We have been homeschooling for over 15 years now. A lot of moms enjoy planning and organizing for their homeschool year and are excited to get back to school. I personally enjoy NOT going back to school! When summer wraps up, and the local schools go back into session, it is my favorite time of year!

Most families have a first day of school tradition:

I have always enjoyed celebrating the first day of school with my children. We start our homeschool on Labor Day. Most times my husband has the day off so he can start our school day with us and help to lay down the rules and pray with us on our first day. He will usually go and get donuts, or we will cook a big breakfast.

After breakfast, we give them some first day of school gifts. These are usually school supplies, a homeschool t-shirt or a new water bottle. It’s like Christmas though, and they get so excited and look forward to their gifts! Then we ease into school with the annual first day of school photos. We start our day with prayer, introduce the new subjects and things we will be learning and we get to work!

We have a special “Not Back to School” Tradition as well:

Our family really enjoys camping. We have a camper that we take out often. Camping can be such a fun vacation or staycation for your family. It is inexpensive and there are great memories that can be made. Some people stress out with camping, and yes, it can be stressful getting everything packed up and set up. Once we are finally there we can breathe, relax and enjoy our family!

Since we love camping so much, and we don’t start school until Labor Day, we decided to start the tradition of a “Not Back to School” Camping Trip! We live in Florida, so we love to visit the fun, touristy places that have water or pools,  that are usually busy all summer. Come back to school time, these places are dead! Since we are not going back to school, it is the perfect time to visit these crowded locations. We enjoy camping at Fort Wilderness at Disney World, or at campgrounds on the beach that are usually booked up months in advance. End of August is usually the slow, low peak season and you can find some great deals. You will also find almost empty campgrounds. It’s the perfect time to camp, or hang out on the beach, or visit a waterpark.

We even get our oldest involved with us. We plan our trip a few days before his college classes start back up so that he can come with us. It is a cherished time together as a family. We plan a special dinner out, plan fun campfire meals, and sight seeing and local activities. Since we live in Florida, we make sure to plan a bunch of these around water because it is still super hot! When we come back, we still have a full week after our trip so that I can finish my homeschool planning. I come back refreshed and ready to say goodbye to summer and take on the new school year!

If you enjoy camping with your family you will also enjoy these posts:

Activities Kids Love – camping is a favorite!

101 Staycation Ideas – a staycation is a great “not back to school” tradition!

Teamwork Wilderness Adventure – this is a fun podcast, and would be a great tradition for older teens.

Here are some other fun ideas for “not back to school” traditions:

• Not Back to School Waterpark Trip – lots of my friends here in Florida, will visit a waterpark on the first day of school.
• Not Back to School Amusement Park Trip – if you can save up some of your vacation money, visiting an amusement park during the first week of school will guarantee low crowds!
• Special Lunch out to a busy restaurant – pick a fun, busy restaurant and go during the middle of the week, during the day to celebrate not going back to school
• Movie Day – go see a popular summer hit in the middle of the day, when everyone else is in school!
• Beach or Lake Day – visit a beach, lake or spring and enjoy no crowds!
• I love this tradition from Felice – “We would always go the beach the end of summer each year for dinner. There is a favorite pizza place right by the beach. After dinner, we would take our pictures dressed up with the beach in the background to mark our new year. Then we would go get ice cream!”

  

What are some of your favorite “Not Back to School” Traditions? We would love to hear them in the comment section!