not every day has to be magical and special

‘Twas the month before Christmas and all through the land, parents are trying to homeschool through the holidays without losing their minds! Okay, that doesn’t rhyme, but it’s the reality for many homeschooling families this time of year.

Join Gina and Christyn as they share their holiday homeschooling plans and outline three easy steps to truly enjoy this most wonderful time of the year.

5:04 — If you’re overextended and exhausted through the holidays, it’s that much harder to gear up and get back to school in January

5:18 — Three basic steps to holiday homeschooling:
1)  Manage expectations
2)  Make a plan
3)  Sit back and enjoy!

5:50 — Don’t try to do some fun and magical and memorable every single day leading up to Christmas. While Christmas is the perfect time to slow down and do some fun extras, be sure to manage your expectations of what that will look like

8:15 — Real-world life is messay. You’ll get tired, kids will get cranky, and there are extra committments and obligations this time of year

9:30 — Christyn talks about her experience trying to sprinkle Christmas fairy dust on all subjects, rather than sticking with a schooling plan that was working. After two years, she gave that up in favor of planning just one fun thing per week, not per day

10:48 — Gina emphasizes that real-life holidays don’t look like a magazine photo shoot. Rather than striving for that, embrace real life just the way it is

12:32 — If Christmas is truly about the kids, then we need to keep their best interests in mind

13:17 — Make a plan as to what you can realistically handle school-wise during the holidays, then get it on the calendar

13:40 — In discussing Christmas Plans Past, Gina follows one crucial rule: Don’t let what you did last year dictate what you’ll do this year

15:25 — Christyn adds fun in some subjects as natural ending points are reached during December

17:23 — Plan for spontaneous fun, or in other words, leave space for Christmas magic to happen: just make sure you’ve got a few tricks up your sleeve!

17:56 — Enjoying the holidays can be simple and easy

18:57 — Gina encourages saying “No” to some things so the holiday traditions that are important to your family can happen

19:50 — Enjoying Christmas at Christyn’s house usually means a Christmas Poetry Teatime, Grinch Night, and Christmas Lights Scavenger Hunt — look for them at our Etsy Shoppe.