Homeschooling in December: Create a Simple, Special Christmas School
I don’t know how it goes in your house, but generally by the time December rolls around, we’ve had enough time with our homeschool routine that we are ready for a change. The excitement and anticipation for the holidays ramp up, our calendar begins to fill with holiday events, and suddenly no one wants to pull out the math books anymore. What is a tired homeschooling mama to do?
Personally, I think that December is a wonderful time to take a break from the normal routine. We should embrace our urge to change things up and enjoy this special season! Please note that this does not mean your children do not learn anything all month. All of the ideas I am going to share with you today are packed with experiential, hands-on learning – just a slightly different sort of learning than you may be used to in your normal homeschooling schedule.
Hands-on learning, experiences, traditions, and family time are invaluable pieces of our homeschool life, and there is no reason to think that the time we spend on them is wasted. Furthermore, celebrations, programs, and recitals are important milestones in our lives and our children learn so much through participation in these events!
However, perhaps you are excited about the idea of changing things up in December, but you still aren’t quite sure where to begin. What do I do on a chilly December morning with my wonderful, energetic posse of small humans? What does a Christmas homeschool routine actually look like in my own ordinary family? Not to worry! The following ideas are full of practical ideas that will help you craft a month full of learning, connection, and even peace – because there’s no rule that says holidays have to equal stress.
These are posts that I’ve gathered from seven other fellow homeschool bloggers, and I truly hope that you will find some wonderful ideas to help you plan your Christmas homeschool routine. I’ve categorized them based on the amount of structure they involve, but feel free to pick and choose, tweak and edit, in order to make these work for your own unique family. YOU are the expert on your family, and don’t ever feel that you need to copy exactly what some other family is doing!
Ideas for a Christmas Homeschool Routine
General Tips for the Season
Fox Farm Home has a lovely post on reducing stress for children during the holiday season. These fantastic tips apply no matter what sort of routine (or lack thereof) you may decide to follow!
Our Life Homeschooling has an encouraging post with tips specifically geared for large families during the holiday season.
Our Gabled Home shares a post about the importance of rhythms and routines, and I appreciate hearing the perspective of an older mom who can reflect on the benefits she saw over the span of many years. Many of us aren’t there yet and are still working in faith, trusting that these intentions will bear fruit in the future.
Christmas Homeschool Routine: More Structure
Once Upon a Printable has a beautiful Advent board game based on the Nutcracker story, along with many other supplemental activities that you could pick and choose from, and they are all FREE! She also has a lovely unit study based on How the Grinch Stole Christmas which looks like a whole lot of fun.
Global Explorer’s Club has a totally beautiful unit study that focuses on Christmas traditions around the world and is completely FREE! Take a peek if you want something like that to guide your December routine.
Christmas Homeschool Routine: Less Structure
Life and Homeschool shares her story of switching to a “no school December,” as well as the pros and cons that she considered after it was all said and done. See if this might be the right choice for you!
Silo & Sage has a lovely collection of Advent resources (maybe one will resonate with you), as well as a BOOK LIST of favorite books that would be perfect reading throughout December. I’m definitely adding some of those books to our own Christmas collection!
Here is my own post from a couple years back, sharing a favorite Christmas unit study that we have used several years in a row, as well as our Christmas homeschool routine for the rest of the holiday season.
Finally, one of our favorite things to focus on in December is simply reading more picture books. If you’re not yet convinced that reading aloud is worth your time, check out this post with all the fantastic reasons to read aloud. There are so many fabulous books available (here’s a list of our personal favorite Christmas picture books) that December feels like the perfect time to focus on reading them together! The last couple years we have made a goal to read 100 picture books in the month of December, and every time we have exceeded that goal – there is something about the act of writing something down that motivates you to keep doing it.
If you would like to join us in this goal, and you would like something to record your books on that’s a little nicer than that wrinkled piece of construction paper that your toddler left on the floor (been there – done that), you’re welcome to download my Christmas reading tracker that we’ll be using, and join us in our reading goal this December. Get the free download at the link here, and I hope it will be a blessing to you!
Friends, whatever you decide to do this December, please don’t try to do every good idea that you see. Very often in our homeschools, as in our lives, less is more – and just one or two special activities (per day? per week? totally up to you) is enough to make the season feel special.
One of the great joys of homeschooling is the flexibility it offers, and the month of December invites us to make the most of this flexibility. I hope and pray that your holiday season is full of connection with your children, cozy memories together, and of course, plenty of books.
