Posted in Current News

I've been involved in several discussions lately regarding how to "celebrate" the end of the school year.  As a student of the public school system, I remember that the celebration was simply that summer was starting!

When I was a kindergarten student in a Christian private school, we had a kindergarten graduation.  Each student had to memorize a verse and speak it at the ceremony.  We wore white robes and mortar boards with tassles.  We got little diplomas.  It was very standard stuff, but a "real" graduation nonetheless.

I've heard a variety of ideas about ending the school year.  Some homeschool groups have parties or outings.  Some even have graduation ceremonies for kindergarteners! 

Some parents have little parties with the student's work on display, maybe a short presentation by the student, a cake, and such.  This is really nice, but probably works best if the family members one invites tend to be generally supportive of your homeschooling efforts. 

We finally settled on letting Kate choose the menu for our evening meal - especially dessert!  I'm going to find a card and have both Steve and I write her a special note.  Maybe we'll go through her notebooks from the previous year, though we've been doing this fairly regularly.  Possibly a small gift will be involved.  A photograph is a must! 

Additionally, at some time either the last day or shortly thereafter, I will finish writing my homeschool journal for the year.  I've kept this as a record of major accomplishments and primary concerns and it's been interesting to review. 

Finally, I'll take time to ask Kate some questions about what she liked and disliked about our year, and what she might be interested in studying next year.

Obviously, as the parent and primary teacher, I still have to make the curriculum choices and such.  But I think there is value to finding out what your child's perception is about what they have accomplished.  These notes will be both useful and cherished as we progress on our homeschool journey.

I like this plan as it focuses on family traditions.  It's something we can to every year to convey to our daughter that we are proud of her and the work she's done in the previous year.