Make the First Day of Your Homeschool Year Special: Building Family Traditions that Last

“That old September feeling, left over from school days, of summer passing, vacation nearly done, obligations gathering, books and football in the air ... Another fall, another turned page: there was something of jubilee in that annual autumnal beginning, as if last year's mistakes had been wiped clean by summer.” 

― Wallace Stegner, Angle of Repose

Growing up, I went to a brick and mortar school. There’s not much about my time at public school that I try to imitate in my homeschool, but there is one thing I try to copy. 

That First Day of School Feeling. 

For me, going back to school meant a clean slate and new possibilities. I loved the ritual of getting the new backpack, going to JCPenny’s for new clothes (and then later poring over the Delia’s catalog and ordering whole outfits). It was getting new folders and notebooks and pens. A special eraser. 

My look for most of Jr. High and High School.