Party School: Inspired by Brave Learner

Do you celebrate learning achievements with your child? Julie Bogart from Brave Learner suggests hosting book club parties when kids finish a great book. I think the idea translates really well to science and history learning as well, so celebrations are something I’ve built into our exploration guides at NorthStar. Creating decorations around a theme naturally brings up what topics kids learned about during a study and can even replace testing for the homeschool family. Read on to learn how we use celebrations in our homeschool and 8 ideas to get you started!

Celebrations mark accomplishments and the end of hard work. When we work hard to achieve a goal our minds and bodies expect cues that tell us to shift gears. As a mom, the book Burnout - The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle has been hugely influential to me. The book centers on how we can signal the end of stress, telling our bodies that it’s time to rest, which helps us restore our energy and prepare for the next thing. While I’d hope that our homeschool environments aren’t hugely stressful even self-motivated pursuit of a goal can be a little stressful. ADHD folks like me and my son now this well, because when hyperfocus catches us, it can be hard to slow down for basics of life like eating and sleep.

This concept also came up a lot in change management when I worked with environmental nonprofits. Celebrating achievements helps motivate people to keep pursuing challenging goals in the future. We remember the positive feelings associated with the celebration and this motivates us to have those feelings again.

Right now, at NorthStar we are celebrating completing our comprehensive update to DIRT! We greatly expanded what this study has to offer and it will be the model moving forward for our team. My children and I did the activities together, so we too are celebrating the end of our study. I was so excited to see how easily my son remembered the layers of the soil and it's composition! A party is far more memorable than a test. Though we can (and often do) come back to a topic, this is our favorite way to reflect on what we have learned and it’s also such an enjoyable way to connect.

Here are a few ideas to get you started celebrating learning:

1) Make posters about the topic for decoration

2) Make themed snacks or treats

3) Have the kids come up with decorations that fit the topic theme

4) Come up with games about the topic

5) Quiz each other on what you’ve learned, winner gets a prize!

6) Finish any enjoyable reading or poetry that was part of the study

7) Listen to music around your theme (This works especially well when doing a country study!)

8) Display your work to share with family

If your kids are interested in learning more about soil science, our study guide DIRT already includes an end-of-study celebration! Check it out.