What do you get when you blend together the first day of school, 2 parents attempting to speak with a British accent, 3 yummy baking challenges, 4 traditional first day activities, and 5 excited homeschooled kids? Well, you will get the recipe for an exciting Great British Bake-Off themed first day of homeschool, of course!
Ingredients for a Sweet First Day
1 Day of School
We typically start each homeschool year on a Friday and celebrate it as our ‘Fun Start Friday’. The kids look forward to the first day and try, throughout the summer, to get me to tell them the top secret first day theme. Why do we do this? Well, because, let’s be honest, the rest of our homeschool days are fairly full and organized with academic pursuits that we usually attempt with a great deal of diligence. Our first day is designed to build excitement and anticipation for a brand new school year. It also creates lots of fun memories for our family. This year’s theme was ‘We’re Baking Up One Sweet Year’ and was based off of the Great British Bake-Off television show.
2 Parents attempting to speak with a British accent
Please notice that I said, ‘attempting’. The kids actually do much better at this than we do! We ended up being so busy that we forgot to do this through much of the day. However, we could be heard saying a lot of ‘On your mark, get set, bake,’ ‘No soggy bottoms,’ and ‘It’s a good bake.’ We also tossed around some baking idioms. It was so much fun!
3 Yummy Baking Challenges
If you have watched the Great British Bake Off, then you know that each show consists of three challenges – The Signature Bake, the Technical Challenge, and the Show Stopper. We were a bit zealous and did all three bakes on one day. One or two bakes would have been sufficient. The kids stuck with it though and we didn’t finish our Show Stopper until 7:30 at night. It was a long first day, but we all had a blast!
What were our baking challenges?
1) The Signature Bake – Scones
2) The Technical Challenge – Scripture Cookies
3) The Show Stopper Bake – Decorative Cakes
4 Traditional First Day Activities
There are a few activities that our family will commonly do on the first day of school , regardless of the theme – Growing in Grace Sheets, Encouraging Notes, a Scripture focus, and an art or craft project.
- Growing in Grace Sheets
We have the kids think through some of their favorite things (colors, school subjects, books, Scripture, etc.), envision what they want to do this year as well as when they grow up, and consider their areas of strength and weakness. We also have them draw a self portrait each year and record their new heights and weights.
- Encouraging Notes
The kids have to think and write a note of encouragement to each of their siblings. (I write a note to each child as well and place it on the inside of their place card to read at breakfast on the first day.)
- A Scripture Focus
We may have sword drills or pass out Scripture references for each child to read aloud. After reading, we briefly discuss the verse(s) and how to apply it. Often, the focus will be on love, the fruit of the Spirit, or how to grow in wisdom according to the Bible. One particular verse will be our theme verse for the entire school year. This year’s verse is from Psalm 119:103…
How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth.
- An Art or Craft Project
To go along with our baking theme, we had each child complete a cake chalk pastel drawing!
5 Excited Homeschooled Kids
I had to hold back tears of joy several times throughout the day. Seeing the kids’ enthusiasm and eagerness to participate as well as realizing the privilege we have of being able to enjoy this sweet time with them was priceless.
Thank you, Jesus, for such a sweet, memorable start to our homeschool year.
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