links, Jenn! I love these other ideas! I just bought each of my girls a lovely comfy dress (they love to wear dresses) as some back-to-school clothing. I loved getting brand new clothes for back to school, and I figure it would be nice to start a tradition of getting them something cozy that they like to wear for the first day of school, as well.
Mary
mom 2 3
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marihalojen
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A family I knew as a homeschooling kid would rush out waving madly every first Back to School day in Nightgowns and PJ's as the school bus went by, then have a breakfast picnic in the driveway, jumping rope, playing 4-Square, shooting hoops, with no tablework that day.
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The Mari Hal-O-Jen
SSR = Sailing, Snorkling, Reading
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: July 21 2006 at 4:42pm | IP Logged
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That is so funny, Jennifer! I was actually thinking of having a special relaxed breakfast on the front porch for the first day.( Not early enough to wave at the school bus, though as it goes by around 7am here. We don't get up til 8  )
I was thinking of doing some journaling and goal setting activities, some handwriting samples (to compare progress as the year goes by) saying a special prayer for the start of the new school year, and then begin a new read-aloud. I'm not sure how yet, but I want to kick off this year's nature study in a special way. Perhaps setting up an aquarium or aqua/terra combo. We will be kicking off our Around the World study by watching Pole to Pole (a documentary)or perhaps Around the World in 80 days.
I want to give this some more thought because I think it will be a good thing to start off the year with something special.
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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marihalojen
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lapazfarm wrote:
| I want to give this some more thought because I think it will be a good thing to start off the year with something special. |
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I agree! I want something different, significant, celebratory and FUN!
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~Jennifer
Mother to Mariannna, age 13
The Mari Hal-O-Jen
SSR = Sailing, Snorkling, Reading
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Dawn
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marihalojen wrote:
| A family I knew as a homeschooling kid would rush out waving madly every first Back to School day in Nightgowns and PJ's as the school bus went by, then have a breakfast picnic in the driveway, jumping rope, playing 4-Square, shooting hoops, with no tablework that day. |
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 One of our closest homeschooling families does this every year - or at least the breakfast picnic anyway! They live just down the street (literally, a stone's throw) from the grammar school their kids would attend.
JennGM wrote:
| I don't have the original post from her Yahoo group, but Cay sparked an interest in Schultüte, a German Tradition for the first day of school. See Wikipedia for more details. |
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I believe I saw a craft for making one of these in Martha Stewart (maybe her kids' mag) and I thought it was such a sweet idea. I'll have to look it up.
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Dawn, mum to 3 boys 
By Sun and Candlelight
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mrsgranola
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| Posted: July 22 2006 at 10:04am | IP Logged
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Our tradition is a Cracker Barrel breakfast! It's a bit expensive now but it wasn't so bad when they were younger.
JoAnna
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Mare
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| Posted: July 22 2006 at 10:18am | IP Logged
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Oh, I thing the Schultüte really is a sweet idea.
The night before school starts, I decorate our dining room with crepe paper. Since we set our breakfast dishes out the night before, I fill the bowls with wrapped school supplies. At each place setting is a card congratulating our girls on the first day of whatever grade they will be entering.
I also take pictures of the girls for their "first day of school" pictures. It is cute to see them so excited about the new school supplies and new books they get to use.
Peace,
Mare
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Karen E.
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Although we have a pretty relaxed style throughout the year, we still mark beginnings of school years as a holdover from our first year, when my then-1st grader was sure she would miss the school atmosphere (she went to public school Kindergarten) because she wanted her "friends and that chocolate milk in little cartons."
We start with a visit to the Blessed Sacrament, or with Mass, then go out for breakfast. Then, we do a couple of really low-key things -- start or continue a read-aloud, do some art, look up some things that we can add to a Book of Centuries, go to the lake for a nature walk, things like that.
I guess I've always liked making the point that we can do a lot of fun things that kids who are heading off to school can't do.
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Karen E.
mom to three on earth, and several souls in God's care
Visit my blog, with its shockingly clever title, "Karen Edmisten."
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saintanneshs
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Can anyone find Cay's post from last year about the first day of school? I tried looking it up but without any luck. I remember being really inspired by it back then and wish I'd saved that thread in My Favorites.
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Kristine
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saintanneshs
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Okay, I found it after some more looking! I'll attempt to link now...
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Kristine
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Meredith
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Karen E. wrote:
| I guess I've always liked making the point that we can do a lot of fun things that kids who are heading off to school can't do. |
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We feel this way too, we're going to start on the Assumption with Mass, a special breakfast and kick off with a new read-aloud, and maybe some special "new school kits" of fun supplies for each of the dc!! I'm hoping the "Principal" will be able to join us as well and then we'll probably splash at the pool in the afternoon as it will undoubtedly be over 95 degrees 
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Meredith
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saintanneshs
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Meredith wrote:
| we'll probably splash at the pool in the afternoon as it will undoubtedly be over 95 degrees |
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My chickies have swimming lessons in the later half of the morning for our first two weeks of school! Here's hoping that we can really get our days started ON TIME!
(And, no, I didn't plan it that way...by the time morning sickness began to subside long enough to drag myself over to the pool, the earlier lessons scheduled were all filled up! ) Oh well  , I think it's really going to add that "bit of fun" to our back-to-school efforts!
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shartlesville
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I try to put up different posters, pictures, and things to freshen up the area. We also buy some new supplies when the stores have thier big sales ($.10 crayons, etc.) That is sort of the lead in that summer is ending and school work will begin again soon. We really school year round but it helps to refresh everything once each year.
We usually have a back to school party. 
One year I purchased a large cake with a school bus on it with lots of rainbow colors. Other years we have baked cakes or had cupcakes.
We have a picnic type lunch and then the desert. We talk about what subjects we will be covering and some of the field trips we would like to take.
We make it a relaxed, fun day with little in the way of actual "school work."
When they were younger, I would print "welcome to _____ grade" signs for their desks.
Anything that is a bit of a change of pace really should work.
Have fun!
Blessings,
Krisann
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DH Cris;
DC John, Elizabeth, Lilyann ^i^, Emily, Kate, Julia, Sam, & Jack;
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Sarah in SC
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I make big posters for the kids that say, "Mac's in 4th Grade," "Hannah's in Kindergarten," "Rosemary's in Pre-School!" (or at least that's what they'll say this year! ) and hang them up so they see them first thing the morning of our first day--and take their pictures by them, for the scrapbook! Then we all go out to breakfast--last year it was Steak & Shake--and then we come home & look at all of our new books, notebooks, pencils, etc..... We talk about all the cool stuff we're going to learn about this year, and what our new routines are going to be, and we read a book or two--maybe do a subject or two. But the first day is mostly about fun!
HTH!
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Happy wife to Tom and mama to Mac, 12, Hannah, 8, Rosemary, 6, Luke, now 1! and the 9 little angels that Mary is rocking.....
"What good shall we then do with today?" --Benjamin Franklin
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: July 23 2006 at 5:59pm | IP Logged
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I'm loving all these ideas! Keep 'em coming, I'm taking notes!
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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Topic: First day of (home)school
