I really want to unschool through the holidays

[Carrie12345]

but we are NOT very good unschoolers.

 

On the kids' end, I know they will do their darndest to just veg. I can probably sneak some art and "home ec" in there pretty easily, and there's a decent chance of sliding in some good books without complaint.

 

On my end, I know I'll fret about falling further behind in math. It's the one and only subject I can't stand to not finish by the end of the school year. And I've been working so hard to get the girls to show some improvement in writing (we did some IEW and just started WWS) and I finally saw progress last week.

 

I have so much I want to get done this coming week (for myself/the family/the holiday) and then dh is supposed to be on vacation for 3 weeks. I almost feel like I'm being selfish for thinking about doing this, and it's almost guaranteed I'll feel guilty afterward, but I just don't feel like I'm up for the pressures of classical education this month.

 

Someone push me off the fence!

[Angie in VA]

::gentle push::

 

The first homeschooler I met who helped me get started only did math  and reading from TG till Jan. 2.

 

Just declare 1-2 hours of school work to be done before lunch and relax. Or get audiobooks and have the dc listen to those. Or watch documentaries. Or have them build something great from Legos or the like. 

 

Sometimes the lesson is just how to get through a stressful season. If you do things for others during this time of year, it's a great time for the dc to help (baked good made w/ everyone's help and then delivered to special neighbors, visit shut ins, etc.). 

 

 

[mytwomonkeys]

Just take off. I wouldn't even "unschool".

 

My daughter is in public school and they have a lot of easy days this time of year. They also had a week off at Thanksgining and will have over two weeks off for Christmas. My son and I are taking it easy too. We've always homeschooled and always take it it easy between Thanksgiving and the New Year. :)

 

We enjoy a lot of reading and movies and food!

[Lady Marmalade]

I agree with mytwomonkeys.  Take the time off and enjoy it! I had planned on timing our break to be the same as the PS kids... I've decided that one of the perks of homeschooling is taking breaks when I want to!  If I wait until the week of Christmas to be off, we'll have no time for baking and decorating and just enjoying the season... So we're taking a full three weeks off. 

 

No school at all.  Then when we come back in January we'll hit it hard and probably won't stop until we're done for the year.

[albeto.]

I wouldn't bother. One doesn't unschool for a couple weeks and then go back to school. One takes a break, catches her breath, enjoys time with family for the sake of enjoying time with family, and gets that rejuvenation needed to start afresh in a new month. Unschooling isn't about academics. It's not alternative schooling. It's a complete paradigm shift, so if you're going to catch up again in January, I would encourage you to not confuse your kids over the break. Enjoy the break, guilt free. :)

[Night Elf]

Unschooling is probably not the term you're looking for. It's a lifestyle, not just a temporary thing. You probably just want the kids to do something educational instead of being completely on break, right? Books are a good idea. Assigning a mini-project that they have to research and present in whatever format can be fun. It can be a poster, a made-up game, a lapbook, a powerpoint presentation, etc. Workbooks aren't always bad. Videos are good. I'm sure you could get lots of ideas from this board about fun movies or documentaries to use. Or you could just take a much needed break and enjoy the holidays completely guilt free.

[KRG]

The first year we homeschooled for December we did Christmas Around the World.  It was so much fun learning about different Christmas traditions.  Last year we took the whole month of December off and just vegged.  I am missing that this year!  

[katilac]

Well, have you looked at your remaining lessons and your schedule for the year? It should be easy enough to figure out if you can stay on track in math. 

 

Personally, no way can my high schooler take off 3 weeks this month. She could, but then she would feel pressured and cranky because there would be little to no wiggle room for sick days, etc. Of course, we do want to enjoy the holidays and all of our visitors as well. So, this coming  the next two weeks will be a typical 5 lessons in math. Then she has 4 lessons total scheduled over the following 2 weeks (Christmas week and the next). They generally take about an hour to an hour-and-a-half. She can divide them however she likes. 

 

I fiddled around with the lessons and calendar for a while, deciding how much she needed to accomplish in December. There are a set number of lessons in the book, so it's easy enough to back out holidays and such, but then you must remember to build in a buffer for sick days and unexpected events. It would be stressful for her to start the new year without doing those 4 lessons over 2 weeks, or, heaven forbid, the 9 lessons over the 3 weeks. 

 

Her other subjects are reduced but not eliminated. It works out to a pretty easy schedule for the month, with at least a full week off and other days that are very short. She can do 2 hours of schoolwork and still have a long day of fun or relaxation.  

 

So, look at the calendar and how many lessons are left, and decide from there. It may be that the high schooler can't take off as much time as his sibs, but that's the way of the world. My 10th grader definitely has more work than my 8th grader. 

