Celebrate Homeschool Freedom Day on the first day of public school wherever you live!
I’ve written about my family’s tradition of Homeschool Freedom Day in my comments on several other folks’ blogs, so it seems like I ought to write about it on my own, don’t you think?
We start our official “new school year” at a different time every year, ranging from June to September, depending on many variables. (If you have read my previous post about not categorizing times as school and not-school, you may think it’s inconsistent for me even to speak in terms of a “new school year,” and I suppose you’d have a point. I designate an official start to a “year” primarily for the sake of conversing with the rest of society in terms they recognize, and also to simplify my own record-keeping and lesson-planning. I reluctantly even designate my children as being in certain “grades” to spare them confusion or awkwardness when talking with friends in the neighborhood or at church. Most people just really don’t want to hear a dissertation on the Artificiality of Grade Designations as a Tool for Pigeonholing Large Groups of Children in Institutional Settings.)
But I digress. . . .*
No matter when we start our new “school year,” one thing always remains the same. On the first day of public school in our town, my boys do NOT have any formal lessons. Instead, we celebrate Homeschool Freedom Day (a term I coined), usually by going to the park for a picnic with homeschooling friends . . . just because we can! We revel in the freedom and flexibility that homeschooling makes possible. (The generally smaller crowd at the park when government school is in session is a nice bonus.)
I’d love to hear how your family celebrates Homeschool Freedom Day! And if you like the idea but school has already started where you live, just pick a day . . . any day . . . to celebrate your freedom. The Specific Holiday Date Enforcement Squad will never know. . . .
Mary Jo
*Those of you who know me well will not be surprised to find me digressing from time to time. It’s been known to happen before. Those of you who don’t really know me yet will soon learn—if you read my blog regularly, which I hope you will—that digressions and parentheses are a fairly routine element of my style. Sort of like following an interesting rabbit trail in a unit study. And I’ve found that digressions and rabbit trails are often the most interesting parts of life.
We didn’t realize we were celebrating Homeschool Freedom Day when we spent the first day of public school having our neighborhood pool ALL TO OURSELVES! It was wonderful. We even had all four life guards all to ourselves. I think we shall make it a tradition and call it our own special Homeschool Freedom Day tradition.
Thanks, Mary Jo!
I’ll have to see if anyone would want to do participate in something like that.
SouthernPuritan, I hope you’ll find someone to join you for a Homeschool Freedom Day celebration, but if you can’t, just do something fun as a family this year, and maybe by next year you can create enough buzz about what fun you had that people will be asking you to join them for Homeschool Freedom Day!
Jeannie, I love that you celebrated Homeschool Freedom Day unconsciously! Your description of the pool reminds me of what fun it is to go to normally-crowded places off-season – like the beach in early October. Heavenly!
Mary Jo
thanks for sharing it…I think we’ll do just that…sounds like fun and I’m already looking forward to it!!
deidra
Great idea Mary Jo, we’ll have to adopt that at our house.
Everybody around HSB “tags” everyone else with a question to start a new blog thread, so since you’re the most well-read person around here, who would you consider to be the top five greatest authors of the 20th century, and why? (Besides F. Scott Fitzgerald!)
Jay, you rascal! I thank you for the compliment, but that’s not a tag I can answer off the cuff. I’ll give this some thought and post a reply as soon as I can. I’m pretty preoccupied right now getting ready for an out-of-town business conference, so it may not be until I return. Of course, this challenge is just the sort of thing that will wake me up at 3:00 a.m. as my subconcious ponders it.
Great question!
Mary Jo
I have a friend that starts the first day of school with a special, out of the ordinary breakfast – such as doughnuts and pastries or such on her good dishes. So their school year gets of to a special start. I love these ideas!
tootlepip
http://www.tootlestime.blogspot.com
You are hysterical! And 100% correct, especially re: pigeonholing, and speaking in terms that the ‘others’ can relate to. My kids are Jacob (8), Rachael (10) and Zach (11). Now Rachael is more on Jacob’s level math-wise, yet more on Zach’s level writing-wise LOL. It is ridiculous to assign them to a particular grade but alas,must cope the best we can. I rather like your idea of Homeschool Freedom Day and I think I shall take my children to a local orchard where there is a petting zoo and a quaint little country store. Seriously! Then maybe hit the local Funplex!LOL I LOVE THAT IDEA!!! Why didn’t I think of that??? LOL
Just read your last several bloggings and believe I’ve found a kindred spirit. : )
We always celebrate the first week of public school by going to our local zoo and the Indianapolis Childrens’ Museum. There’s no one there other than homeschoolers. It’s wonderful!
Glad to have “followed” you over here. It’s always nice to find other bookaholics.
: )
Jane
and finally realized what I was doing wrong. I was calling you Electric Bibliophile not Eclectic!!! ROFLOL
Got it sorted now and thanks for posting on my blog. I notice that we have some things in common in that we don’t follow school years, learning happens each day-yet we enjoy having a special “start” day to each year for lack of a better word. I will certainly adopt your Homeschool Freedom Day holiday name for our PS’s first day this year.