We’ve been very consistent with lessons so far this year, but it has been a struggle for me and my son over the last few weeks. He’s ready to play on Legoclub.com way more than a regular school day allows and I’m ready to let him while I tackle odds and ends projects around the house.
I thought homeschooling would be different, but it’s not. Kids are kids, no matter where they go to school, and all kids are squirrelly right before Christmas break. And so are their teachers.
At my first school, all the teachers had keys to the school and security codes, and almost all of us used them on weekends and breaks. I had assigned my students a social studies project over the break and I told them that I would be at school several days if they needed any help. One day, as I was sleeping hard–long after noon–the phone rang. It was one of my students wanting to know if I was going to school that day. I tried to wake myself enough to form a coherent answer, but I must not have been quick enough because she said, “Mrs. Geary? Did I wake you up? Were you still in bed?” You could hear the astonishment in her voice and I am astonished now that there was ever a time when Christmas break meant I could sleep through lunch.
As a homeschool teacher, Christmas break is much different. The students are still there, even if you’re not having class, so sometimes the break is in name only. We will still keep up with daily reading time and a few other things here and there so that it’s not a total shock when we start back in January.
My main school goal for Christmas break is planning. Over the summer I sketched out the topics I wanted to cover during the fall and did preliminary planning and printing. This has been a lifesaver for me to have so much of the groundwork already done. As the weeks go by, motivation to plan is harder and harder to come by, but if you can pull out what you already prepared a few months ago, the days are much easier! We’ll be starting a few new things in January, too, so I need to get to work on those.
Other than planning, I want to enjoy my family! I am so glad that we have been able to do many of our favorite holiday activities already so we don’t have to fight the crowds when school gets out.
I hope you all have a wonderful time with your loved ones! Merry Christmas!