Homeschooling Through the Holidays

      Homeschooling during the holidays generally takes on a very relaxed aire around our house.  Once we hit the week of Thanksgiving, we do many cooking and cleaning projects.  I guess you could say that it is our 'home ec' week.  Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, we still keep up on math and science -- because those classes we always seem to be behind on.  Beyond that, I love for us to focus on ministry projects like helping out in our homeless ministry, visiting at nursing homes, and making homemade gifts for others.  Of course, there are the occasional shopping days and baking days thrown into the mix; but, those days give great opportunity to practice math skills.  My kids are old enough to help multiply recipes and calculate the amount of ingredients needed for purchase.  I love letting them do that!  It is so fun for me to just turn them loose in the kitchen to bake cookies.  After New Years we get back in the full swing of school.  It is always a little difficult because we seem to get out of our normal sleep / wake routine during the holidays.
     When we first started homeschooling, I tried to formally school all the way up to each holiday, just taking each actual holiday off.  That was an epic fail for us.  Don't let others make you feel obligated to do that.  Kids in public / private schools get 2-3 weeks off and no one says a thing about it.  You are in charge of your schedule as homeschoolers and you don't have to explain to anyone how many days you decide to take off of school during the holidays.  Enjoy your time together, take advantage of learning opportunities as they come along, and do as much school as you decide too do. 

***The Homeschool Freebie for today on "homeschoolfreebie.com" is an e-book entitles "Homeschool for the Holidays."  It is free today for download.  It is a compilation of ideas from over 800 homeschooling families!  Check it out!!

      To read other blogs about homeschooling for the holidays, click on the links at the end of this post. If you would like to be entered in the giveaways for this 5 Days of Preparing for the Holidays series, visit my giveaway page.  Knowledge Box Central has graciously donated 5 fabulous products for me to give to my readers this week!