ScoutTN Posted December 6, 2010 Share Posted December 6, 2010 Okay, this past weekend has changed my plan completely. We are going to do school (just K so not complicated - about an hour altogether) whenever we can not stopping until very close to Christmas. But, we are going to take Mondays off, stay home and play! The weekends are crazy busy with concerts and parties and I think we all need a day to relax and just BE. I am wiped out and we still have lots of Christmas still to go! What do you do during this time of year? If you take a break, how long? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2_girls_mommy Posted December 6, 2010 Share Posted December 6, 2010 We do similar. We don't take a long break for Christmas. No 2 weeks off or anything. We take a day here or there when it gets closer. We may get invited to someone's house for a baking day on the 22nd, so we won't do school that day. But if we are home the next day (23rd) then we will keep going with whatever we can. If we need to do a subject on the 24th that we missed on a busy holiday day we might just do it since it is a Friday this year. We will probably take the Monday after Christmas off to recuperate after the holiday weekend. But by Tues. or Wed I see us getting back to it. I find the winter time a good time to hit the books, because other activities like scouts, co-op, and children's choir are on break, giving us more time at home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joyofsixreboot Posted December 6, 2010 Share Posted December 6, 2010 I think we're going to do the same. We took 5 days off at Thanksgiving and it was too much and hard to get going again. I'm going to go at slow speed, math&LA and read-alouds, maybe watch some Bill Nye or Liberty Kids or fun documentaries. Sort of school lite. And we'll take a day off if we need it. Math & LA only take about 45 minutes together so it's not like they'll be overwhelmed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaKinVA Posted December 6, 2010 Share Posted December 6, 2010 I do my best to get in as much school time as I can... we had a very busy fall with lots of company, so we will be having some school through the 23rd, and then be back at it Monday the 26-31, and then Jan 3 forward! I will finish this year ontime... I will finish this year ontime... I will, I will, I will! (We start building our house in January, so if we DON'T finish on time... oh me, oh my... we'll be in a world of hurt! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted December 6, 2010 Share Posted December 6, 2010 In general, if we're home and it's a weekday, we do school. If we're away from home, we don't do formal schoolwork. Since most of our "away from home" things this Christmas season are 1 day events, we'll have a lot of days where school doesn't happen, and I'm not expecting much forward progress, but I want to at least keep the habit in place. It's too easy for ME to fall out of sync. We had family here over Thanksgiving, followed by a trip to try to see a shuttle launch (which turned into visiting the beach and Sea World instead), and I'm only now getting back into gear, not only with Homeschooling, but with my curriculum revisions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovinmomma Posted December 6, 2010 Share Posted December 6, 2010 We take a break from Thanksgiving to the first of the year, but not completely. We still keep up with some basics a couple or three days a week. They are very short lessons, though. So, I try to keep things fresh but still take a break. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missmoe Posted December 6, 2010 Share Posted December 6, 2010 We are going for schooling for more weeks and then taking two weeks off. When my kids were younger we took off all of December and made lots of crafts, baked, decorated, ect. It was lots of fun, but alass I now have two high-schoolers. One in a physical school and one taking college classes, so I try to stick to their schedule. Also, my littles are now middle-schoolers and I feel that we can't just drop things anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom31257 Posted December 6, 2010 Share Posted December 6, 2010 My dh is a public school teacher. This year his last day is the 17th and his first day back in January is the 4th. Normally we take his whole break off. This year I'm a little behind where I wanted to be because of a couple of situations, so I'm going to be doing a little schoolwork spread throughout, but I'm going to keep it the minimal needed to be where I want when we start back. We will be doing some field trips during the break. We will be near the Creation Museum and I want to visit some Native American sites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagira Posted December 6, 2010 Share Posted December 6, 2010 I feel I need to keep schooling throughout the season, just skipping days here and there, as my baby is due on February 6, and I'd rather use weeks off then. I'm planning on continuing school throughout the Summer and only take two weeks off in August, before school starts again the Monday after ds' birthday (September 2nd). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan in KY Posted December 6, 2010 Share Posted December 6, 2010 This year I am sending the dc to Grandma's house and using the week after Christmas to plan next semester. Woohoo! