A Homeschool Holiday Survival Guide, to help get your family through the craziest time of the year! Learn how to not only survive, but enjoy the holidays!
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Homeschool Holiday Survival Guide
Every year, I have huge idealistic plans for the holidays. But I find that oftentimes, if I’m not intentional, the holiday season can quickly get out of control and chaotic for my family, especially with homeschooling thrown in the mix.
I’m sharing this homeschool holiday survival guide in the hopes that it can help both of us have a blessed Christmas, a time that our children (and us parents) will look back on with fond memories.
Say No to Unnecessary Extras
Many of us have a hard time saying no. We may be able to say no to things that we know are bad for ourselves and our kids, but when it comes to things that are neutral, or even good, it’s a different story.
Decide ahead of time what the important activities are for your family, and then say no to everything else. Every. single. thing.
Plan Ahead for a Holiday Break
If possible, try to plan a break in to your curriculum. I know some people do breaks quarterly, others do them every 7th week, etc. — whatever your schedule, attempt to get a break in during the holidays.
At the very least, take a break the week of Christmas, but if you can manage a break the week before as well, go for it! And if by some miracle, you can take the entire month off, go for it!
Set Realistic Expectations
There’s nothing worse than having a child that’s sure they are going to get amazingly huge and expensive presents, only to have them find that they didn’t get every single thing they wanted, and feeling like Christmas was a failure. Trust me, I’ve been there.
Help your kids set realistic expectations for the holidays, which includes both gifts and experiences.
While there are some homeschooling families who can afford all the latest and greatest, most of us are sacrificing to live off a single income, because we believe it’s worth it. Due of this, our Christmas gift budget is more limited than that of many other people.
Setting realistic expectations extends not just to our kids, but to ourselves as well. Are we really able to bake cookies for everyone we know? Can we afford to buy presents for every cousin, aunt, uncle, grandparent, coworker, etc? Do we really need to have an activity scheduled for every single day during the month of December?
When we learn to dial back the expectations (which ties in with the saying no I mentioned earlier), we are actually happier. We can choose several things to do, and do them well. We can have the time to really enjoy the holidays, instead of rushing from one activity to another. Our stress levels can go down, and we can focus on what’s really important.
Say No to Guilt
Give yourself the freedom and the grace to say no to guilt.
If you get to the end of December and realize you didn’t get all of the schoolwork done that had been planned; if your child did have those high expectations for Christmas, and ended up being angry with you for not meeting those expectations; if you have a family member who is angry with you for setting boundaries, and saying no to something unnecessary; whatever guilt-inducing experience occurs, you need to say no to guilt.
Guilt doesn’t benefit you in any way. It doesn’t change what happened in the past. It doesn’t make up for anything. So say no to it.
I hope that the tips in this Homeschool Holiday Survival Guide will help you to have an incredible Thanksgiving and Christmas, and you can end your year on a positive note!
For more of our popular homeschooling posts, check out 4 Reasons We Don’t Homeschool, DIY Recycled Shrinky Dinks, Homeschool Crafts are Great for the Brain, and Pepper and Soap Experiment.
Here are some more survival guides to help you thrive this holiday season:
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