by coolcatteacher

I toyed around with the idea of naming our homeschool, but since our state does not require home schools be named, I really just left it at that.

Then, one day, our oldest son was wearing a t-shirt from their old elementary school. Our sons had a discussion about their old school. Primarily this discussion, brought on by that t-shirt, centered around three areas: their school’s name, its colors, and its mascot.

The boys wanted to know some very pressing questions. What was our school named? What was our school’s mascot? What were our school’s colors?

I assured them a school didn’t HAVE to have these things to be a school, and we actually didn’t have any of them. I did not say this to discourage where I thought this might be going, but I wanted them to know we didn’t really have to have those things to be a real school.

“But, CAN we have them? Can we name our homeschool?” One of the boys asked.

It was then the whole thing really clicked with me. Granted, I had realized before that moment our school day was about to be interrupted by deciding these important issues. But, I hadn’t really thought about WHY we were going to have to do that.

I realized then school names and colors and mascots aren’t just things a school has. They are symbols of the unity of the people who go to that school. They are a reminder the students are part of something bigger.

These things are the reason we stopped what we were doing for at least an hour to discuss possible names for our homeschool, mull over the merits of different color combinations, and then painstakingly search the internet for mascot ideas.

After all of our work, I would suggest (in retrospect) that you choose your identity in this order: (1) Name, (2) Mascot, (3) Colors.

This can even all translate into a great homeschool project! Here are a few other ideas to get you started:

• Have students make a formal proposal for their preference
• Research information on the basis of your school name (particularly if you picked a name about a person or a place)
• Study the particular animal or object you pick as a mascot

Do you have a school name, mascot, or colors? Please join us at the Blissfully Domestic social network and tell us!

Angie can be found writing at Many Little Blessings when she’s not making a list of everything she needs to buy to tie dye blue and white t-shirts for all of her little St. Joseph Academy Blue Jays.