You’ve decided to homeschool. You’ve talked to other homeschoolers, looked at curriculum, and set up a tentative schedule. But have you involved your children? They’re a HUGE part of the equation and their cooperation…their excitement is paramount to your success in the upcoming year (and beyond).
Here’s the good news – there are A LOT of things you can do, to get your kids on board. For instance, you can:
- Celebrate your decision to homeschool with a mini-party – or a special “we’re homeschooling” snack or meal.
- During your celebration, name your homeschool – have your kids help choose a name for your homeschool, a mascot for your homeschool (maybe a pet?), as well as school colors. Have your kids make some homeschool decorations that go along with the homeschool name/colors, etc.
- During the celebration, think of a mission statement. Your homeschool mission statement should be malleable, and change with every new homeschool year (it will definitely change as your kids get older, and as you become more experienced).
- Involve your children in some of the academic decisions (of course, you will have the overriding vote). Ask them, “What do want to study?”, and have them name 3-5 things they’d like to learn about. Pick among their suggestions for the first month of your homeschool year. Why is this a good idea?
- When you involve your kids in the decision making process, it shows your kids that you take their interests and suggestions seriously
- Also, when you involve your kids in the decision making process, they tend to become more invested
- You want your kids to be excited about what they are learning – they’re just more receptive if they like the subject matter
- In addition to having a say in their academics, let your kids help in making a daily or weekly schedule (again, you’ll have the final say). Start homeschooling just a few hours a day, and build in a flex day if you can – they’re really nice to have.
- New school supplies – take your kids to the store so they can pick out some new homeschool supplies. You know – special pencils, crayons, notebooks, and more. Kids (and parents) love new supplies.
- Celebrate your decision to homeschool with a mini-party – or a special “we’re homeschooling” snack or meal. Check Kitchenistic for their reviews of some cool products.
- New clothes? Kids get new clothes when they go to public school – you might want to get a few new items to celebrate the beginning of homeschooling. Think relaxing, fun clothes – maybe even new pajamas? Yes, I admit, some mornings we start homeschooling in our PJs.
- Plan a fun/educational field trip for your first week of homeschool. This doesn’t have to be an extravagant field trip – think local, think easy. Think fun.
- Take pictures on the first day of your homeschool year. You can use these in your homeschool decorations, in your homeschool portfolio, in the kids’ scrapbooks, and more.
Is there anything else you can think of? You probably have some great ideas as well! We’d love to hear about them.
