For most families, December is a hectic month. There is school to do, treats to make, parties and performances to attend, family to visit. If the month is too busy, December can easily feel more stressful than celebratory. One way homeschoolers can ease some of that strain is to put aside their regular studies for the month and have Christmas School instead.
What is Christmas School?
Christmas School is a period of two to four weeks (though you decide the length—that’s the beauty of homeschooling!) where you set aside regular studies and instead focus on learning about Christmas and doing Christmas-related activities.
Why Christmas School?
Sure, you can continue to do your regular school work during the month of December, but keep in mind, even brick and mortar schools alter their curriculum a bit for the week or two before Christmas. Kids have so much energy and excitement for the holidays that it’s hard to keep them on track. If, instead, you focus their energy on Christmas-related activities, you keep their attention and create special memories.
How Christmas School Allows For Flexibility
By setting aside traditional homeschooling, you’re giving your family the flexibility to do a lighter school day on those days when you’ll be busy outside the home with a holiday-related activity. For instance, my girls were members of American Heritage Girls, and each December, we’d have to make eight dozen cookies for a bake sale. Making those cookies, packing them, and helping organize them at the church for the bake sale took most of our day. We got very little homeschooling done that day, and it’s okay.
Christmas School Gives a Greater Understanding of Christmas
In our modern time, the meaning of Christmas is often lost in all of the activities and commercialism. Christmas school allows you to gently redirect your children’s focus on the true meaning of Christmas.
What Do You Do During Christmas School?
Each family chooses what works best for them. In our house, where we favor a Charlotte Mason-style of learning, Christmas school focuses on lots of reading, crafting, and movie watching.
Christmas School Books
There are so many fun books to read aloud to your kids this season! Here are some of our favorites:
- Christmas in Camelot by Mary Pope Osborn,
- Arnold Ytreeide’s Advent series ,
- The Legend of the Poinsettia by Tomie dePaola,
- Bear Stays Up for Christmas by Karma Wilson
- The Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore
Crafts
There are so many Christmas crafts kids can create! Some of our favorites include Duck Tape Christmas Chevron Trees , Salt Dough Ornaments , and Thumb Print Christmas Cards . Thanks to the Internet, you can find crafts for any age and budget. You can also find crafts using materials you already have on hand.
Unit Studies
If you’d like more structure to your Christmas School, there are plenty of unit studies available.
For Elementary Students
For younger kids, Teachers Pay Teachers offers a Christmas Around the World unit study . This 250-page guide includes a study of Christmas in several different countries: Germany, Australia, England, Mexico, the Netherlands, Brazil, Sweden, Italy, the USA, and Canada. In addition, you’ll study Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and the Chinese New Year.
For Middle School and High School
Also on Teachers Pay Teachers, you can find A Christmas Carol unit study . If you register, you can get a preview of the program to see if it’s a good fit for your family.
Final Thoughts
If you’re looking for a way to remove some stress from your December as well as a way to create memories with your kids, consider putting the books away and instead Christmas schooling with your kids. Who knows? You may just start a tradition for future Decembers.
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