Ideas to Make Back-to-Homeschool Memorable and Fun

This year is our seventh year homeschooling – can you believe it? This entire year I’ve been wrapping my head around what our homeschool is going to look like with children in kindergarten, 2nd grade, 5th grade, and 7th grade. I have spent some time reflecting on how our lives have changed and how far I have come as a homeschooling parent since my oldest started his first homeschool year seven years ago.

Many years we have homeschooled year-round, pausing for a couple of weeks to help transition to the new year. However, this summer we took a traditional summer break and did a ton of traveling. As we start the school year, I couldn’t be more excited to have everyone around the table learning together. I love to plan ahead to make the new year feel special and important for my kids.

As you enter into your new school year, remember that the most important thing to prepare is yourself.

Your kids will enjoy the decorated school area and the trinkets and outings, but what they will remember most is their connection with you. Take some time to cast a vision for your school year, journal, pray, and get excited about learning alongside your children this year. As you think about how to make the first week of the new homeschool year fun, do only what serves your family well and brings you joy and peace. Stay away from the comparison trap and striving for perfection. Add a few of these ideas into your school day, but most importantly, communicate to your children that you LOVE being home with them and have the best job in the world being their mama and teacher.

In this blog post:

Ideas to bring joy to your first day back-to-homeschool
Back-to-homeschool curriculum from Treehouse Schoolhouse

Ideas to bring joy to your first day back-to-homeschool

1. Plan an intentional night before back-to-homeschool.

Try starting a tradition for the night before the first day back to homeschooling.

In my family, our tradition is to have an ice cream sundae bar the evening before we start our new school year. We talk about the previous year, all we did and learned, plus the upcoming year’s plans. We also give the kids a small school supply gift and pray over each of them.

You could make this tradition anything–the key is doing it each year and making sure to have some time to connect with your children’s hearts about the upcoming school year during that time.

2. Prepare a special family breakfast.

Serve a special breakfast the morning of the first day of school or surprise your kids with a trip out to breakfast! Here are some of our favorite special breakfast recipes we’ve tried over the years:

3. Decorate the school area.

Simply add balloons and streamers to your school area, or gather some new long-term decor and freshen up your space as a surprise for your kids. I love these posters from Cavallini Papers for an inexpensive, fun way to redecorate our area. I love hanging fresh display sheets from our curriculum that coordinate with what we are learning about within the first few days of school.

4. Add new school supplies.

Make school supplies extra fun by wrapping them in gift wrap or by creating a scavenger hunt for the kids to find them. Throw in some bonus supplies you don’t normally get like character erasers, special art supplies, and new fidgets for them to play with when you are reading aloud.

5. Introduce a visual schedule.

To set up your days for success, I recommend using a visual schedule to support your children from the time they are very young. Download, personalize, print, and laminate our Daily Rhythm Bundle and introduce a visual schedule to your kids. This will help keep your day flowing, and kids love to see what is happening next as they move through their day.

Connect with your children and arrange the schedule to start the day with any subjects or studies they are excited about.

6. Create an All About Me self-portrait.

Have your children create a self-portrait and write down some of their current favorites to look back on and remember who they were at the beginning of the school year. When I do this with my kids, I like to include their favorite book, food, song, hobby, and current best friend. You could also easily find a freebie online with an All About Me template for the kids to fill out. This is a tried-and-true way to take a snapshot of who they are at this point in time and see how they evolve throughout the year.

7. Ask children what they want to learn.

The first day of the new school year is a great time to connect with your children and talk about what they want to learn about this year. Give your kids some sticky notes and invite them to write down topics and stick them to a wall in your school area. Then, plan some time to learn each thing they wrote. We like to do this all year long! Some of our favorite things we’ve studied as a family have been ideas my children suggested.

8. Start a fun unit study.

Start your school year off by exploring a unit study that will really excite and engage your kids. If you’re new to homeschooling, unit studies explore multiple subjects through one topic, making it easy to teach different ages and bring everyone together during your school day. Unit studies are often more hands-on than other school work.

In our family, we like to use nature as a catalyst for unit studies, exploring topics like storms, apples, reptiles, and birds of prey. We use Treehouse Nature Study to guide these lessons, which includes poetry, music, art, nature walks, crafts, experiments, and more. We use both Primary and Intermediate levels side-by-side to engage all ages of my children. We typically like to begin with Apples Week!

9. Learn together by playing games.

Games are such a great way to foster connection and learn cooperation skills. There are so many amazing games out there that also invite you into learning. Instead of using a math curriculum on the first day, try playing a math game!

10. Take school outside.

Surprise your kids by packing up all of your school materials on the first day and taking it out in the backyard with a picnic, or on the road to your favorite park. Bring a blanket and some lunch and enjoy the freedoms of homeschooling from day one!

11. Plan a fun field trip.

Plan a field trip for the first day to kick off the year. We love visiting museums, nature centers, and the zoo. Bring a camera and some clipboards for your older children to take notes of things they are observing and learning and create a notebook page of the day when you return home.

