Note: This column was published in the Barrow Journal on September 9, 2015.

I see a lot of homeschoolers posting pictures on Facebook and labeling them “not back to school” because, you know, their kids aren’t going back to school, and for many, their daily routines stay the same. But September can mean getting back into a routine that summer vacations and a much-needed rest may have (thankfully) disrupted for awhile. Homeschooling moms are excited to crack open new curriculums and resources that they ordered during the summer and start a new year of lessons, classes and get-togethers with other homeschoolers. Some celebrate a “first day” their own way such as going to a park and spreading their books on a picnic table or cooking up a special breakfast for their children.

I don’t celebrate our first day of lessons because it was only in July that we had a small celebration of the end of 2nd grade and pre-Kindergarten for my two boys. We did that by watching a slideshow of photographs from our year, including vacations, field trips, play dates and a good dose of science experiments. The boys are always asking me to see the photos we take, so a yearly slideshow was my solution to that. Even my husband seems to enjoy looking back over our year.

In August we took some time off because that’s birthday month in my house. My eldest son turned nine-years-old, and my youngest turned six. I had an old-fashioned birthday party for my six-year-old at our house with all our friends. They played musical chairs, hot potato, guess how many marbles are in the jar and played a long time, filling the house with noise and good cheer. We took a fun day trip for my nine-year-old’s birthday, but I’ll write about that another time.

After all this celebrating, all I did to mark the first day of 3rd grade and Kindergarten was tell the boys we’d be getting back to our lessons on Monday morning. These formal lessons were completed shortly after lunchtime, so the rest of the day was similar to most days, including watching documentaries, reading books at night, and for my nine-year-old, practicing his piano. They don’t consider any of that “school,” but I do.

This year is exciting for me, though, because it’s the first year my six-year-old is on record as a homeschooler in the state of Georgia. And as a third grader, my older son has a lot more work to do. Considering that we have outside appointments three days a week, I have my work cut out for me this year. Luckily the boys are none the wiser if we do a few lessons on Saturday too.

The hardest part for me is making sure I teach them what I want them to know and also allow time for them to work on their own projects. Kids are more likely to be inspired to learn about something on their own when they have plenty of free time to play, rest, and think for themselves. It’s a hard balance as my son gets older and needs/wants to learn more, but I’m grateful that homeschooling allows for a lot of flexibility with our time.

It’s exciting to watch my boys grow while being free to explore their interests almost any time they want. My oldest boy still loves animals, robotics, making pottery, and now he’s playing the piano, which still surprises me. My younger son loves birds. He has made two posters and a book about feathers. He also loves being with his big brother whether they are playing Minecraft on their tablets or playing with plastic sharks and whales in a big hole they dug and filled with water in the front yard. Mud is always fun.

We are looking forward to another year of homeschooling, and whether you homeschool or not, or have kids or not, I hope your coming year is full of anticipation and good things too.

How have you celebrated your back-to-school or not-back-to-school?