This is a special guest post from Anne of DoItYourselfMom.com! If you’re interested in writing an article for FHD you may submit it here. Originally published in November, 2015.
Homeschooling for the Holidays
Homeschoolers have a lot of freedom when it comes to how much school and what subjects they will cover during the busy holiday season. My boys are still young, and their workload light, so we’ll be continuing our normal routine and working in fun Christmas projects.
Whether you “officially” take the entire month off, do “Christmas School,” or just incorporate a few holiday activities here and there, these 5 ideas can help your family keep learning and have fun during the holidays.
- Home Economics: It is the most wonderful time of the year to do Home Ec. Baking sweet breads, making snack mixes, and making cookies and candies are fun kitchen activities with a sweet reward at the end. Little children love helping cut out sugar cookies and decorating gingerbread houses. Older children can help make more complex recipes or even try their hand at making holiday goodies or food gifts all on their own.
- Music and Drama: Perhaps you are a part of a choir, homeschool drama group, or your music teacher has already scheduled a Holiday recital. Or perhaps you are just planning to a see A Christmas Carol or The Nutcracker. These are all great ways to incorporate music and drama, but even if you are not a part of a formal music or drama activity and can’t afford to go to a professional stage production, there are many ways to incorporate music and drama into your holidays. Sing Christmas carols as a family. Play classic Christmas and winter music in your home. Learn a holiday piece for a musical instrument. Act out a holiday play or skit, or write your own. This Christmas, we are going to try to film our own family Christmas pageant!
- Writing: Little children can practice handwriting by writing or simply signing Christmas cards. Children of all ages can write (or dictate) stories and draw pictures to create books to give loved ones for gifts. Older children can help write a family Christmas letter or Family Times newspaper.
- Math: Holiday baking is a great time to practice multiplication and fractions. Older children could be given a specific gift budget and have to figure out how to purchase gifts for friends or family out of a fixed amount.
- Arts and Crafts: From simply drawing holiday cards to creating intricate handmade gifts, with inspiration from Pinterest holiday ideas for this subject are almost limitless. Try cutting out paper snowflakes or making potato stamped wrapping paper with little ones. Older children could trying making beaded Christmas ornaments or knitting a scarf all on their own.
And above all else, remember the reason that you are celebrating. My family has chosen to make this a big part of our holiday celebration. Bible reading, singing Christmas carols, and using activities to teach little ones the importance of Christmas are a big part of our December. This year we released The Tree of Life: Seeking the Son This Christmas, a Jesse Tree style devotional that includes all of these things ans more. You can learn more about the book and accompanying printables here.
You may also be interested in Holiday Baking as Homeschool Curriculum!
However, you and your family choose to live, laugh, love, and learn this holiday season, I hope your days are merry and bright!
Anna currently lives in China learning Mandarin and chasing her three active boys. Anna writes about her crazy/blessed life, cooking, DIY projects, and homeschooling adventures at www.thedoityourselfmom.com
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