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen in CO Posted December 6, 2010 Share Posted December 6, 2010 My ds will be home from college in Japan. And we have family (total of 17 people in my house) staying with us at various time over the holiday. My kids are off from the day before my brother's family arrives (Dec 17) until the day after he leaves (Jan 3). I am planning 4 days of ski school that I always count as school days, but there will be NO school here. I'm taking a break. It is too much to do school during the holidays. I am enjoying a week off with my husband. We're skiing, sledding, tubing, shopping, baking and enjoying. I'll start back easy in January. When my girls are in college, I won't lament the fact that we missed two weeks of school while enjoying family. I also won't regret the week it took us to get back on track. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChandlerMom Posted December 6, 2010 Share Posted December 6, 2010 My ds will be home from college in Japan. And we have family (total of 17 people in my house) staying with us at various time over the holiday. My kids are off from the day before my brother's family arrives (Dec 17) until the day after he leaves (Jan 3). I am planning 4 days of ski school that I always count as school days, but there will be NO school here. I'm taking a break. It is too much to do school during the holidays. I am enjoying a week off with my husband. We're skiing, sledding, tubing, shopping, baking and enjoying. I'll start back easy in January. When my girls are in college, I won't lament the fact that we missed two weeks of school while enjoying family. I also won't regret the week it took us to get back on track. We school 7 days/wk year round, but on a given day we do as much or as little as we need and take days off here and there. Science and math will be more about cooking for the rest of the month. :D That said if my home was a full or busy as yours over the holidays, I'd take the whole 2 weeks off, too! :party: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudoMom Posted December 6, 2010 Share Posted December 6, 2010 We're putting some things on hold (we'll be at about 3/4 schedule) for the next 2 weeks, and then we'll take a break. We'll either start back on 1-3, though I might wait until 1-5 (depending on how prepared I am after the break-my dh gets the week in between Christmas & New Years off). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudoMom Posted December 6, 2010 Share Posted December 6, 2010 My ds will be home from college in Japan. And we have family (total of 17 people in my house) staying with us at various time over the holiday. My kids are off from the day before my brother's family arrives (Dec 17) until the day after he leaves (Jan 3). I am planning 4 days of ski school that I always count as school days, but there will be NO school here. I'm taking a break. It is too much to do school during the holidays. I am enjoying a week off with my husband. We're skiing, sledding, tubing, shopping, baking and enjoying. I'll start back easy in January. When my girls are in college, I won't lament the fact that we missed two weeks of school while enjoying family. I also won't regret the week it took us to get back on track. He's coming home?!?!!! :party: I'm so thrilled for you, Karen! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nukeswife Posted December 6, 2010 Share Posted December 6, 2010 This year we're schooling as much as possible until new years. My dh will be on leave starting on the 30th until the 10th so we'll take that time off. So we'll be schooling until the 23rd then we'll school the 27th-29th, before our break starts. He normally tells us to just school while he's home, but this year due to deployments and other craziness in the ships schedule he's only been home for 77 days so far this year (he's currently out at sea again) we're going to enjoy all the off time we can get once he comes back in two weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen in CO Posted December 6, 2010 Share Posted December 6, 2010 He's coming home?!?!!! :party: I'm so thrilled for you, Karen! :D Thanks. It was a big relief. I decided to tell him that I really wanted him home for at least a week which he agreed to. He booked his own flights this weekend and is coming home THIS Friday. He didn't even take just the minimum amount of time that I had requested. He wanted to be here for Alexis's birthday which is the 13th. I just about burst when I saw his itinerary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaMa2005 Posted December 6, 2010 Share Posted December 6, 2010 My dh is a public school teacher. This year his last day is the 17th and his first day back in January is the 4th. Normally we take his whole break off. This year I'm a little behind where I wanted to be because of a couple of situations, so I'm going to be doing a little schoolwork spread throughout, but I'm going to keep it the minimal needed to be where I want when we start back. We will be doing some field trips during the break. We will be near the Creation Museum and I want to visit some Native American sites. We have this same situation. Luckily, I am not behind :hurray: so we get to take off the same time DH is off. And in all honesty, it is incredibly difficult to do school when DH is home. He just likes to get into our business a little too much and then DS loses all concentration :001_huh:. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5Wizards Posted December 6, 2010 Share Posted December 6, 2010 We do have some things planned on specific days, but other than that, we will be doing our lessons. We took 2 weeks off at Thanksgiving time due to some outside circumstances and started our "year" late this year, so we need to focus a little bit more than usual. Many of our weekly outside activities are canceled in December, so that gives us an opportunity to work at times that we wouldn't normally be doing so. However, we do plan to take extra time to make cookies, do some extra Christmas crafts, watch holiday movies, etc.