First day of school traditions are a fun and special way to start off the school year. Especially for homeschoolers because we have so much more freedom and flexibility.
I love traditions. Whether it’s holiday traditions, family traditions, or even random things we do every year. So of course with homeschooling we have a long list of first day school traditions to celebrate the new school year.
Starting the first day of school in a really fun way can help build excitement for the rest of the school year. It’s an awesome and simple way to raise your kids’ enthusiasm for a new year of learning.
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First Day Pictures
Since you won’t get those nice, usually embarrassing school photos of your kids every year, take your own. Use a letter board or chalk board to write what grade your kids are starting, what they want to be when they grow up, and a few of their favorite things. It’s nice to be able to look back and see how they change and grow over the years.
Last year Oliver had a letter board that said “Oliver’s first day of preschool.” Then I switched some letters around and gave it to Marley for a picture that said “Marley’s first day of class pet.” She was the cutest class pet ever.
Make a Special Breakfast
I love making the kids homemade donuts every year for the first day of school. Donuts are my favorite food group so I look for any opportunity to eat them. We love pumpkin spice donuts for the first day of school to really get us in the back to school/fall mood.
Another fun tradition is going out for breakfast on the first day of school. Since it’s homeschool you don’t have any time requirements so you can do this without having to have everyone up and ready at 5 a.m.
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Read a First Day Book
I always get the kids a special book to go with the grade year that they’re entering. This year Oliver got Maisy Goes to Preschool
. We love to read our first day book while we eat out special breakfast and get ready for the surprises the first day brings.
All About Me Page
We do the same “All About Me” printable worksheet every year. I’m seriously going to make the kids keep doing them all the way through high school. My plan is to use a three hole punch and put them all in order in a binder for each of my kids. Then when they graduate it will be a nice little gift so they can remember each special first day of school we had.
Create a School Year Bucket List
Sit down with the kids and make a list of different things everyone wants to do throughout the school year. Think of fun field trips you can go on, any specific topics they want to study, or even random little things they want to do at home. Then throughout the year, work a few things from the list into your curriculum each month.
Play Learning Games
Because no one likes to actually do schoolwork on the first day. I can’t even remember doing real work on the first day of public school when I was growing up. So break out the awesome learning games for a memorable first day of school!
Some of our favorite preschool games include:
Decorate Binders, Folders and Notebooks
Cute school supplies can get expensive, especially when you have a larger family and lots of kids to buy for. Instead buy plain supplies and different things to decorate them with like stickers, glitter glue, or gel pens. It’s way more fun for kids to decorate the supplies themselves and helps encourage their creativity.
Take a Trip to the Library
Nothing gets us in the mood for learning like being surrounded by books. Have each of your kids pick a few books about different things they would like to learn more about for that year. Plus you’ll most likely have it all to yourself because all the public school kids will be in school.
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Make a Time Capsule
This is one we are definitely starting this year. Make a time capsule to dig up and open on the last day of school. Have the kids fill it with fun things they can play with to start summer like bubbles and chalk. It’ll be a cool surprise for the last day of school because most smaller kids will forget about it by the end of the school year (just make sure you don’t forget about it!).
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