Homeschool Graduation: How to Make it Special for Your Student

Homeschool graduation is a significant milestone for homeschool students and parents who have homeschooled them. There is so much to consider, from diplomas to graduation speeches and everything in between! Here are some ways to make it special for your student and give them a homeschool graduation celebration they will cherish.

Homeschool Graduation Ceremony

A homeschool graduation ceremony provides a customizable opportunity to celebrate your teen. It’s a wonderful time to encourage them and allow other mentors in their life to do the same. Graduation day helps you to celebrate all the hard work that went into their high school education.

Along with everything else in homeschooling, the way you choose to celebrate your high schooler’s graduation is totally up to you. In fact, you don’t even need to have a ceremony! Consider these alternative ideas:

• Parent-child trip
• Family night out
• Drop-in graduation party
• Bonfire in the backyard

What to Include in a Homeschool Graduation Ceremony

The good news is that if your teen does want to have a ceremony, what you choose to include or not include is also up to you. You want the celebration to reflect the graduate. You also don’t want to go overboard with expectations.

Graduation Cap and Gown

One big question families have is whether or not to use graduation caps and gowns. Again, that is up to your preference and that of your graduate. Some families choose to go all-out in a traditional sense, including the traditional cap and gown. Other graduation ceremonies are more informal to reflect the personality and wishes of the homeschool graduate. However, your senior may want the cap and gown for senior pictures. You can easily purchase them online if you need them.

When to Graduate Your Student

As a homeschooling family, the date of graduation is completely flexible. Some homeschool families like to schedule it early in the season so it doesn’t conflict with the graduation date of the local public high schools. Others like to wait until later in the summer to celebrate. It is a good idea to send out invitations so your friends and family can plan to attend.

Group Graduation Ceremonies

While you can choose to join a homeschool co-op graduation ceremony, or possibly a ceremony being organized in your area by the state homeschool organization, you can also choose to simply enjoy a personal family and friends ceremony highlighting your high school graduate.

If you’re joining a group graduation event, then the planning will likely be done for the most part. But if you need to figure out what to include in a personal homeschool graduation ceremony, read on.

Homeschool Diplomas

The main event at a graduation is the receiving of the diploma. Depending on the homeschool graduation requirements and home education laws where you live, you might be handing your graduate a state diploma or you might have to print your own diploma. You can find a diploma template online if you need it and print it on high quality paper.

No matter which way you do it, your homeschooled student will want a diploma. You’ve been keeping a high school transcript for years, so it just makes sense to finish the full education process and celebrate that high school diploma. There may be times in the future when your graduate is asked to submit his diploma as proof of graduation. Plus it’s a good idea to have an official document to mark the end of the high school program.

Graduation Speech

The graduation speech is a mainstay in public school graduations. Maybe your teen enjoys public speaking and wants to prepare a graduation speech. Maybe they don’t. If you still want to include some sort of speech in the ceremony, consider having a mentor from your teen’s high school years give the speech. This can be a sports coach, music teacher, youth leader, or close friend. Sometimes the homeschooling parent likes to give the graduation speech, especially if the ceremony is only for their graduate. It’s a great opportunity to give them a vision for their future and encourage them in front of family and friends. 

A high school graduation ceremony provides an opportunity to let friends and family know about the student’s plans moving forward, whether that includes taking a gap year, entering the workforce, joining the military, or pursuing college.

Slideshows and Visual Presentations

Instead of speeches, your teen might enjoy putting together a slideshow of their home education journey. It will be rewarding to see how far they’ve come, whether you homeschooled them from the very beginning or just for the last year or two of high school. Alternatively, you can use a slideshow presentation as part of the homeschool showcase if you choose to do that (see below).

One additional idea to include in the homeschool graduation ceremony is a performance if the student has spent many years learning a musical instrument, writing poetry, or participating in drama events. The graduation ceremony can be part senior recital and part high school graduation.

End of the Year Homeschool Showcase

The idea of an end of the year homeschool showcase works beautifully in conjunction with a homeschool graduation ceremony. Plus, your other kids who are not graduating can participate with their own showcase.

What to Include in a End of the Year Showcase

Pulling the assignments, artwork, piles of books, and other projects out to display will help you see how much you really did accomplish during the year. Grandparents, relatives, neighbors, homeschool friends, plus church friends will love to come celebrate your year with you and see what your kids have learned. Plus, it provides a nice opportunity for some recitation from your kids if you want to include that too.

Having a graduation showcase allows your senior the ability to display their best work from high school. This is especially exciting if your teen has focused on one skill or topic above the rest during their course of study. For example, your creative kids can display their artwork like a mini gallery. Other students have excelled at sports for years and might want to display trophies and team pictures. The showcase idea is a nice way to highlight the progress made during the homeschool years along with specialized extra-curricular activities of your teen.

You can have this showcase in your home, or if you’re including it in your homeschool graduation at a different location, you can setup your display at the other venue. Having this showcase available for guests to look at gives a great centerpiece to your graduation.

Ideas for Food and Decorations

You can find some great menus online that will help you feed a crowd at a reasonable price. Some of these recipes can even be made ahead of time and frozen, keeping the day of the celebration more stress-free. While you can opt for a full lunch menu to feed your friends and family, another idea is to provide a fun dessert bar layout to enjoy. 

Graduation Party Decorations

Graduation party decorations don’t have to be expensive. You can choose a color scheme and find matching tablecloths, plates, and balloons. In fact, balloons are probably the most inexpensive, yet festive item that you will definitely want to include in your party design. If you’re able to plan ahead and want to include decorations with the graduation year on it, then purchase pieces when the New Year’s items are on sale. This little tip is a great way to score big on decor!

Display Senior Pictures

Prepare ahead of time if your graduate wants to have senior pictures taken. Having the pictures done early will give you time to include them on the graduation invitations. You can also use them to decorate the venue, especially if you’re having a time of refreshments afterward. 

Capture Memories of Their Special Day

You can set up a photo booth at the graduation celebration and make sure you get snapshots of all the guests. Additionally, you may want to have a framed photo of your senior that the guests sign on the photo mat.

Another fun idea is to purchase a Jenga blocks game and set the pieces out with Sharpie markers. Your guests can write a heartfelt note for the graduate and sign their block. Then, whether your teen ends up in the college dorm in the fall or entering the workforce, they have that keepsake game with the notes from all their friends and family.

In Conclusion

Whatever your family decides to do for a homeschool graduation ceremony, do what works best for you, not what is expected. If having a traditional ceremony sounds too stressful for you and your homeschool senior, then plan something lower key instead. The key here is to customize. Celebrate your student’s accomplishments and that they finally crossed the finish line!