End of a School Year Celebration

Wow! Here we are at the beginning of May when our minds turn to planning what we’re doing this summer and, for many, winding school down for the year.

Looking ahead like that makes this time of the year the perfect time to celebrate all the growth in learning that has happened since the leaves turned colors last fall. I strongly encourage celebrating your kiddos growth. They have done a lot of hard work that needs acknowledgment with celebration.

Here are a couple of ideas that will hopefully spark ideas for celebrating.

First, let’s let celebrating have no boundaries. 😊 So, get out all the art supplies - pencils, pens, paints, and notebooks. You will want to have anything they and you could possibly want to use to create works that celebrate the progress of this year.
Yes, you get to celebrate too! You have grown this year as well and celebrating with your lovelies shares with them that they get to enjoy growing even when they are adults.
To get the mental juices flowing, begin with a fun brainstorming session to help you and your kiddos remember where they were and the path they enjoyed getting to where they are now in all their studies.
What do I mean by brainstorming? Just start writing and/or quick drawing as fast as they can anything and everything as it comes to mind about the year. Have them share as they are recording their thoughts and you do the same. This will stimulate more memories and fun.
Take time to celebrate as you go along. Step back with them and admire yours and their brainstorming “work”. Take time to truly enjoy ALL that you’ve discovered this year.
You can approach Step 4 in a couple of ways.

They can timeline their writings and drawing to share the steps from then to now. They may find more to add to the timeline.
They can pick out projects they accomplished that demonstrates their progress at specific points in time. They may want to write and draw more about those.

It doesn’t matter how you approach it with them, the only thing that matters is continuing the feeling of celebration that is growing as they look at their own progress through the last year.

Then, decide a way to culminate their celebration. You may want to have a special time and invite family and friends to share in the fun as they share their learning of this last year. Food is always fun at these occasions.

On this topic, I must share a fun post I ran into of a young boy celebrating his year by putting on a piano concert for all his stuffed animals. He published a pamphlet sharing the pieces he would be playing and their origins. He arranged chairs for his audience and took time to announce every piece with a little background. It was a delight to watch, in fact, I had to watch it twice. 😊

I hope you have fun celebrating this school year as it comes to a close. I welcome pics or videos of your celebrations. I would love to share in your joy.

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