Some state or national homeschool organizations plan an annual graduation for their graduating seniors. 4 - The Homeschool Organization Graduation Parents may chip in for expenses, such as catering, a musician, decorations, or a guest speaker.

This kind of graduation is usually planned by a committee and/or someone who takes on the job of graduation director, with families and friends taking responsibility for various aspects of the graduation. The ceremony was followed by a reception complete with punch and cookies. A homeschool band performed Pomp and Circumstance, and graduates walked across the stage and were presented their diplomas by their moms and dads. I wove personal stories into the commencement address I delivered, anecdotes I had collected from each set of parents. I spoke at one of these graduations last year, and saw about a dozen kids graduate in full regalia. These things can be ad hoc - where some of the kids aren't really close friends, but their parents want them to have a more traditional ceremony, so they combine forces to create a graduation.

These might be kids from one or more co-ops, kids from the same church, or kids from a city- or county-wide homeschool group. It's also common for families of graduates who know each other from one or more larger groups to get together for a graduation of from five to twenty-five students. Parents can share the expense and work of creating a graduation party, and they will enjoy the celebration together. This can work well, because if they have been homeschooling together, the graduates may have friendships from the same homeschool co-ops, youth groups, or arts or sports organizations. In this case, two or three families whose kids are close friends go together to have a graduation party or dinner. The level of formality will reflect what the family wants, and the graduate and parents are free to choose whether there will be any trappings of traditional graduations such as a diploma or cap and gown. It might be just a dinner or party with friends and extended family, or parents and mentors may make remarks congratulating the graduate.

Some families have an event for their graduating son or daughter, at home or in a special locale like a restaurant or park. Here are a few that work for many different types of kids and families. If you are looking for homeschool graduation ceremony ideas that fit your family, there are many options from which to choose. And those who do have graduation ceremonies may mark the occasion differently from one another. Do homeschoolers have graduation ceremonies?

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