Holidays are particularly hard on homeschoolers. Many of us overschedule & then run out of steam as the end of the year events come together. Co-op parties, choir performances, choir parties, dance performances, cookie exchanges, winter walks, star parties, and the love/hate relationship that so many have with The Nutcracker, it’s mindbending! From the peanut butter birdseed pinecones to the tracing paper snowflakes on the windows, I couldn’t escape the feeling that I should recapture all of the crafty experiences of my youth while trying to juggle end of semester school work, recordkeeping and plan for the upcoming semester.
Admit it. You do it too. Even if you have no visitors and decide to keep things super low-key, as the big days approach you start fighting the feeling that -oh no, I’m not meeting expectations of appropriate holiday cheer. So you ditch the no-holiday-mess route & make a sane transition to minimal holiday stuff. A few events, some decorations, some cookies, maybe a gingerbread house. At which point, in for a penny & all that. There’s no saving you.
You’re out there right now designing plans for the Taj Mahal out of gingerbread and sugar. You’ve realized that the kids have never been to a sing along of the Messiah or seen the sunrise from a mountaintop in the snow, and you want- no, you need- to fix that. You haven’t woven decorative balls of spruce and mistletoe by hand– or studded oranges with cloves– or knitted jumpers for chickens or penguins (really, google it)– or visited a hospital or nursing home. This doesn’t just make you a scrooge. It makes you a bad homeschooling parent.
(that was sarcasm, folks. You aren’t a bad homeschooling parent!)Don’t let Martha Stewart and the Food Network make you into a raving lunatic this winter. You & your kids will survive if you haven’t watched the lectures on the roots of your holiday traditions, attended a concert highlighting the music of winter holidays across cultures, plucked a turkey, grown cranberries in your backyard or done whatever other insane magazine-inspired thing that is supposed to make you feel creative, interesting and valuable. Or- why not! Do it. Have fun doing it. Make it your focus for the month and be totally off the wall into fulfilling that vision.
But don’t do of that and then – in all your exhausted and holiday-mania splendor– as you wonder why in the hell your kitchen is full of pine needles, what does one do with turkey feathers, and what is that rash breaking out on your child’s arms?- decide that now is the time to revamp your math curriculum.
Stop. Don’t ask your kids to take midyear testing, switch curriculums, drop out of a co-op or decide to put your children back in school. The world won’t end if you take a few weeks off from academics and play for a while. Homeschooling isn’t a fragile thing. For that matter, play is serious stuff. Who knows what may come of it!
Put away everything that you can & embrace the insanity in whatever style suits you best. If you feel overwhelmed by the season, hunker down & wait for it to pass. Take the time to read that stack of books, build the roomsized Zome structure, or learn all of the words to the Periodic Table song. Whatever you choose, let your brain have a break from doubt and perfectionism. Use the time to recharge for the semester ahead.
And if you really need to have a homeschooling framework for this decision: Be a model for your kids.
Do you want them to see holidays as a time for people to be stressed out, hyper-critical and crazy. Or do you want them to see that people can decide how to schedule time wisely, to set priorities and let those choices guide actions.
There, you aren’t getting a break from homeschooling at all. You’ve just changed focus. This month’s lesson: how to embrace life when it gets a little crazy without going crazy yourself.
Thanks! What a great reminder.