If your homeschool classroom is following a semi-traditional school calendar, then you are likely approaching the end of another homeschool year! Summer vacation will be here before you know it, and it will be time to wrap up the year! If you are feeling a little uneasy or unsure how to end your homeschool year, this post has everything you need to know!
Do something fun to celebrate the end of the homeschool year
At the end of the year, after all our major assignments are done, we try to do something fun to celebrate the end of the year. There are a ton of great ways you can “close out” your school year! You could have a picnic in the yard with your students, go on a trip, do a fun nature study activity, or just head out for a quick treat with the kids. A fun way to finish out the year can be by building a time capsule of their educational year. Have each of your kids write something they learned from that year and look at your time capsule after they’ve finished school!
Create a homeschool yearbook or scrapbook
If you want to create something that your homeschool children will cherish for years, consider putting together a little yearbook for them! This is something they’d normally get in a public school with pictures of all their classmates. Instead, create a homeschool yearbook or scrapbook that is filled with achievements, experiments, pictures from field trips, and all kinds of other fun things from the year! Let your kids get involved with this activity and you will have a treasure for years to come.
Work on your record keeping
While all the information is still fresh in your mind, go ahead and start working on the records for your kids. Here are some ideas of things you may want to keep a record of:
- The subjects that were studied (including any grades, tests, special projects, or papers they’ve written)
- Books and movies they read/watched
- Field trips
- Extracurriculars
- Achievements
Be as detailed as you can be, because trust me, you won’t remember this stuff 12 years from now when they’ve graduated high school.
Start planning for next year as you end the homeschool year
If you want to get a head start on next year, now is the time! What things worked in your classroom? What can you improve for next year? Take notes and ask your students what they liked or didn’t like. Once you have this information, go ahead and start making plans for your homeschool year. You can even start purchasing curriculum and planning out your lessons.
I also take this time to go through my classroom and make a list of supplies I’ll need. During back to school sales, I stock up on items such as printer paper, pencils, and craft supplies. I also make a note of the curriculum I want to purchase so I can start looking for deals over the summer.
Now that your homeschool year is done, it’s time to relax and finally take a little break! I hope these tips have helped you come up with some ideas to help close out your year and even get a head start preparing for next year!
Should you homeschool during the Summer? Check out this Should You Homeschool During the Summer blog post to see what I have to say!