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Does anyone make up a certificate of completion when the guide is done? Maybe a little family ceremony? I sometimes do a c certificate when they finish a math book, and was thinking about one for the The guides. If you have pictures, I'd love to see!

No but our family does do a celebration. We let the child who is finished choose something fun for the family to do together, like going to a restaurant or a movie or bowling or something. It is a tradition in our house now that the kids look forward to.

What a wonderful idea! We haven't ever done anything like that, but it sounds like a fun thing to do. We usually take some time just to peruse our notebooks and look over our work for the year. It would be nice to have a special family dinner or ceremony and share some of the highlights of the year. I'll be watching your thread and looking forward to seeing what everyone else does. Maybe that will give me some ideas.

We usually choose one academic skill for each student that he/she has improved in and one character trait that we have seen them grow in throughout the year! We also celebrate with a "treat" of some kind...this year it was Wendy's Frostys!!!

That is an adorable idea! I bought a Kindergarten diploma (only 35cents at the local school supply store) for my son and then discovered my computer HAS a really print shop program and made a "ready to begin preschool" certificate for my daughter. She literally BEGS to do "skoo-worksh". But until recently she couldn't sit still for more that 2 seconds unless she was asleep. But I think come fall I will begin her in LHTH- she will be 3.5yrs then.

But I love the idea of a certificate for finishing a guide and letting the child choose a family activity. Probably camping. We'll see what he comes up with. We still have 9 units left!

All great ideas! I've been doing a new book in their favorite series every 8 units. I know homeschooling doesn't have to be like brick and mortar school, but there is something special about getting recognized for your achievements Hmmm...Maybe I'll find a couple old trophies at the thrift shop and spray paint them. Write the name of the guide on it and call it a "book award" . When the next kid completes the book, the child before "passes it down" to the next one! Oh I like that!

That's a nice idea For the last two years we've taken a 1 night trip to Great Wolf Lodge during homeschool week and I plan to end school right before that.

We set out all our work for the year and have a "Grandparents' Day" where the grandparents come over and look at all the projects, notebooks, and workbooks. I also type up a list of accomplishments for each kid and read some of those for the grandparents. I did use a K certificate for my older and plan to do that again for my next one next year. My dd in Beyond loved the "Mother's Jewels" poem so much that she memorized it, so I'll probably have her recite it this year. We usually have lunch/dinner and make a celebration out of the day. We end it with me telling the girls they are officially "promoted" to the next year. On the first and last days of school, I make signs saying "First Day of xyz" and "Last Day of xyz" and I take pictures. It is fun to look back on those.

HTH,
Kathy

We have done certificates for the younger grades, but the kids really love having a special Family Fun Night, where the graduate chooses what they want to eat that evening, dessert included and what games we play as a family! For finishing other small books we go get an ice cream cone to celebrate!

Being that we live in Florida, we went to celebrate starting Bigger Hearts as well, by going to the beach and hunting for Shark teeth, shells, algae, seaweed, tide pools etc. we have gone several times now. It is great fun as we do this with another family who started Bigger at the same time. The kids totally enjoy this.
Blessings,