Homeschooling offers so many opportunities for families, not the least of which being the freedom! Freedom in how we approach learning, freedom in how we spend our time, freedom in our goals. We are able to choose what works best and matter most to our family.
A great way to establish that freedom is by making a homeschool bucket list! Not just those seasonal bucket lists with fun family activities, although those are amazing, too. But making some bigger plans, or simply some “homeschool staples” that we get to enjoy by learning at home.
Every family is different and has different goals for their homeschool experience. Sit down with your kiddos and come up with some ideas you hope to complete throughout these educational years! You can make one yearly and tailor it to plans you have for that specific school year, or even just have a more generalized one to check off as you complete activities over the course of multiple years.
Here are some ideas to add to your homeschool bucket list!
Find ways to give back to or help your community.
Teach the importance of giving back through a unique hands-on experience. Volunteer at a nursing home or sip kitchen, get informed on local government, start a community garden!
Join a co-op.
Having a group of like-minded people to gather with is incredibly helpful while homeschooling. It allows your kids to socialize of course. But you can also bounce ideas off of other parents, take turns teaching the kids based on your own personal skills or interests!
Do Operation Christmas Child together.
Another way to give back! Help your kids stay grounded by reminding them of those less fortunate that we can show kindness to.
Your child gets ahead in a subject area.
Does this make sense for a bucket list? Why not! If you see your kids showing an extra interest or skill in a certain topic or area, let them keep pushing forward! If they’re allowed to pursue what drives them, you may just find your student ahead of their peers in a certain subject.
Sew something useful.
Spending all that time learning practical life skills? There will no doubt be a chance for your kids to test out their new knowledge. The next time something gets a hole in it, or you find an old chair that needs some love, let your kids try to complete a sewing project themselves.
Pray as a family daily.
This isn’t a one-time bucket list item but rather a goal to prioritize for daily life. It can get hard to stay on top of family prayer, especially when we spend so much time planning lessons, then executing those lessons, and then cleaning up the lessons. But keeping God as the central focus is so important and absolutely bucket list worthy! Make it a goal to get each child comfortable praying on their own or in the family group setting.
Find a cause your children feel strongly about and come up with ways to support it.
This can be such a powerful project to take on! As your kids get older, you may notice their hearts go out to one cause more than others. Take that compassion and show them how to act on it!
Find weird/unique locations close by to check out.
Every state seems to have its share of quirky or popular attractions that people love to travel to see! Funny enough, it often seems like we overlook the attractions right near our homes. Check into the surrounding areas for a place that is unique to your area and go for a visit!
Find a unique attraction not close by and make a trip out of it!
Beyond the field trip range of your own town or city, there are a LOT of interesting places to explore in this country. Find some cool spots and make a trip out of it!
Get a tutor for a special class of extra interest for your child.
There will undoubtedly be a subject that your kids are interested in and you know little about it. That’s ok! Part of the fun of homeschooling is learning together. A different way to approach this may be to splurge on a tutor for a subject of particular interest.
Collect cans for a canned food drive.
This is another feel-good activity to reinforce kindness and giving to your children. Churches and other community centers may do this throughout the year, but there’s no reason you can’t start your own food drive yourself!
Read X amount of books in a school year.
Reading is such an important part of a child’s education, so make sure to set reading goals to work towards each year!
Take a learned experience and find a way to earn a little money with it.
Encourage those entrepreneurial skills! As your kids get older and learn more skills, help them come up with ways to profit from those skills for their own savings. If your one child is a great artist, they can sell paintings. It could even be something as simple as taking chores they’ve worked on around the house and helping others in the neighborhood out with tasks like painting fences or mowing lawns. It’s not about making a lot of money, it’s about teaching them to take something they learn and apply it in a useful way!
Have your own science fair or art exhibit.
Does your kiddo love showing off their hard work! Having your own science fair or art exhibit is a great way to showcase their skills. They will have extra motivation to come up with some great ideas, and then they can enjoy seeing their hard work pay off.
Have your own “prom”.
Another missed public school experience your child may wish they had experienced. If you have a local group of homeschoolers in your area, throw your own prom night!
Have a “yes” day.
“Yes” days are simple, all you do is say yes all day! Go get ice cream? Yes, please! Skip math and go to the park instead? Why not!
Celebrate lesser known holidays.
There are some unique and lesser known holidays that can turn a regular old Tuesday into something special. Search for odd holidays on Pinterest and see what your family would be interested in!
Come up with a homeschool mascot.
You probably have a name for your homeschool, so why not a mascot? Come up with a cute little figure and find ways to add them into your day!
Have an end of the year or “welcome summer” party.
Summer is an exciting time for kids! Even if you homeschool throughout the summer, the beautiful weather is still a reason to celebrate. Honestly, kids love ANY reason to celebrate!
Spend time on a farm.
There is nothing like the work ethic found on a farm, and something about being around all those animals is so grounding for kids (and adults).
Get a safety lesson and walk-through at your local fire hall and/or city hall.
Gather some friends from the homeschool co-op and plan a day to get a safety lesson and possibly even check out a fire truck!
Start a lemonade stand or come up with another unique idea.
This is a childhood classic, but add it to the list of ways to bring school into real life! This is another way to encourage entrepreneurial skills as well as teach them about money. It’s also just a lot of fun!
After learning basic survival skills, go camping as a family to put them to practice.
Take those newfound survival skills out into the wild! A low-key camping trip can be a wonderful opportunity for your child to try starting a fire on their own or practice using a compass.
Make a science experiment that really EXPLODES (preferably outside!)
Take science class outside and find a safe experiment that will really wow your kids with a big explosion!
Throw your kids a “fall harvest” party.
Host your own fall harvest party for the kids and their friends to enjoy. You can have bobbing for apples, campfire s’mores, pumpkin themed games.
Find out the history of your family tree.
What better way to make the lessons “stick” than to relate it to your own family? Finding out your Aunt Mary came over on the Mayflower would give a whole new level of meaning to your Pilgrim studies.
Take a second to appreciate what a wonderful experience homeschooling has given to your family!
This is something that should be on everyone’s bucket list because it’s so easy to forget! Between all the planning and learning, we can forget how beautiful this whole experience truly is. Take time often to reflect on how much your family has gained by this experience together.
I hope you enjoy making your homeschool bucket list and get some helpful inspiration from this list! Setting intentions and crossing items off a list can both be such satisfying ways to keep progressing forward. With all the unique opportunities offered to us in the homeschool community, let’s take advantage of that and make this the best experience it can be!
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A big thank you to Christine of The Growing Creatives for writing this Crew Article.