Homeschooling Through the Holidays: Simple Ways to Learn and Celebrate
Tis the season to be stressed out, would be a very honest Christmas Carol title. All around you right now is the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. With its to do lists and calendar full of events this adds to the stress of being close to the end of a calendar year as a homeschool parent. You may feel pressure to be at a certain point in your curriculum or maybe you’re at your wits end with a curriculum you thought would be a good fit. Let’s all take a moment to pause and just breathe in the midst of the chaos all around us. In this post, I’m sharing some things I’ve been reflecting on and resources that we’re using that have been helpful. I hope the insight in this post can bring some peace and joy to your holiday homeschooling season!
Take Your Time: One of the biggest blessings of homeschooling is the opportunity to go at your child’s pace and the pace of your life. The holiday season is naturally busy so this is the perfect time to scale down your learning load or take a pause if needed. We are year around schoolers so we technically have about 351 days if we just take a break for holidays which include birthdays. Now we take way more rest/travel days than that but even with that the typical homeschool family spends four hours or less on traditional learning because we’re working one on one with our kids. We have plenty of time to learn. Our family has had a busy and rough year. We need to take some time to pause and regroup. We plan to take the week of Christmas off through mid-January. Give yourself and your children permission to take your time and relax if needed.
Focus on Family Traditions: Family traditions are such a sweet part of this time of the year. Now is a good time to focus on those important family traditions you cherish or create some new ones. Spend time baking or cooking together which works on math and science skills. Make Christmas ornaments together. Find a good advent or Christmas reading (I have a few recommendations below). This time of family bonding and focusing on what’s important is just as important as book learning.
Clear Your Schedule: As a homeschool parent I have been focused on making sure my kids have lots of learning and social opportunities so much so that our calendar has been booked solid the last few months. This year we started have “Sabbath” weeks. These are weeks we don’t put anything on the calendar, we spend time as a family, we rest and we try to be at home more than out doing things. Sometimes a break from the rush of life is neccessary. Give yourself permission to clear your calendar this holiday season and don’t feel guilty for not doing all the stuff.
Jump Into Holiday Learning: The holidays are a great time to do some festive learning. Here are some ideas for holiday learning:
Study how different cultures celebrate Christmas. Here’s a free resource.
Listen to this free advent audio calendar. We have been listening to this and have really enjoyed it!
Study the history of Santa Claus and learn about St Nicholas.
Read an advent devotional. Our favorite is Jotham’s Journey, I’ve been reading this since I was nine!
Make a winter bucket list using this link to get some ideas.
Look up ways to make fake snow if you're in a warmer climate and learn about the science behind it!
Make a snow volcano or make works of art in the snow if you are in a colder climate. You can use this as an opportunity to learn about chemical reactions or famous artists.
Plan a Christmas movie day and make it more fun with a themed snack for each movie you watch. As you watch the movies discuss the time period and things that may have been happening at that time. Research whether the movie was based on a book and who the author is. Perhaps you could read the book then watch the movie and discuss which one was better.
Plan a New Year’s Eve Bash where you ring in the New Year when each time zone does. Study the countries in this time zone, include foods and traditions from these countries in your celebrations!
Start a gratitude journal or jar on January 1. Read the entries during the month of December to see all the wonderful things that happened during the year.
Have A Family Check In: Our family does a check in meeting in December/ January and May/June. We sit down and discuss what the kids would like to do for extracurriculars. Ask how they think things are going with their current activities and if there’s something they’d like to focus on in the next season. We evaluate the curriculum we are doing. I check in with my kids to make sure they are enjoying homeschooling and if we need to discuss any other educational options. I like to include my kids in their homeschooling decisions because it’s their education!
Don’t Rush Back into Lessons: After the holidays when you see kids going back to school you may feel like it’s time to jump back in. This is a great idea if your kids are ready to jump back in but if everyone needs some recovery time after the holidays (especially if you do a lot of traveling) it may be a good idea to take an extra week to jump back in. We like to ease back in with their individual subjects then add in our family units.
So what are your thoughts about homeschooling during the holiday season? What are some things your family plans to do? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!
