Graduation and Graduation Party Ideas

Graduation party ideas may have come sooner on your list of things to Pinterest than you’d planned, but the time is here. How do you plan to celebrate? What are some things you’ll want to remember from your years of homeschooling?

Finally Answering the Critics

Graduation is the day when you officially get to answer the critics without saying a word. When the child you’ve poured hours upon hours of teaching and training into crosses the platform and you hand them a diploma, it just feels GOOD!

I’ve graduated three and will graduate my youngest this year. This means I’ve gotten to answer the critics repeatedly. Homeschooling works. Now it’s up to my kids to make the most of the opportunities they’ve been given.

Participating in a Homeschool Graduation

There are a variety of ways your homeschooler can participate in a homeschool graduation ceremony. Here are a few:

Check with your local homeschool group to see if they offer one.
Talk to your church and see if other homeschool families are planning anything.
If you’re the only homeschooling family at your church, at least participate with the graduating seniors from public and private school, if the church does a blessing and sending off type of ceremony.

If no opportunities exist, you can do the legwork and put something together yourself. It doesn’t have to be fancy.

The Graduation Party

If you participate in an organized ceremony you might find that it also comes with a little after-party. Celebrating with fellow homeschooling families or even your own church may be enough for your family.

In our experience, we were asked to decorate a table to represent our graduating senior.

My children also decorated their caps.

After returning home, we also had a private graduation party. Here are some things we did for this:

We had a taco bar.
A timeline of pictures for the guests to look through was displayed on a table.
We had a box for people to leave words of wisdom, like this one.
We had jumpy thing (what my daughter calls them) also known as a bounce house or inflatable for the little kids to use while everyone visited.

Tips and Tricks I’ve Learned Along the Way

One of the beauties of homeschooling is the ability to keep the public school traditions you want and scrap the rest. Make new ones! These are some tips and tricks for graduation and graduation parties that I’ve learned that might work well for you, too.

Order invitations early. Include your graduating senior in the selection process.
Invite everyone and include an RSVP envelope and card. No everyone will attend, but everyone likes to honor the graduate.
Create a Facebook group to keep everyone on the same page with planning.
It’s a one-day event to commemorate years of work. Focus on what will make a memory.
If you’re planning the party outdoors, have a back up in case of rain.
Keep a short window of time for the open house. This keeps food fresh, you from being overwhelmed, and guests happier. No one says it has to be an all-day event.
Have a discussion with your teen about the potential monies they may receive and plan to put them to use. This can be a savings account or towards school.
Don’t spend a bazillion dollars. Do Graduation on the Cheap.
Think about gifts your graduate will actually love. Don’t guess, ask them.
Bring tissues! It doesn’t get any easier with each one that graduates.