How to Have a Stress-Free Holiday Season with Books

If you’ve ever found yourself struggling to get all of your school work done on top of everything that comes along with the demands of the holiday season, I have good news for you:

There is a better way.

Over the years, we’ve done all kinds of things to pairing learning and celebration in our homeschool, and I’m sharing one with you today that is such a game changer:

Learning doesn’t have to look like school.

A successful homeschool day could absolutely be cooking something yummy with your kids in the kitchen, then curling up to read a book together.  

This is especially true during the (sometimes chaotic) holiday season. Trying to maintain a strict school schedule during these busy holiday weeks can rob us of the joy of the season, leaving us feeling stressed out and overwhelmed during a time we want typically associate with joy and peace.

You can have that joy and peace in your homeschool this Christmas season.

The following three tips will show you just how easy it can be to have a stress-free holiday homeschool with books.

Set The Stage 

This is the invitation you create for your kids – the thing you do that piques their interest. Here are some ideas to get your creativity flowing…

For Independent Reading:

• Gather Books.  Go through your personal collection or take a group trip to the library.
• Display them.  Book box with book marks (or make your own!)
• Equip Your Readers.  Reader’s Notebook, Related activities and materials (I’ll show you some examples later in this presentation)

For Read-Alouds:

• Create a Reading Area.  Corner, Tent with lights and pillows.  Choose a cozy spot to gather each day.  Could be as simple as gathering on the couch or Christmas tree, or as creative as decking out a corner or putting up a tent with Christmas lights.
• Make It Cozy.  Leave soft blankets around to curl up in.  Make cups of tea or hot chocolate to sip while you read together.  

Ask Questions 

• While reading, take moments to focus on the things that grab your attention in the story.
• Engage your kids by asking questions about the story and characters.
• Stop and talk about words you don’t know.  Define them together and re-read the passage.
• If something comes up that you don’t know, stop and ask the question.  “Where is the Queensborough Bridge?”  Then look up information, pictures and more!  Learn about it!

No Limits

Be free to explore anything and everything that interests you about this story! The ideas below are easy to implement, take little-to-no preparation, and can boost the learning opportunities available with each book you read:

• Incorporate traditional activities like copy work and memorization
• Read other books by the same author or with the same theme. Compare the story-telling technique or storylines.
• Let the text inspire you.  What new ideas are you encountering? What questions do you have? Look them up and learn more about them! Capitalize on what you’re reading to learn more on different subjects. 
  
  EXAMPLE 1:
  If you’re reading a story set in a specific place, find it on a map, learn about the culture, history, and people. 
  
  EXAMPLE 2: Follow the rabbit trails
  When we read Charlotte’s Web aloud last year, my kids got very interested in spiders.  We spent a lot of time looking up information about different kinds of spiders and their techniques for capturing prey. We went on spiderweb hunts in our yard, and made spiderweb drawings and art projects. We crafted a large spiderweb using white yarn and an old cork board and turned it into our “web of words” where we posted the new vocabulary we learned while reading the story.

The opportunities to learn with books are only limited by your imagination! You can have a very meaningful (and stress-free) learning environment with just a handful of good quality books and a little bit of intentionality. So snuggle up, grab a good book, and have fun learning this holiday season!