Back to School at Home

It is Back to School (at Home) time! I always get excited before school starts in our home.  Back to School time brings a return to the structure we are used to. We enjoy the slow pace of summer, but by the time mid August rolls around, we are all ready for the back to school routine.

Since we have been doing virtual schooling for 12 years now, starting school seems like saying hello to an old friend.  We have our first day of school traditions that the boys look forward to every year.

One of the wonderful things about schooling at home is that you can design experiences that your children will enjoy and file away in their memory banks.  Back to school traditions are important for homeschooling, just like they are when we start school at a brick and mortar location.

I’d love to share our back to school at home traditions with you in this post. 

It all starts before the first day arrives.

Setting up:

The curriculum materials usually arrive in the home a few weeks before the first day of school. I want to start the year knowing where the materials are, so I plan a few days to get the school room set up.  

When the boys were in elementary school they received a lot of materials.  We would get books, teacher manuals, workbooks, math manipulatives, science experiment supplies, art supplies and even PE equipment.  

So, the first thing to do was to make sure that there was a place for everything!   I would have a bookshelf for each child’s books, and then I would unload the rest of the materials into decorative boxed which I would label.

Please, label the boxes.  You will thank me later.

Some homeschoolers like to use clear plastic bins to store their school supplies.  It makes it easy to see what is inside the bins, and they are very durable and stackable.

That didn’t work for me because for many years my homeschool room was centralized and right off the kitchen.  I didn’t want to feel as if I was always at work when I was in the “red room” (which is what we called the school room in our old house- because it was painted red).  So, I chose to find pretty boxes that went with my decor and then I loaded the school supplies into those. 

I loved that red room!  It worked so well for us for many years.  I had it set up so that I knew where everything was and I could put it all away once school was done.

So, first step in your back to school preparation, open boxes and find homes for the materials.

First Contact From the Teacher:

A few days before school would start, I would get a call from my student’s homeroom teacher. She would take the opportunity to introduce herself and then ask me if I had any questions about the start of school. 

Also, she would let me know if I should check my email for any start up tasks.  Sometimes there are forms to fill out, or beginning of the year testing to be done.

This was also my opportunity to ask any questions of the teacher and make sure I understood how she would be monitoring attendance and progress.  There are always a few changes that happen each year, so I make sure to ask what is new.

Night Before:

I always make sure to set up the school room the night before with the welcome materials. This back to school tradition helps me say goodbye to the summer, and hello to another year of virtual schooling.

I make signs for each of the boys, with their grade and the school year. I also make up a little chalkboard that we will use as our first day of school photo prop.

When the boys were in elementary grades I would put together a pencil box for them of new supplies and have some new notebooks ready for them.  It was important for me to welcome them to the new school year with something special on that first day.

First Day:

One important back to school at home tradition for us is to take pictures.  I have Dave take pictures of us all together, then I get a photo with each boy.  I also take a photo of each boy at their learning space.  Now that they are in high school, that means that I take a photo of them at their desk.

I love looking through those first day photos.  They really establish the importance of starting the new year with positivity and intention.

Be patient and expect hiccups! There seem to always be little quirks that happen on the first few days.  Maybe the Online School will go down.  Or perhaps there are new websites I need to add to our internet filter.  So, be flexible.  It may not go perfectly the first day, but that is ok.  Just focus on getting those first few lessons done!

Once school is done for the day, then I try to make the lunch or dinner special.  Maybe we will go out to lunch or dinner.  Or I’ll plan something fun to cook.  It is a way of celebrating the successful start of a new school year.

How do you plan to make the start of the school year special for your family? What back to school at home traditions at are you going to do this year?

I’d love to hear about your back to school traditions, so please feel free to share them in the comments.