3 Tips To Help Make Homeschooling During The Holidays Easier

I recall being just a few years into homeschooling and trying to make sure we kept up with our daily homeschooling routine so that we could take a Christmas break. I was using a rigid box curriculum at the time, and we were stressing to get caught up before we could relax and enjoy the season. 

Sadly, I don’t recall making holiday baking a fun learning experience or doing a Christmas Around the World study. Instead, we were just trying to manage language arts and math. There was no time for fun stuff or making memories. We were trapped in a homeschool schedule that we didn’t create. 

Have you been there too? A slave to a teacher’s manual or daily homeschool schedule that doesn’t serve you. Trying to play catch up to meet someone else’s goals. It can feel miserable! Especially when you see all of your fellow homeschool friends enjoying the season and living life. 

Well, I want to share three tips to help you make homeschooling during the holidays easier and more enjoyable. 

How You Can Make Homeschooling During The Holidays Less Stressful

Homeschool Year-Round for More Flexibility 

You may want to consider homeschooling year-round, and I hope you will hear me out on this. EVERYTHING CHANGED when I decided to stop following the general public school calendar and homeschool when it worked best for my family. Hello, freedom! We decided to take on a four-day-a-week homeschool routine, and we haven’t looked back since. This change allows us to vacation anytime through the year, enjoy places on days when they are less crowded, and take a break whenever we need to. It is one of the best choices I have ever made to protect our family’s time. 

Since then, we can enjoy an entire month of Advent in December or take a month off in July. We have so much more flexibility in our schedule now. It’s important early on in your homeschooling journey to create a homeschool routine that serves your family well. 

Mix Up Your Curriculum While Homeschooling During The Holidays

Since August or September, most of us have been keeping up our homeschool routine, and we are all ready to relax a bit. Usually, by November or December, homeschool moms are ready for a bit of a break. Instead of trying to complete every little thing before committing to a break, think about adding in some fun-schooling and using some hands-on resources that evoke some excitement. Your kids will love it, and it’s a refreshing respite for mom too. 

Some of our most memorable moments in our homeschool are made when we celebrate a holiday with hands-on fun. There are still plenty of educational resources that you can use to homeschool during the holidays. Switch out the same old boring math worksheet with a Thanksgiving math printable, or enjoy language arts with a Christmas twist. Advent curriculum and Christmas Around The World unit studies are still educational, so you can count them toward homeschool hours if you have to keep track. 

Enjoy Life as Home Education During the Holidays

Too many moms are stressed around the holidays trying to complete their textbooks and curriculum when they could be enjoying life. It took me years to adjust my mindset when it came to home educating. But, luckily I did, and I know now that so many things count towards real-life learning around the holidays. Think about how baking can become an entire learning experience. Planning, shopping, and baking Christmas cookies can count as math, science, life skills, home economics, vocabulary, and that’s just to name a few. 

Use the holidays or special days in your homeschool to do the things you rarely have time for. Cooking with the kids, baking, reading aloud, science experiments, or whatever it is that you feel like you are missing out on. Go on field trips and take advantage of activities that are still educational but you don’t get to do regularly. 

There is often a lot going on during various holidays, and things like how to wrap a gift, grocery planning & shopping, and general homemaking are fantastic skills to learn. Discuss hospitality, gratitude, and manners for the holidays. Enjoy digging into God’s word together as a family. There are so many creative ways to continue to learn without textbooks or a rigid curriculum. 

I hope that these tips help you to think about homeschooling during the holidays in a different light. Remember that there are so many activities that are still educational; they count. You shouldn’t feel guilty about taking time to enjoy the things that matter the most – your family.