Making the Choice to Celebrate!

When the school supply displays show up at Walmart, I start to get excited- I love the bins of new crayons (Crayola only, people!!), packs of pencils (also a snob here: Ticonderoga or nothing!) and all the notebooks and packs of fresh paper… this is my JAM!

Not everyone feels this way- and I can understand why… it also means new routines, making decisions about curriculum for homeschooling, and an end to the summer schedules that often are so much more flexible for many of us.

What if…and this could be a big jump for some of you…what if we decided to celebrate going “back to school”...

what if we chose to replace the dread and anxiety that I hear so many people express with a focus on the positives and the blessings that come with this time of year?

I hear you: not everyone loves school like I always have:

I am, and have always been a self-confessed school nerd who loved to learn and who matched the color of her notebooks to her textbooks for each subject. (I realize this is ridiculous but it was a true joy for me every year!)

But what if we CHOSE to celebrate with our family like it was an event to be appreciated and even looked forward to?

To celebrate means to acknowledge an event with a special activity or gathering because we want to mark the occasion, and celebrations do a few things for us:

they increase gratitude,

create memories,

carry on traditions,

and help us consider the future with a positive outlook.

I need more of all of that in my life and in my own family!

Celebrating some occasions is easy, like birthdays, or anniversaries, or other milestones…and even the beginning of summer usually feels like a celebration.

But what if we consider what message we might be sending to our students if we don’t make the choice to celebrate the start of our yearly learning routine?

Could it possibly be saying that learning is a chore rather than a privilege…or that education should be viewed as something to just get done rather than to enjoy?

We celebrate what matters to us…so if we neglect to celebrate, that sends a message to our children as well.

I reject those ideas- and I bet that when you think about it, you might too- so what DO we want to focus on?

-That we GET to learn and educate ourselves

-That rhythms and routines can be nourishing and calming

-That the beautiful stories in the books that we get to read open up whole worlds for us

-That relationships are deepened when we have a common goal of learning

In our homeschool, we follow the educational philosophy of Charlotte Mason, who was an 19th century British educator that spent her life improving education for children. One of her most famous quotes is:

“Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, and a life.”

From the beginning, the goal of our homeschool, Arrows Academy, has been to create learners, not just to fill our children with facts and figures… and I truly believe that celebrating the start of a school year supports and encourages the kind of atmosphere and life that we have focused on creating for our children as we educate them at home.

Our goal is to create an atmosphere of learning and to grow learners that are self motivated- so our words and attitudes about education must reflect this. Considering these goals, I think a little bit of effort put into a celebration is so worth it for us- and I think it will be for you, too!

For this week’s download I am offering you a set of resources that you can use to celebrate Back to School along with us- whether you are a homeschooling family or educate your children in other ways!

You will get:

-an explanation of the simple but fun ideas that I have used for years with my own children (they would be so disappointed if I didn’t include these things on our first day back to school!)

-A “Welcome to ___ Grade” sign to print and put at their spot on the table for your celebration

- A Back to School Treasure Hunt to print and the directions to set it up

- Back to school coupons to give them as a fun surprise!

All of these are FREE right now with our newsletter- we are so excited to help support you and your family as you make the choice to celebrate this new school year, and we would love to hear about how you used these resources with your family!

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"We all have need to be trained to see, and to have our eyes opened before we can take in the joy that is meant for us in this beautiful life." - Charlotte Mason

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Blessings,

Shay Kemp