Do you have to have a school name, colors, and mascot for your homeschool? Typically, no. (Though some states require that you name your homeschool and register that with the state.) Despite probably not needing to do it, I’m going to share why it might be a good idea to choose either a school name, colors, or a mascot – or all of those! Plus, I’ll share tips for how to choose a homeschool name.
While I toyed around with the idea of naming our homeschool when we began homeschooling, I didn’t end up doing it. Since our state does not require that home schools be named, I really just left it at that.
Then, one day early in our first year of homeschooling, our oldest son (who was nine at the time) was wearing a t-shirt from their old elementary school. My sons (the other was seven at the time) 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.
As the discussion grew more involved, I was not surprised when it took the turn that I thought it might. 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?
How Our Homeschool Got A Name, Colors, and a Mascot (and Why Picking Them Can Be Important)
I assured them that a school didn’t have to have these things to be a school, and that 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 that 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 that the whole thing really clicked with me. Granted, I had realized before that moment that our school day was about to be interrupted by deciding on these important issues. But, I hadn’t really thought about WHY we were going to have to do that.
I realized then that school names, school colors, and mascots aren’t just things that a school has. They are symbols of the unity of the people who go to that school. These things give us a sense of belonging. They are a reminder that we are part of something bigger.
These things are the reason that 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 searched the internet for mascot ideas.
The whole time, I could see how much it meant to the kids. They were excited to be the ones who were deciding on these things, although they did get some gentle swaying from time to time from Mom. We decided that it would be nice to pick a saint’s name for our homeschool. (Although Jack initially suggested “Homeschool Fun” for the name.)
After a decision was made for both a saint and how to finish off the name (we discussed “School,” “Homeschool,” and “Academy” – Noah began to literally hoot in excitement at the sound of Academy), we went into the task of colors.
This went on for a while. We ended up choosing colors (purple and gold, changing to blue and gold, changing back to purple and gold), only to later change our choice based on what we finally settled on for a mascot.
So, learn from our mistake and make your choices in these order: (1) Homeschool Name, (2) Mascot, (3) Colors.
How to Choose a Homeschool Name
Since the most difficult part of this might be picking a name for your homeschool, I thought I would offer up some advice and tips for choosing your homeschool name.
1. Choose something that sounds professional.
You never know what you’ll have to write this on or who you will have to share the name with. If we had gone with Jack’s “Homeschool Fun” name, it would have felt difficult to tell people that was the school name. Pick something that sounds like a school might actually be named that.
2. Choose a name that will continue to work for years to come.
While “Pine Ridge School for Girls” may sound like a fun idea when you only have daughters, you may have to change it when a son comes along.
Or, perhaps you only intend to homeschool for a few years and think that “Saint Philomena Primary School” will be perfect. When you still find yourself homeschooling a high school student, that might not work as well. Pick a name that is apt to grow along with your family.
3. Pick a name that has a special meaning for your homeschool and your family.
This might mean that you choose something based on one of the following:
- A location (where you live or just a favorite location of your family)
- Your family’s last name or an important name to your family
- The name of a favorite historical figure
- The name of a saint or another religiously based name (we chose Holy Family Homeschool Academy)
- A name based on a favorite Bible verse, poem, song, or story that is meaningful to your family
4. Involve everyone in the family in the naming process.
Everyone in your family is a stakeholder in your homeschool, and they should all have some say in this unifying effort. Sure, it might be difficult to get everyone to agree, but try to make sure that nobody ends up with their last choice name or a name that they hate.
Bonus Idea: Consider turning the homeschool naming process into a school project.
Students could make formal proposals for their preferences. Or, after the decisions are made, students could research for more information on whatever you based your school name on, if possible (particularly if you picked a name about a person or a place). Your students can also learn more about the particular animal or object that you pick as a mascot.
Do you have a school name, mascot, colors, motto, or anything else of that nature?
