The beauty of homeschooling is the ability to SLOW DOWN, ditch the schedule and the expectations of traditional school, and just ENJOY our children.
At Christmas time I’m immensely thankful for the gift of homeschooling. We are able to relax our schooling or (GASP!) suspend formal schooling entirely. We can design “Christmas School” if we so choose.
Use the gift of homeschooling to your advantage!
Use it to make memories, teach your children the TRUE meaning of Christmas, and soak up those moments with family and friends. I hope you can allow these suggestions spur you on to a more simple and peaceful Christmas season.
Simple Christmas Activities
Read
There are so many beautiful books to be read with children during the Christmas season. I always put out our Christmas book basket, which contains a collection of all of their favorite picture books and short chapter books.
Our favorite books to read aloud together over the month are shown below. Curl up with hot chocolate and fuzzy blankets. Don’t stick to a schedule. Allow everyone to stay in the pajamas. Turn on the Christmas lights and just enjoy your precious children.
Serve
Pick a service project or two for the month. Whether it is volunteering at a food bank, adopting an angel off an angel tree, or baking Christmas goodies for your local police and firemen - choose something and DO IT.
Set up a Christmas crafting time or music recital at a nursing home.
Volunteer at an Operation Christmas Child Processing Center.
I love these Random Acts of Kindness Tags for kids. This is something all ages can enjoy together.
Make service a theme for the holidays. Your children will learn more through serving than they ever could in a day sitting in a traditional school classroom.
Create
Our children’s souls need time to be quiet, time to contemplate, time to create.
Allow time in their lives for them to dream up projects, to spend a lot of time with those projects - to finish the projects!
Ask your children what they would like to do. Let them plan the creative activities for the month.
A few ideas:
baking Christmas cookies (my kids spent hours one year just decorating homemade gingerbread men - a great memory!)
knitting or crocheting - or another handicraft they might enjoy
woodworking or forging
take an online Christmas art workshop
Play!
Play is how children learn. Christmas is the perfect time to play - A LOT.
Even your big kids need time to play.
Again - a few ideas:
schedule a Holiday Game Day- play games ALL DAY LONG!
Play The Santa Claus game (FUN!)
declare one day a Christmas Fort Day - build the biggest Christmas Fort you can - then read some of those Christmas books in your comfy fort!
If you have a warm day, declare one day Christmas Playground Day - visit all of the playgrounds in a 10 mile radius of your house!
Remember, the important thing is just to DO THIS. So often we have good intentions that never come to fruition (ahem. I speak from experience.)
Field Trip
Be intentional about planning a fun field trip (or three) during the Christmas season.
Seek out a local production of The Nutcracker - learn about it and then attend the performance.
Read A Christmas Carol, then go see a production.
Is there a botanical garden with a beautiful holiday display? Ice skating at the mall? A huge light display?
Just make a point to get out and GO and DO. It doesn’t have to be much, just make a memory!
I pray you have a beautiful, peaceful, memorable holiday season!