I remember going shopping with my mother for school supplies.
We’d get packets of paper, pencils, pink erasers,
and glue sticks for myself and my sisters.
When we got home,
Mama would put all of our pencils in a mason jar, pointy end up.
We could just FEEL the new school year beginning.
*****
Its funny how things are different when you are homeschooled.
My backpack was used for picnic lunches,
rather than for carrying textbooks from locker to classroom.
Our kitchen table was where I learned multiplication
–taking an occasional break to feed the fish—
rather than the usual desk.
For us, home-teaching was always
Life along with Learning.
*****
As a freckle faced girl, it never crossed my mind
that one day I’d be teaching my own little homeschoolers.
Now, I march through the supermarket with a trail of wee men behind me.
(one who has spent the morning insisting I call him Captain Hook)
The bob-haired baby in the front of the cart,
is still fingering her new haircut and grinning through a mouthful of raisins.
I send my emissaries to grab construction paper,
on the low shelf where they can reach,
and grin as I wrap my own fingers around a pack of number 2 pencils.
I hear the echoes of my long-ago childhood excitement
as crayons are carefully chosen and placed in the back of the cart.
My pupils are skipping behind me as we leave the store,
crinkling through bags as we drive back home,
and asking for sheets of fresh white paper as soon as we walk in the door.
I watch as they each pull up a chair around the kitchen table,
drawing books in hand and new crayons ready to be broken in.
I should probably make them wait.
I should probably keep those crayons nice and fresh for our first day of school.
Probably.
I smile as I arrange our pencils pointy end up in a mason jar.
Who cares if they crayons are a bit worse for wear.
We are beginning again.
What are some traditions your family has for the first day of school?
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We go out to eat on the first morning of school – our ‘Back to School Breakfast’. Mom brings along her teacher planner and we discuss what we did last year poorly and well – we talk about our new goals for a fresh start on a new year… and we munch on breakfast tacos and drink chocolate milk and laugh about how nice it is to hang out in the sunshine on the porch instead of a school-room cafeteria. THEN we go buy school supplies. Only, this year we already have them, so that part is going to be sorely missed by my spoiled kids!
Oh I LOVE that! A new school year breakfast out–I may have to steal your idea
Sara Sophia
Love to hear about your sweet back-to-school memories and your own excited litle ones!
We also do a back-to-school breakfast at IHOP – the kids’ fave restaurant. Then we come home and I pass out the new school supplies. My girls get especially giddy over their new stuff!
I just love this post! Always so inspiring to see homeschooled children who loved it enough to grow up and homeschool their own. Thanks for sharing!
I introduce the new books and I bring extra yummy snacks. I explain what the new Grade will bring book-wise and age-wise. Then I suggest we leave Math out on the first day, a suggestion too good to be true and therefore gratefully accepted. I take a whole first week to get into our routine again. (We just started Grade 4).
Wishing you all a very good start.
I place their new files in their chair bags and I write a very special welcome letter for each child for the new year. They treasure these.
Most years we create a homeschool vision poster and it is filled with words that describe the type of activities, character traits and spiritual qualities we want in our homeschool. We hang this up, pray for this and each other and our school has begun!
Great post!!!
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