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No, You Don’t Need To Skip The Fun to Homeschool Through The Holidays

By: Author Charlene Hess

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No, You Don't Need To Skip The Fun to Homeschool Through The Holidays 1 Practical Help for Homeschool Parents and Teachers
red Christmas ornament balls hanging over a gold background with text overlay homeschooling through the holidays

Homeschooling Through the Holiday Season

The fall season brings more than the start of a new homeschool year. It also brings the question that leaves parents deciding whether or not to homeschool through the holidays. What if I told you there were innovative ways you could keep the learning going through the holidays and not get caught by the break (and upcoming winter) slump? This includes any Thanksgiving and kids plans you have, as well as any Christmas homeschooling plans you have.

Regardless of what your holiday plans are, you may want to add some of the fun learning activities mentioned below. An extra perk is you don’t have to put much effort into planning and your children won’t even realize they’re learning, they’re having so much fun!

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Sunflowers and Thanksgiving decor with text overlay homeschooling through the holidays (or not)

20+ Ideas, Tips, and Resources for Homeschooling Through the Holidays

Whether your homeschool year starts in August / September, or you are a year-round homeschooler (taking a week or two off every few weeks), the ideas below can easily be incorporated into your homeschooling schedule.

Before diving in, keep these tips in mind:

  • It’s okay to decrease your school time (think shorter lessons).
  • Don’t be strict but keep a schedule.
  • Allow flexibility to minimize stress.

Now for the Amazing Ideas, Tips, and Tricks…

Holiday Unit Studies

Holiday unit studies are the most flexible way to incorporate fun learning activities and experiences throughout the entire holiday season. Here are a few unit study ideas to get you started:

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Book & Movie Reviews (or Studies)

Some of the greatest holiday movies from *cough* our time *cough* came from some even better stories. What better way to show off these old classics than grabbing the movie and book to watch and read. Your kids may get a kick out of these:

Holiday Crafts & Games

Nothing says holidays like a good game (or craft), and believe it or not, these are some of the best ways kids learn without realizing it.  Even kids in public school spend most of the month of December doing arts and crafts rather than regular school work. Without needing too many materials and supplies, consider adding some of these fun things to your holiday-school must-try list:

What to Do If You Don’t Want to Homeschool Through the Holidays

One of the biggest perks of homeschooling is choosing your own schedule. If you want to opt-out of having a scheduled or structured learning time, you can totally do that. Children are always learning whether it’s with a textbook or movie.  

Even if you live in a state with strict requirements on hours and subjects, feel free to get creative during the month of December and November.  Holiday cooking (including pies and Christmas cookies) totally counts as math and science!  Sending Christmas cards to friends and family members counts as reading and writing.  Homeschool parents have more flexibility than they realize when it comes to homeschooling requirements – especially during the holiday season.  Even holiday shopping can count as a math-related field trip!

This is the time of year to make some life-long memories, and perhaps even build some new life skills (budgeting, cooking, and serving, just to name a few).  Don’t beat yourself up for wanting to take a break! Some families purposefully plan to start their holiday break the week of Thanksgiving and don’t plan to return to the regularly scheduled programming until after the new year.  

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My only suggestion for taking this route is to make sure you have a date set to restart and stick with it. Make plans to gradually coast back into a normal homeschool routine. And if you absolutely want to put something in place, let your kids create a holiday journal to document their holiday celebrations.  You can even have them practice writing in cursive if you feel so inclined.

Holidays are a time for family and at the end of the day, that’s the most important thing.  Don’t let the pressure of school work get in the way of fun activities and life-long family memories during this special time.

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