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tree House Academy Posted December 6, 2010 Share Posted December 6, 2010 We are off after the end of the day on the 17th of Dec. We will start back to school on Dec. 27. I prefer to take the week of Christmas off and save my other days off for SPRING!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moniksca Posted December 6, 2010 Share Posted December 6, 2010 We're doing lite school right now so I can get my own work done. We're continuing with math/LA and some fun lapbooks including christmas ones. We'll school till the 17th with a two week break to accommodate family visits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Closeacademy Posted December 6, 2010 Share Posted December 6, 2010 I've found that it is a crazy time of the year and even without a lot of "extras" going on the children tend to be stressed and tense about Christmas. This is my time when my children do the most acting up because we are indoors so much and they are not used to it. Plus they are all worked up over Christmas. So for school, I scrap everything down to the basics: a Christmas themed read aloud math (but we do about 1/2 the normal amount and it is usually review) reading (my youngest reads to me and my oldest reads a book she picked out) making Christmas cards or crafts In the past we have done Christmas themed lapbooks which are a lot of fun. I try to keep things very relaxed. We do school work the first two weeks after Thanksgiving and then on that third week, I drop everything but the read aloud. With the younger set, our favorites were: Christmas crafts songs/carols and picture books Our favorite books were: The Night Before Christmas Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer Jan Brett's Christmas themed books Enjoy this time. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penelope Posted December 6, 2010 Share Posted December 6, 2010 For the third grader we will do the 3Rs and read alouds only until the new year. A few fieldtrips too. Younger then that-- we did phonics only, just to keep the skills up. The rest of the time was writing Christmas cards, baking, making crafts, and playing. Oh and we'd practice math facts a little, here and there. That's it. Life is short and we like to focus quite a bit on Christmas while they are little. If I did full school I'd regret not spending the time to do those little things that make the season special and fun for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2_girls_mommy Posted December 6, 2010 Share Posted December 6, 2010 I guess I didn't clarify our work either... We do keep working, but we change to a lot of Christmasy themed stuff for our work too. DD6 is working on a snowman book from Enchanted Learning for her handwriting already instead of her regular book. DD8's copywork is Christmas related. Reading is Christmas stories and such. Art for sure is Christmas themed. There is too much good stuff out there to not do it. For music this month we are doing a Tchaikovsky study, listening to his music and watching the ballets (think Nutcracker..) and girls are performing in a Christmas pageant. We bake and shop and wrap and make cards and all of that too. We play Christmas carols in the background, etc. I have math worksheets in Christmas themes for the days closest to the holiday to keep it fun. So doing work through the holidays does not mean giving up the holidays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracy Posted December 7, 2010 Share Posted December 7, 2010 We are taking off from Thanksgiving to New Year's. That was my schedule as an undergraduate student, and I thought it was wonderful! So that is my plan for now (my kids are still really little). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalphs Posted December 7, 2010 Share Posted December 7, 2010 Okay, this past weekend has changed my plan completely. We are going to do school (just K so not complicated - about an hour altogether) whenever we can not stopping until very close to Christmas. But, we are going to take Mondays off, stay home and play! The weekends are crazy busy with concerts and parties and I think we all need a day to relax and just BE. I am wiped out and we still have lots of Christmas still to go! What do you do during this time of year? If you take a break, how long? This year we are doing a unit study on Christmas using the Living Books Christmas Holiday Helper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alicia64 Posted December 7, 2010 Share Posted December 7, 2010 I can't quite imagine the havoc of taking two weeks ever. My boys are hard enough to get back on track after the weekend. And, believe me, it's not at all that I over extend them. So, I'll take a day off when we have too much Christmasy stuff going on, but otherwise we'll keep going. I guess I think -- especially for math -- that skills suffer w/ too much time down. A. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deeke Posted December 7, 2010 Share Posted December 7, 2010 We take all December and 2 weeks into January off for the holidays. It is wonderful! We get tons of crafting, baking, and just getting ready for the holidays done with no rushing around. It was the best decision I even made!! :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IsabelC Posted December 7, 2010 Share Posted December 7, 2010 We aim to do a minimal amount of basic school stuff every day of the year, including Christmas and other special days, and packing school work to take if we go away for a few days. Occasionally it doesn't happen because we're sick, disorganized etc. I'm also planning to do some intensive weeks on various things (eg science week) during the long summer holidays while the kids don't have their extracurricular activities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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