 

[AK_Mom4]

We will be finished with school for this semester on December 12. We have a requirement to get DS18's semester grades to his prospective colleges before the admissions folks leave for winter break. So, we built his assignments with that goal in mind all semester. DS will take his regular finals this coming week and then take his one public school class final the following Wednesday, so we can send off his final grades the next day.

 

And since DS is finishing early, I went went ahead and did DD12's schedule to match. She will finish up on Thursday too and then just band class and no academics work until the 20th.

 

When the kids were younger, we always shifted to Holiday Work between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Math plus lots of holiday books and crafty things. Very fun!

[Above The Rowan]

Unschooling is probably not the term you're looking for. It's a lifestyle, not just a temporary thing. You probably just want the kids to do something educational instead of being completely on break, right? Books are a good idea. Assigning a mini-project that they have to research and present in whatever format can be fun. It can be a poster, a made-up game, a lapbook, a powerpoint presentation, etc. Workbooks aren't always bad. Videos are good. I'm sure you could get lots of ideas from this board about fun movies or documentaries to use. Or you could just take a much needed break and enjoy the holidays completely guilt free.

 

This. 

School-breaks aren't unschooling. 

Just take a break, and enjoy it guilt free. 

If you're looking to do "homeschool-lite" as my gf calls it, then just keep it low-key - go to the library and get a few great books, pick out a couple of documentaries that tie into something you're doing right now, and enjoy the fact that one of the perks of homeschooling is the fact that you can make your own schedule to fit your family. If you don't school year-round, you could just school a week or so later into the "summer break". 

 

It's okay to take breaks when you feel the calling for breaks. It's okay for your kids to see that you can take breaks and the world won't fall apart. 

[Another Lynn]

I would just give them a list of minimum, independent work (maybe with a few chores thrown in) and tell them they're free when they're done.

 

For example:

 

1 math lesson

Read for 45 minutes

Practice piano

Put clean clothes away

Straighten room

Free time

[msjones]

We do 'light' days from time to time:  Math, Music, Reading.  

 

Then they choose how to spend the rest of their day.  No video games or random internet entertainment, but other than that, they choose.  They usually draw, read more, do music stuff, listen to music.  It's very nice.  

 

This provides some structure, takes the pressure off of me, keeps us on track with math, and feels like a break.

[Carrie12345]

So, look at the calendar and how many lessons are left, and decide from there. It may be that the high schooler can't take off as much time as his sibs, but that's the way of the world. My 10th grader definitely has more work than my 8th grader.

My high schooler is in ps, so he doesn't get options. ;-)

[J-rap]

We often did a lot less over the holidays.  That's one of the reasons we homeschooled!  :)  We did keep up with math til the bitter end, I think, but even that we sometimes changed around a bit to make it feel more fun.

[katilac]

My high schooler is in ps, so he doesn't get options. ;-)

 

I didn't notice that! It will be much easier to pull of 3 weeks off with the younger set. Yes, I'd be very inclined to do it if dh was going to be home. Although maybe I would put him in charge of field trips and science experiments, so I could get other stuff done! 

[Ellie]

Just declare 1-2 hours of school work to be done before lunch and relax. Or get audiobooks and have the dc listen to those. Or watch documentaries. Or have them build something great from Legos or the like. 

 

Sometimes the lesson is just how to get through a stressful season. If you do things for others during this time of year, it's a great time for the dc to help (baked good made w/ everyone's help and then delivered to special neighbors, visit shut ins, etc.). 

 

But Angie, that isn't unschoolng. Goodness. (I can say this to Angie because we've known each other for many years and have met IRL. Even Mr. Angie in VA and Mr. Ellie have met each other face to face. :laugh: )

 

But yes, it's true that the lesson is just getting through the season. We always put our books away at Thanksgiving, because I discovered we weren't really productive academically anyway and there was no point in adding the stress of beating myself up because we weren't doing Official School Stuff.

 

My vote is to keep a routine--people have to pick up after themselves and take care of personal care and whatnot--and don't worry about anything else (although there's nothing wrong with watching documentaries *if they are interesting to you or the dc*. I doubt you'd have to tell them to build something with the Legos. In fact, my best bet is that they'll do that anyhow without your saying a word. :-)

[Angie in VA]

Ellie, I realize that you are right, and I saw other posters say the same thing. And you could state your mind to and about me if we'd never met IRL, I hope you know!

 

Well said. Especially the part about self-inspired Lego creations.

[Dmmetler]

I'm taking a break. DD has two online classes to finish, and I've told her that (and piano) is all she needs to do, and after the 16 (for online classes) and the Christmas concert on the 23, she's done with everything until January.

 

Today I found her doing math ;) Apparently, 2 weeks without math is about all she can manage.

[GSOchristie]

We, too, just stopped the day before Thanksgiving. I just started back today reading SOTW, math and reading, and that's all I'm committing to until Christmas.  Asher is reading tons of library books on his own, so I figure he's got to be learning some history in science in there...somewhere.