The busy holiday season is in full force! When you are homeschooling, learning does not stop just because the holiday has commenced. You literally homeschool throughout the year. But because everybody needs a break, you can ease off on the homeschooling schedule during this time.
This does not mean putting away everything. There will still be some learning to do. You will just be tweaking your schedule to fit within the parameters of the holiday. Here’s how you can successfully master your homeschooling schedule and still make great memories with the kids during the holidays.
MASTERING YOUR HOMESCHOOLING SCHEDULE DURING THE HOLIDAYS
Change Your Focus to Reflect on the TRUE meaning of Christmas
Jesus should be celebrated and recognized every day of the year, but especially during the holidays. Take some time to dig deeper into the Word and reflect on Our Savior’s Birth and life on earth. Have extra, prayer, devotional and worship times. Find some Christ-Centered Christmas books and Christ-Centered Activities. Have you downloaded your free 25 Days of Christ-Centered Christmas Copywork?
Take Everything Easy
Your schedule should be having a lot of free time and breaks so that everyone can have some time to breathe and enjoy the holidays. This is not the time to try and push through a lot of school work, hoping to recover lost time or be ahead of the schedule. Let your kids play with others and learn something little when they have some time. Honestly a little un-schooling can do wonders to ease the overwhelm and burnout that sometimes hits this time of year.
Review What You’ve been Learning
The holidays are a great time to see what your kids are retaining. Do not introduce new topics during the holidays if you can help it. Just go back to what you have already covered and do some review. The kids will not feel pressured as they will not be covering unfamiliar material.
Find Something Interesting that is also Educational
The holiday season is the time to find interesting activities that your kids will love and build character. For instance, you can have them write letters to the army, thanking the soldiers for their service and sacrifice. They do not necessarily need to send these letters out. They might also engage in creating some cute pieces of art and craft, flexing their creative capacities. Teaching them the TRUE meaning of Christmas is about modeling it too. Being the hands and feet of Christ. Giving back and being a blessing to others.
Take Them on Field Trips
Field trips are always a great way to teach the kids about important skills. You can take them on a trip to the fire station and request a short tour. Within half an hour, they can learn more about fire and first aid than you can teach in a day. It would also be very refreshing for them. You can take them to a zoo or national park and have them learn about animals. At the end of the day, ask them questions to gauge whether they learned something important during the day.
Take Them on a Road Trip
Many families take advantage of the holiday season to go on family road trips. It is a great idea and a great bonding moment for everyone in the family. When planning about the road trip, incorporate their learning in there. Carry some books and let them learn something along the way. You will be killing two birds with one stone.
Alternate Lessons
You can also teach them subjects that they love and ease a bit on what distresses them. The best strategy would be to alternate between these subjects. When you feel tiresome and boredom creeping in, take a break and resume class with the interesting subject.
The overarching key of all these tips to mastering your homeschooling schedule during the holidays is to slow down and lighten the load. Lower your expectations and enjoy the holidays together, making memories. Bake some cookies, build a snowman, sip some hot cocoa by the fire and snuggle up on the couch and start to work on that list of Christmas movies you’ve been recording for a month on your DVR.
Abundant Blessings to you and your family this Christmas!
Do you have something to add to this list? Let us know in the comments and make sure you share this post with your friends.
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Forest Rose is a God Loving, Blessed Wife, & Mama to 3 girls. She’s passionate about lifting moms out of the trenches that are discouraged, overwhelmed, or feeling alone or isolated. Her hope is to point them to Christ and equip them to rise up with a newfound hope and joy within, that He alone can provide. Besides blogging, she also loves to create printables!
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