With the holidays upon us, many of us feel more stressed than usual. There are numerous holiday events, relatives to see, places to visit, and lots of gift shopping and preparation to get done. How to homeschool amid everything?
Truth be told, the holidays are a great time to take off from structured homeschooling. Don’t sweat the books. They will be waiting for you when the holidays are over!
Many homeschooling parents take off the entirety of December, or at least most of the month to allow for participating in fun holiday events. Your holiday homeschool schedule is meant for enjoying the little moments and time with family.
Holiday Homeschooling Scheduling Tips
For many homeschooling moms, planners are their lifeblood. Whether you need to plan the week, month, or even down to planning daily schedules, a sense of organization is key. If you’re like me, my planner is especially vital during the holidays for any semblance of productivity, but it is also the most likely time of year for my schedule to get thrown out the window. If you’re stressing over your schedule for this coming holiday season, try to step back, pause, and take a deep breath. There are several ways to keep the learning going during the holiday season! Here are ten practical ideas.
- Focus on reading! Take time this holiday season to sit and read with your children. Use holiday weeks to read as many books as you can!
- Consider a holiday unit study. Utilize the holidays as a chance to learn more about their origin and traditions! On the other hand, you could learn more about the wintertime, change in seasons, and make a unit study out of it!
- Make the most out of your field trips. If you have one or two field trips scheduled this month, dig into them and learn everything you can. Take a trip to the library for related books, dive into Google searches, and look for complimentary YouTube videos!
- Similarly, make holiday festivities into learning moments or field trips! You can make lots of holiday activities on educational field trips. Of course, you want to keep them fun, though. For example, when you go Christmas tree shopping, learn about the different types of trees! Christmas caroling: learn about the origins. Sledding: bring in science and figure out how to make your sled go even faster. There are numerous ways to incorporate learning into holiday activities!
- Study one subject per week. If you’d like to keep up the book learning during the holidays, consider perhaps working on one subject at a time each week. This will help relax your schedule!
- Make festive memories instead. One of the best holiday homeschool schedules is the one without structured lessons! Perhaps take this time to spend time together and see where the day goes without homeschool on the daily schedule.
- Add in craft days. Your kids will learn how to make adorable crafts while creating gifts or decorations, and most importantly, memories!
- Consider skipping quizzes during the holidays. If you’d prefer to keep up a more consistent schedule during December, consider skipping quizzes or tests. This will help relieve some of the pressure during schoolwork and help it feel more fun!
- Catch up on science projects. Have you been pushing through science lessons and procrastinating on those recommended projects? The holidays are a great time to pause the lessons and catch up on all those experiments!
- Encourage creative writing as a holiday gift. This is such a precious idea, and it doubles as a good way to keep your kids’ writing skills sharp during the holidays. Encourage your children to work on a creative writing project to give as a Christmas present this season!
Change Up Your Holiday Homeschooling
Homeschooling during the holidays is an excellent example of how homeschooling can be adapted to your lifestyle. Many times, new homeschooling parents feel stressed about keeping up with the schedule regardless of any changes in their daily life. This is especially common if families have recently switched from public school, or simply haven’t adjusted to the boundless opportunities of freedom. If you fall within this mindset, let me calm your fears. It’s okay to slow down, relax, and take a break from the regular book learning.
Listen to our Podcast on Ways to Practice Gratitude in your Homeschool!
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