Finishing the year

[jade]

Just wondering how you end the year. Do you have a kind of end of the school year celebration or something?

 

I've been reading how some of you keep going throughout the summer, which we're going to do as well. But I still feel we need some kind of celebration to signify that we go this far! Plus, DS is finishing fifth grade and going into sixth grade and in our PS that's moving from one school to another, so it's kind of a big deal among his friends. Consequently, it's a big deal for him even tho he's been homeschooled.

 

Along the same lines, do you prepare report cards or something for your kids? I don't think I'm going to do it, but wondering if it gives kids a good psychological boost or anything. I realize some state require more detailed reports than others and ours doesn't require reports. We are going to have graduation certificates that are really positive.

[susankenny]

Our last day is Friday. We are going on vacation for the weekend to celebrate! My little boy has a kindergarten graduation with his co-op on the 4th of June & that's going to be pretty special for him (and totally cute!). We'll still do a little work throughout the summer & then on August 16th we'll start back to record keeping and a full schedule. We always have a huge "back to school" bash with new backpacks, school supplies, etc. My kids really like that though since it's such a huge deal for their friends & they want to experience it too. We kind of replicate the hype just for fun & get ready for co-op to start back :)

 

Susan

[NanceXToo]

I don't prepare a report card, but I print out a certificate of promotion for her "graduating" her to the next grade.

 

She gets a gift, we always give our kids small gifts for "graduating" a school year.

 

And we'll usually do some sort of fun activity or outing to celebrate; this year it was a backyard 'party'- very low key! Where she invited a few neighborhood friends and cousins over, just for fun, and we put on the sprinkler and filled the kiddie pool and they played with water guns, and we grilled hot dogs and provided chips and juice boxes and had ice cream cones for dessert, and my husband did face painting for the kids, it was nice.

[Jen in PA]

We finished this school year with DD taking her first standardized test. She finished it on Monday and marched it down to the post office with great ceremony the next morning, announcing to the postmistress that she was now officially on break (we only take June off, but a month is a big deal to her). As corny as it was, I think that she loved mailing out that exam, and I might make that what we always do on our "last day."

[babysparkler]

We went out to a restaurant (with the grandparents joining us) and we gave them framed promotion certificates for their room. They were very excited!

[Manamana]

Last year we had "Moving Up" day on the last day of school. We had a special snack (doughnuts) in the morning and drove to a favorite park with a big hill. This is corny but the girls loved it - we marched up the hill path and stopped midpoint to pledge that they would do their very best in their new grades next year.

 

Vicki

[jade]

Thanks for your ideas. I am glad that we seem to be going along similar paths. I think that it's good to realize that HS children have achieved success.

 

Just found this site that has free certificate templates (http://dyetub.com/certificates/) that might be good to use if you need a certificate of some sort. I have scrounged around in my vast collection of papers and found nice pre-printed certificates that I am customizing.

[Sunshine State Sue]

Some of the homeschool groups I have been involved in have a Recognition Ceremony. I organized them for a few years. We had an art show, talent show, family displays (displays of the year's school/extracurricular/vacation/etc), and the Recognition Ceremony. The parents wrote up a paragraph for each child. The paragraphs were printed on nice certificates, read at a microphone, and handed to the child. This was wonderful and very individualized. Even a 3 year old could participate since they may have learned their colors and shapes.

 

This year, I'm organizing a pool party for the teens at a local public pool but on a weekday afternoon before PS is out - next Friday actually. It should be fun and a lot less work for me. Also, ice cream is always a big part of our end of the year activities.