Take a break if you need it

If you've been around for any length of time, you might have begun to suspect that homeschooling and traditional, brick-and-mortar schooling are two very different things. And you would be correct in that suspicion. There are a few reasons for this. Even families with quite a few children are still not doing crowd control of upwards of 25 children in a classroom. Just that one fact alone changes everything. We also have control over our curricula... what we use, how we use it, whether we keep using it. We can tailor the curriculum, method, timing, frequency and duration of lessons to each child. There is no wasting time on teaching something that is already understood or is so far beyond that child at that moment that it is ludicrous to even try. We can go outside, take breaks, enjoy nice days, have spur of the moment field trips, eat snacks, and take bathroom breaks as needed. And working one on one with a child is extremely efficient. All of my children have learned to read with phonics lessons of no more than fifteen or twenty minutes a day. I could go on, but I'm sure you get the idea. The only thing that is similar between the two types of education is that children learn stuff and they are both called school.

So why do I bring all this up right now? Well, it is the beginning of December and there are a lot of new homeschoolers out there. December and school, in my experience, don't go well together. Everyone is scattered. The children because it is exciting and that excitement can be overwhelming at times. The parent because there is just so much to do to get ready for the holidays. Even if you keep to fairly simple celebrations, there are still many more things to get done above and beyond all the normal things which need to be done to keep a family running. 

For quite a few years when everyone was smaller, I tried to manage the month by dropping all of our regular things and doing some small unit type study. This was marginally successful. It was nice to have been giving permission (even if it was by myself) to drop our regular studies. The small unit type study always did pretty well the first week or so, but by week two, we had pretty much set it aside in favor of gift planning, cookie decorating, book reading, present wrapping, carol singing, tree decorating, party going, etc. Then there was the season where I gave up before it had even come and just didn't plan anything for December. It was a month long holiday and the only thing that looked different was that we didn't pretend we were going to get anything done. 

The past couple of years, with everyone older, I have scheduled school for the first couple of weeks. Why? This is what I ask myself. Why did this seem like a good idea in August? We have one more week of scheduled school ahead of us. There is a part of me that just wants to chuck it and play catch-up in January. There is another part of me that hates playing catch-up and knows I will be kicking myself if I choose that option. So, I have decided we are going to double down, focus on getting through the planned reading and activities, and as soon as we check them off, we'll be done. Next year, I'll try to remember that it is fine for me to plan things for children to do, but they really need to be things that do not need much of my attention if people want any sort of Christmas to happen. 

All that to say, if you are a new(ish) homeschooler, cut yourself some slack. December is tough for everyone and many of us end up ditching whatever plans we have. I've skipped doing school in December for a very, very long time. (That would be about 25 years of skipped Decembers, if you're wondering.) I have yet to ruin anyone because of it. Everyone still learned and grew and matured and became successful adults despite having set math aside for a month. 

There really is nothing sacred about school schedules or curricula or scopes and sequences. A day, a week, a month, heck even a year, can be taken off and still have time to learn everything that needs to be learned before adulthood. Give everyone, including yourself, a gift this year. Relax, enjoy the season, don't fight about math (or grammar or handwriting or science... whatever subject happens to be your family's personal albatross), and instead, focus on connection, togetherness, felt safety, and joy. (Without those things in place to begin with, not a lot of learning is going to happen anyway.) The world won't end if you do and you will enjoy the season a whole lot more.