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How to Choose a Homeschool Name, Colors, and Mascot (and Why You Should) was originally published on August 5, 2008. It has been updated most recently in June 2017.
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We’re Cornerstone Christian Academy. Our colors are blue and white and our mascot is a horse (I think! It’s been awhile, so I can’t remember for sure.).
We don’t *have* to name our school either, but the kids got a kick out of it. I even made a small banner for the top of our bulletin board with our school name, scripture verse and motto. 😉
We were toying around with a name for our school. We aren’t sure if we want it to be a Saint name or “Our last name” Catholic Homeschool Academy. That one is kind of long. The kids love the word “academy” so we know we will go with that. My husband has already made our school crest. It came out very cool and we want to make shirts as soon as we can decided on a permanent name. It is a lot of fun coming up with a name and making your homeschool have an identity.
Kelly
Oh, I love love love this idea! I put Long’s House of Learning on a form one time I was filling out but I can’t wait to get the whole family involved and see what we can come up with…what fun!! Great Post! oh, and I love Kris’ idea of the banner for the wall!
We’ve been toying with a name also, although not required. Genius wants to name it the “Hi-Ya! Academy” in honor of Sponge Bob. I vetoed that idea.
We’re ArmyFamilyOK Schoolhouse. The schoolhouse with an eagle and flag is our symbol. Our colors are red, white and blue.
We’re an Army family and although we retire soon, we’ll always be Army. We’re proud of this fact. Our daughter was very much part of the planning process. These things were important to her since she likes structure.
I just found it plain fun. I have have a “pattern” for homeschool ID cards I’m working on this weekend!!
Enjoyed your blog and plan to follow it!!
Wow!! I would love t see your school ID cards Would love to make them for my school.
Brenda A
Cool! I had never thought of naming a homeschool, but what a great idea to get the kids involved and give them a sense of esprit de corps. My daughter is only 14 months and I’m excited to start homeschooling her in a couple of years.
Thanks for the help! I had been having a mental block on getting a homeschool name – but one has come to me from reading the article. Assuming the children like it, we will now be called, the "Maple Hill Academy"
Ours is G*L*O*W Academy
Mascot Eagles, Colors are blue and white
*Why eagles, because Eagles are free and we are free to Homeschool 🙂
Been using GLOW 9 years 🙂
We have a name for our homeschool but having the hardest time choosing mascot, motto, colors etc…. our school name is McDonough-Smith Homeschool Academy. It incorporates all my children’s last names.
I love your idea of turning the school naming process into a project. It’s a great chance to get creative, and I could see it helping a kid who has just started homeschooling get excited about the process. I remember having lots of fun naming my homeschool with my brother when I was a kid! 🙂
We have The Academy of St. Swithin, our mascot is a crusader, our colors are dark green and burgundy. One of my daughters wanted our color to be camouflage… I told her that she can call that her school uniform.
Well, I know what we’re doing today!
Our school was originally named by my oldest as a kindegartener. Now that she’s entering high school age this fall and must start compiling transcripts, we really need to rename “The Totally Awesome Totally Fun Homeschool” to something more professional. Google brought me here when I searched for help. I’ve been translating things into latin and Swedish hoping to find something cool. The latin for “Mother Teaches” sounds really cool, and I think I’ll put it under our logo.
I only have one school aged child so unity is not an issue. I would like to do something like this to add to the excitement and ownership of our school.
I just started homeschooling my grand children last school year. I run a daycare in my home, but only family. I now have my niece and nephew, which is great, cuz I’ve always wanted to teach. Our school name last year was the BEE-Attitudes, our school mascot a “bee”, color yellow. Since no one liked the color yellow I thought long and hard for another name. So I asked them if we should do “Soldiers for Christ Academy”. They loved it! So now our colors are camo, and now just to think of a mascot…..any ideas??
I also plan to make t-shirts with the school name and their name somewhere on there. ID’s are also very fun!!
Could your mascot be the Christian flag?