Homeschooling takes a lot of work, time, and energy. Christmas takes a lot of work, time, and energy. Doing both during December can be daunting. For me, personally, I find it a bit overwhelming to homeschool full time while also enjoying the beauty of the Christmas season and keep my focus on Jesus.
Since we homeschool all year long, we can take off pretty much any time we want. Typically, we “start” new curriculum in late August. We go full swing for the first few months. We take off in December except for our homeschool co-op that meets once a week until two weeks before Christmas.
We also take off a week every six weeks after that. We do six weeks on and one week off until later April. After that we only do the three “R’s”. Reading, writing, and arithmetic (I never understood why it was called the three R’s). We spend our days going on lots of field trips, sitting outside and bird watching, and reading aloud our favorite stories. We do some writing as well to pen pals. We also do our local library’s summer reading program.
So, December is a quick month because of the busyness of it. People have shopping to do, parties to attend, friends and family to visit, Christmas programs at church, and so much more. Taking a break from homeschooling (besides reading aloud) takes the stress out of fitting it all in. It frees up my time to spend it being present with my children during the busiest season of all.
Taking a break from homeschooling in December also gives me a chance to evaluate how our year has been going. I actually did this recently and found that our math program is not working for my boys. So, we are switching in January.
I used to feel guilty about this. But, last year I prayed about it and felt God leading me to take a rest in December and spend time with Him. Spend time with my husband, children, and those who mean the most to me.
I truly wish you a Merry Christmas! Slow down. Let God lead you into a season of Jesus’ love and birth and saving grace.
