Easy Ways to Homeschool Through the Holidays

The easiest way to coast through homeschooling is to roll with the tide, seasons and calendar.

It’s the same idea as vacationing in the town you live: finding the hidden gems, enjoying the family owned hole in the wall restaurant, resting at a secret garden, parking your car in that one spot that always gets you to the beach faster.

It’s November.
What can that mean for homeschool?

1. Veteran’s Day
2. FALL
3. Food
4. Homeschooling through the Holidays Idea Round Up (coming soon!)
5. Advent (coming soon)
6. Christmas (coming soon)

1. Veterans Day

Veterans Day does NOT have an apostrophe!

Find a way to share how important our military is with your kids. The individuals in uniform… (As a former Navy wife during the first Gulf War, this speaks volumes to me)

“There is a dangerous disconnect in America, and entirely too many Americans have no idea what kind of burdens our military is bearing.
In World War II, 11.2% of the nation served in four years.
In Vietnam, 4.3% served in 12 years.
Since 2001, only 0.45% of our population has served in the Global War on Terror.
These are unbelievable statistics.
Over time, fewer and fewer people have shouldered more and more of the burden and it is only getting worse . Our troops were sent to war in Iraq by a Congress consisting of 10% veterans with only one person having a child in the military.
Taxes did not increase to pay for the war.
War bonds were not sold. Gas was not regulated. In fact, the average citizen was asked to sacrifice nothing, and has sacrificed nothing unless they have chosen to out of the goodness of their hearts.
The only people who have sacrificed are the veterans and their families. The volunteers. The people who swore an oath to defend this nation.
You stand there, deployment after deployment and fight on. You’ve lost relationships, spent years of your lives in extreme conditions, years apart from kids you’ll never get back, and beaten your body in a way that even professional athletes don’t understand.
Then you come home to a nation that doesn’t understand.
They don’t understand suffering.
They don’t understand sacrifice.
They don’t understand why we fight for them.
They don’t understand that bad people exist.
They look at you like you’re a machine – like something is wrong with you . You are the misguided one – not them.
When you get out, you sit in the college classrooms with political science teachers that discount your opinions on Iraq and Afghanistan because YOU WERE THERE and can’t understand the macro issues they gathered from books, because of your bias.
You watch TV shows where every vet has PTSD.
Your Congress is debating your benefits, your retirement, and your pay, while they ask you to do more.
But the amazing thing about you is that you all know this. You know your country will never pay back what you’ve given up. You know that the populace at large will never truly understand or appreciate what you have done for them. You know that in some circles, you will be thought of as less than normal for having worn the uniform . But you do it anyway. You do what the greatest men and women of this country have done since 1775 – YOU SERVED. Just that decision alone makes you part of an elite group.”
God bless the 0.45% who have and continue to serve our Nation voluntarily. You own a piece of this country, you paid for it in blood, sweat, tears and time away from your family.

Author unknown

2. Fall

So Much Homeschooling goodness to delight in during this crisp season!!

• Leaf crunching, raking and jumping
• Bird nest hunting as the leaves fall
• Weather studies about appropriate clothing
• Early Native Americans coming to the aid of starving settlers and celebrating with a feast.

3. FOOD
The first meal I learned to cook was Thanksgiving. 
Yes, my father was involved. He decided at 17-years old, it would be good for me to plan, shop, prep, and cook a meal for 35 guests.
But he was with me every step of the way with lists, recipes, and wall charts.
Thanksgiving is a wonderful time to focus on life skills in the kitchen!

• Knife skills
• Cleanliness
• Food Handler’s Safety (they can earn a card!)
• Simple recipes for kids
• Table settings
• Manners

Roll with the seasons, holidays, and weather… Especially if your kids are little. It makes homeschooling so much more enjoyable!

4. Homeschooling through the Holidays Idea Round Up (coming Soon!)

This is what the seventh annual Homeschooling Through the Holidays series is all about: sharing ideas, resources, and encouragement with fellow homeschooling families to make the very most out of homeschooling through the beauty of the holiday season.

Join us weekdays, November 18th-December 20th, as 40+ bloggers bring you different resources and ideas for embracing homeschooling during the holidays!

Each week day, you will find at least two new homeschooling through the holidays posts published right on LifeofaHomeschoolMom.com.

Look for my Advent round-up on November 26th!!

5. Advent

6. Christmas (coming soon)