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Homeschooling Through the Holiday Madness To Publications / Articles - Homeschooling Through the Holiday Madness

Posted 12/15/16

 

So, your homeschool year is off to a great start. Everything is humming along nicely when—Wham!—the holiday craziness hits and nothing goes the way you planned. No one, including you, wants to spend time sitting at the table working on schoolwork! How are you going to do all that needs to be done and keep your kids focused on their schoolwork?

There is an ebb and flow to life, and it shows up in homeschooling as well. So when the rhythm changes, don’t panic. Recognize it as normal and adjust for the madness!

Here are some ideas that can help during this stressful time:

  1. Adjust your educational expectations. Take it easier on yourself and your children. You can’t do everything, so pare down the assignments during this stressful time.
  2. Assign work that can be done independently. Find ways your children can do their work without you by their side. Assign review work and have your children listen to the audiobook version while they read their literature.
  3. Use this time to reinforce skills with educational games. Playing together is very important for families, and what better way to learn and have fun at the same time?
  4. Change it up by watching a movie or video about the science or history topic that you are studying. This can provide a sweet break from the hustle and bustle of life and will give you the opportunity to have deeper discussions about topics together. This is very beneficial for families since you will have viewpoints from different ages and maturity levels.
  5. Use this time for special interest projects. What are some things your children would like to learn about or work on? Give them the freedom to explore some of own their interests during this time.
  6. Listen to audio books together in the car while you travel. There are so many great stories to share together as a family, and it makes the ride go by quickly.
  7. Write a skit out of what you are learning in history or literature, and perform it at the family holiday events, a nursing home or retirement center. They will enjoy having the children around, and it won’t matter if it isn’t a stellar performance.
  8. Incorporate holiday traditions as part of your curriculum. All of the activities that go into the joy of the season take planning and are important lessons to teach your children. Have them be part of the decisions and work that goes into the decorating and celebrating.
  9. Learn the history of Christmas carols as you learn to sing them. Then go caroling over the holidays.
  10. Incorporate geography as you teach your children more about helping those less fortunate. Christmas Angel Trees, Shoebox Christmas gifts for those in other countries, and cards, letters and packages to soldiers who will not be home for the holidays are ways to help others in some of the far-off countries you might be learning about. If you travel, have your children work on map skills as they plot out the best route and the cost of the trip.

Hopefully, some of these ideas will help you get through the holiday activities and give a boost to help you meet your educational goals.