Homeschooling families are not missing out on anything this time of year. They celebrate the season with Not-Back-To-School observances held throughout the United States and internationally. What some homeschoolers once felt slightly subversive about saying aloud is now a full-on tradition that homeschool families embrace in celebration of their freedom to homeschool.

Google reveals many Not-Back-To-School activities coming up, including (among the first pages of hits) celebrations in Montreal, United Kingdom, Switzerland, New Zealand, Vancouver, Michigan, New England, California, Michigan, Alabama, Iowa, Chicago and beyond. Homeschoolers in small towns and large metropolitan areas–of varying races, religious beliefs and political persuasions–will gather for pizza, potlucks, campfires, or canoeing. They’ll make banners and craft projects; they’ll eat hot dogs and hummus; they’ll reflect on the past year and swap books and resources for the coming year.

Homeschoolers are often asked if they regret missing rites of passage connected to school. The askers haven’t realized that homeschoolers have well-anticipated traditions themselves–within their families, homeschool groups and communities.

There is a lot to love about the Not-Back-To-School season. Homeschoolers enjoy off-season vacation rates and diminished crowds at museums, libraries, parks, and carnivals. While we homeschooling parents have become accustomed to a daily life of connection to our children,  many of us continue to savor annual Not-Back-To-School events as acknowledgement that we are exceptions to society’s most prevalent approach to education. We are approaching education in an unusual way, we are doing it on purpose, and we like how it works for our families.