12. Engage in poetry over tea.

Have a special teatime in the afternoon, complete with a treat, tea, and your favorite poetry books. Set the table with a pretty tablecloth and light a candle to make it extra memorable.

13. Begin a new read-aloud together.

Cozy up and start a new read aloud that you know everyone will enjoy. Add a favorite snack to your read aloud time.

This year we are reading many new books and using Treehouse Book Studies to bring the stories to life. When we finish each book, we will meet with friends or have a family night for presentations, book-themed snacks, and activities!

14. Make a vision board with your children of what you want to learn and accomplish.

Spend time together exploring what the new year will look like. Talk about the new books you will read, topics you will learn, field trips you’ll take, and new skills you want them to grasp this year. Cut out pictures, letters, and words that reflect these ideas and work together with your children to make a collage of your vision for the year. Display your vision board in your homeschool area where you can see if throughout the year.

15. Take first day of school pictures.

Use a simple backdrop or a chalkboard sign to make first day of school pictures for all of your children. They can write their names, ages, and grades, or even write out all of their favorite things at this age.

16. Wear back to school t-shirts.

Print t-shirts for your entire family for the first day of school. You could make matching shirts with everyone’s names, or include a message that is important to your family, like a Bible verse you want to remember throughout the year. Or, choose a t-shirt that will bring a bit of humor to your homeschool days, like this one.

17. Incorporate new responsibilities.

Now that your children are a year older, instill habits and new responsibilities they can foster throughout the year. Consider what new chores that could help with this year and start these new habits on the first day back, along with a reward for completing their jobs. Make a list for children to check off their responsibilities as they finish tasks. (These are our favorite chore charts!)

18. Begin the day with music and movement.

Start out the new school year with music, movement, and fun. Children will love beginning their homeschool days with a song, musical instruments, or a sweet hand rhyme to learn together. Giving children a chance to come together and let energy out – not just being forced to sit still, will help them enjoy settling in to learning. For music that coordinates with curriculum and learning, check out our Spotify playlists.

You can also make time for simple movement and exercises throughout your day. Set up fitness stations in your home and have some fun and laughs while encouraging movement with your children like jumping jacks, jump rope, cat and cow stretches, or whatever you think your children will love. You could even set up a simple obstacle course for children to complete, or give awards for participation.

Back-to-homeschool curriculum from Treehouse Schoolhouse

Treehouse Story School: Preschool

Treehouse Story School: Preschool is 32-weeks of gentle, literature-based curriculum designed for ages 2.5-5 years. This preschool curriculum that invites children to learn through the themes in stories they love. Each week will focus on a picture book, inviting children into connection and learning through music and movement, play-based narration, alphabet and number play, motor skills, practical life development, crafts, and baking together.

It would be a great fit for your toddler or preschooler if you are looking to incorporate multi-sensory, play-based learning while introducing them to timeless stories. From toddler through upper preschool, this curriculum can be used year after year as you dive deeper into beloved, classic stories your family will cherish. Preview a free week here.

Treehouse Book Studies

Treehouse Book Studies are digital download book studies of children’s literature for ages 5-13. Use in your homeschool as literature curriculum or as book study with a small group. Create lasting connections through rich stories while you study themes such as science, nature, geography, history, and language arts. Each download includes: Book Study with weekly lesson plans, recipes, Book Report Template, Extension Book List, Multimedia Reference Materials links, and Book Club Meet-up Guide.

Treehouse Nature Study, Primary Years

Treehouse Nature Study, Primary Years is a seasonal nature study curriculum designed with family-style learning in mind. It is a gentle guide meant to invite various ages to connect with each other and the world around them through living books, nature notebooking, hands-on projects, and beauty subjects such as poetry, picture study, and folk songs.

From preschool through upper middle school, it appeals to every age and is easily used with multiple ages at the same time.

It would be a great fit for your preschool or kindergartener’s core curriculum or your whole family’s home education Morning Time and Nature Study. It also provides supplemental work for your children’s language arts through poetry memorization, recitation, copywork, and notebooking.

Treehouse Nature Study, Intermediate Years

Introducing Treehouse Nature Study, Intermediate Years geared towards grades 4th-8th. Experience a seasonal study that invites your older children to connect with each other and the world around them through living books, nature notebooking, hands-on projects, poetry, and picture study. Deepen your child’s learning through advanced language arts and scientific experiments.

It would be a great fit for your upper elementary or middle schooler’s science curriculum or your whole family’s home education Morning Time and Nature Study. It also provides supplemental work for your children’s language arts through poetry copywork, creating an Illustrated Science Dictionary, creative writing prompts, notebooking, and internet research.

Whether this is your first year homeschooling or you’ve been homeschooling for years, the start of a new year is always an exciting time. I hope these ideas help you find meaningful, intentional ways to kick off the new year that will bring joy to your family.

If you have any back-to-school traditions you love, please share them in the comments below.