Mark the End of Your Year With a Book

In the next few weeks, our school year will come to an end. As we are finishing the last pages of the math workbook, or gluing down the last piece of the lap book, I am ridiculously sentimental about the ending of our first year of homeschooling.

I wish I was one of those mothers who had the time, energy and organization needed to turn a boring 3 ring binder into a fabulous end of the year yearbook.

Reflecting back over the last year sparks the realization that it isn’t the workbook pages or even the hands on projects that hold the most memories for me. It’s the books that my children and I read together that provide the best memories.

A few years ago, my husband and I (embracing my creative weakness) decided to commemorate the end of each school year with the children by giving each the gift of a yearbook.

1. We carefully select a book that represents  that school year for each of our children. The year that our son learned to pray by himself we bought Will God’s Mighty Warrior. Or, the year that my daughter read her first chapter book we bought it in hardback – her own copy of Charlotte’s Web.
2. Next, we select a picture of each child from that year. I choose a picture that is a close up and a good sample of what they looked like as a kindergartener/first grader/etc. I paste this picture on the inside cover of the book.
3. Now comes the sentimental part!  My husband and I each hand write a letter in the front cover of each book for each child. In my letter I try to list big milestones (lost first tooth, learned to read Dick and Jane), a favorite memory, and a wish for the year to come.

Our yearbooks have become some of our favorite books. I know that when my children grow up and leave home that they will have their own stack of books, each with its own personal meaning, to take with them.

Michele chronicles her journey into preparing her children for the real world just in case they don’t become famous rock stars at Just In Case.

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Tagged as: books, gifts, memories, written by Michele, year end