Overview: December can be a hectic time of the year. Many families will either push homeschooling to the side then feel guilty about it, or they will continue with their normal routine and everyone ends up frustrated.
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This is my favorite time of year. It’s not only because of the holidays, but it’s a time during our homeschool where we tend to slow things down and do more of the fun things.
Today I wanted to share a few tips to help you plan your homeschool time during the holidays.
Don’t feel like you need to do all of the things below. As with our whole homeschool approach, choose what works best for your family.
Keep Your Daily Routine
Kids thrive on routine. Changing up your routine, especially dramatic changes, is a surefire way to cause drama.
It’s okay to change a few small things, but don’t drastically change the daily routine.
We still do math, language arts, and unit study. The only difference is it’s a bit more relaxed. I’ll incorporate more holiday-related activities that I find on Pinterest.
We tend to add in more science projects, gameschooling, and cooking during the month of December.
Review Skills
I like to search for holiday-related activities on Pinterest for the skills that my children need more practice with.
December is the perfect time to review all the skills you learned so far in the year then take time to practice skills that are weak.
You can find all sorts of holiday-related, hands-on activities on Pinterest. Just search for the specific skill. For example, if my child was struggling with sight words I would type in Christmas Sight Word Activities.
Do the “Fun” Things
During December our unit study revolves around the holidays. We use unit studies to learn about different secular Christmas traditions.
STEAM Kids has an e-book full of Christmas-related STEAM activities that you can easily incorporate into your days.
If you follow a similar routine to ours, you can simply replace your unit study, social studies, and/or science times with more fun activities.
You Are an Artist has some fun holiday-related art classes as well.
The Waldock Way has a few holiday-related activity packs you may want to try.
To add a bit more fun, if you have an Elf on the Shelf you can have him bring a new activity to do every morning.
Learn About the Holidays
One of the best things about this time of year is the variety of holidays that are celebrated around the world.
Take time to learn about different holidays. Learning about the holidays is a great way to lead into learning about the cultures of different places around the world.
Holiday Fun Around the World from The Waldock Way is an amazing curriculum to help you get started.
Incorporate Project-Based Learning
Is there something your child keeps asking to learn about?
Do they have a project idea that you’ve been putting off?
December is the perfect time to push the curriculum to the side and incorporate a more project-based learning experience.
Project-based learning is where you let your child take more control over their learning. Ask them what they want to learn about and gather some materials to help them learn more.
Explore Family Traditions
Another fun idea is to explore family traditions. My family likes to make popcorn balls for the winter season, and my daughter’s dad’s family makes pizzelles. Spend time learning about your family’s traditions.
December can be a hectic time of the year. Many families will either push homeschooling to the side then feel guilty about it, or they will continue with their normal routine and everyone ends up frustrated.
Take a different approach this year. Slow things down just a bit and focus on spending quality time with your children learning.
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