Our First Day of School Tradition

Distance learners can get in on it, too.

Marking the start of a new school year felt like an act of hypocrisy — maybe rebellion — in our home. Since we never really stopped homeschooling during the summer when other “normal” schools take off, there was no “official” First Day of School for us.

Call me a taskmaster, but it really wasn’t like that. We had an abbreviated, lighter schedule full of “fun” stuff during hot months. Like lots more time exploring in the woods for sightings or signs of critters or unusual plants new to us. An outside science class! We were in heaven.

Another favorite was library hopping. We’d spend hours on end at one of the five branches of the public library system in our county (or the six others in our neighboring county). We would rotate among them, depending on where the coolest programs were for kids. Of course, we always participated in the summer reading program. You know the expression “Too many books. Too little time”? We intended to turn that saying on its head. I’d call that school-related, wouldn’t you?

But, to ease back into a little more standard academic work — that the rest of the world traditionally initiates on the First Day of School — we’d do something totally non-school.

“Mom! Don’t forget the inner tubes!”

Not like they’re hard to miss.

While our neighborhood streets turned silent since all our friends had headed back to school, we’d take off for the day (sometimes two, combining a camping escapade with it, too).

Assateague Island National Seashore

Assateague Island National Seashore was a favorite spot. After Labor Day, the crowds thinned out. Just us and the wild horses. Surf and sand, of course. A few seagulls and horseshoe crabs, too.

My youngest son, Jamil, went through a dinosaur phase that lasted for many years. So, he brought along all his reptilian partners in crime. One time, he wanted to set up a volcano scene on the beach using baking soda and vinegar. Jamil carefully placed brontosaurus, T-Rex, triceratops, and all their brothers and sisters around the volcano. Then, he put some baking soda in a bottle and centered it under the volcanic structure. Quickly added some vinegar and capped it…then whoosh! White lava streaming down the sides covering the dinosaurs, often knocking them over.

For 6-year-old Jamil, this entire process was so exciting that he repeated the eruption over and over, rolling on the sand laughing each time. Eventually, he ran out of vinegar before his enthusiasm waned. Then off to play in the surf to rinse off his dino pals, too.

Whether or not dinosaurs actually roamed the beaches or not didn’t matter to Jamil. There was no stopping his fun. As it should be when your 6. Or 60.

Occasionally at Assateague, we’d take in a class or two at the visitor’s center. (That really counted as homeschooling.) Surprise, surprise! We’d encounter a few other homeschoolers who had the same idea. We would exchange knowing glances and smiles. Just our little secret.

During the classes, my kids earned their “Junior Ranger” badges by demonstrating their exceptional knowledge of all things Assateague. This involved going to the beach with a real park ranger a couple of times to identify seaweed, clam shells, jelly fish, sea purses, etc. It was a source of great pride for my three little beach bums. And a souvenir they took back home to always remember our fun homeschooling getaways after Labor Day on the seashore.

Gifford Pinchot State Park

Another special place for First Day of School field trips was Gifford Pinchot State Park, located an hour’s drive from our home. The lake was “officially” closed after Labor Day. (But not anymore, if you’re interested. Climate change, I guess.) However, that didn’t stop us from playing in the water. We just brought the beach floats, inner tubes and sand toys along for the excursion.

Our minivan was bursting with bikes and scooters, too. To save space we’d deflate the inflatables and bring along the pump. This way we didn’t need to take time strapping on and off stuff on the top rack (and we didn’t have a bicycle rack, either).

Since my children loved to play with their dump trucks and excavators in the sand, they’d spend more time there than in the water, anyway. And the playground! Swings, slides, monkey bars, climbing poles. You name it. And all to ourselves.

Pinchot was a kid’s paradise. It had two playgrounds located a few hundred feet apart. One had swings for tots and teens. They were next to the seesaw. What fun! My children adored the up-and-down motion of it. Sometimes, though, if a bigger person jumped off too fast without announcing it, the other plopped down hard. That hurt!

At the other end of the beach area were the large sand pile, playground climbing structure, and basketball court. If one child wanted to swing while the others took to the sand pile, I stationed myself right smack in the middle of the beach (really, a grassy area) where I could see them all.

During the summer season, paddle boats, kayaking, and fishing were popular. Everything was closed up after Labor Day when we had visited. But still, tiny fish enjoyed the visitors like us who’d venture into calmer Pinchot Lake. When you sat still in shallow water too long, the fish would nip at your legs and feet. “Ouch!” screamed one of my little ones as they scampered away, making a lot of waves to chase the fish away. Until they returned a few minutes later for more toe chomping.

First Day of School Outdoor Adventures

“Seize the day” is a great homeschooling mantra. It was certainly my family’s.

The symbolism of the return to what many kids find to be pure drudgery (except for seeing old friends again) called me as a homeschooler to do something different. Unexpected. Fun.

For me, this meant doing the opposite of what most kids do that day. So, rather than be inside (as almost all schoolchildren are, sadly), it was important for me to get outside.

I could never figure out why in late August-beginning of September, when the water was warm and the thunderstorms or heat and humidity had passed, the First Day of School occurred anyway. Early September is the perfect time to be outside close to a body of water.

If your family’s doing distance learning this year, you could still work in a beach or lake day, (or maybe at least, a half-day) for the First Day of School — or at least for the second day. Why not? Maybe if you really wanted to tune into school stuff in real time, use a smartphone to connect a laptop to the internet. Your kids can enjoy new teachers’ greetings while they are beach- or lakeside. There is no rule that you must do distance learning at home, is there?

Just don’t wear pajamas!

I can’t think of a better way to start the school year off right — outside.

Hope your school year is fantastic.