Christmas fell on a Monday this year. Some schools held classes all the way up to Friday, December 22.
In our house, we studied up to Wednesday, the 20th. I wanted to keep plugging away since I find it easier to keep my kids focused now, in the winter, than later when spring gets going. Now, however, we are quite happily on break from homeschooling.
I find that it is important to take a periodic break from homeschooling because frankly, my children and I both need the mental rest.
Certainly, homeschooling is wonderful because the entire process can be less stressful, and much less time consuming than conventional school models. Learning can be fun and exciting, and I do my best to make sure it is for my kids!
That said, it still takes discipline and mental energy to corral (especially my younger) children and get them going in the right direction. It also takes discipline and mental energy for the pupils to focus, particularly in the subjects that are more challenging for each individual child. Taking a few days off can help everyone hit the reset button. When we do start back again in January, it will be more exciting, and a bit easier to gain that focus.
I also find that breaks can solve some learning roadblocks that are due to learner-stress, or simply lack of mental maturity. Often, taking a little break, which provides time for the brain to catch up and also takes the pressure off the situation, is the perfect cure. When we come back and revisit that pesky concept that was causing trouble, my child often finds that it now all makes sense.
What We Do During Our Break
Sometimes, Christmas rolls around and the break flies by without me even thinking about it. We like to use our break times to enjoy lots of extra free play indoors and outdoors, as well as visit family members who live out of town. I also like to tackle cleaning and organizing projects that have been put on the back burner during the business of the regular school year. We might throw in the occasional Christmas movie, but for the most part, we stay away from screens and simply enjoy not having to be anywhere at any particular time.
A holiday break from homeschooling can also be the perfect time to establish family traditions and make cherished family memories. It can take some intention to get these traditions going, but it is definitely worth it. I have some holiday traditions from my own childhood that I enjoy passing down to my children. Some of these include baking Christmas cookies, decorating a Jesse Tree throughout Advent, and a Polish tradition from my father’s side of the family, making pierogis. I’ve also worked to thoughtfully establish some new traditions. One of them is teaching my children to be givers instead only receivers at Christmas. We make sure that each child gets to pick out and give a special gift to each of their siblings.
Whether our traditions are old or new, I try to select the most meaningful ones and keep it simple. Traditions can be meaningful and memorable, but I don’t want to fill our holiday break with so much hubbub that it becomes exhausting. It is supposed to be a break after all!
Ways to Rest and Keep Going
Even though I believe in a healthy holiday break from homeschooling, there are times when it seems prudent to keep going, say over Christmas. This might be when a child, particularly an older child, is behind on a particular subject, if I have plans to take breaks at other times, or if the kids simply need a little structure through the holidays.
In this type of situation, there are some creative ways to still take a little rest while getting what needs to be done, done.
If it is a particular subject that is causing trouble, we might study only a little bit of that subject each day and hold off on the other subjects. We might also continue just with our more “fun” subjects like our read-aloud literature. My children and I often feel like literature is hardly school since we get so “in” to the stories! Last year over Christmas, we read the Newbery Honor Award Winner book The Family Under the Bridge by Natalie Savage Carlson. It was part of our literature plan for the year and also takes place at Christmas, so it was a lovely read.
If we needed to keep plugging away because of breaks at other times, I might use or just make up a unit study for the holiday period. The unit study could be themed something that corresponds with the holiday, or something that my kids and I find particularly fascinating. That way, we could still take a short break from our normal textbooks and activities, even while continuing to learn.
Enjoy Your Break From Homeschooling
I hope you and your family are having a wonderful holiday break from homeschooling this year!
