Outside the Box Learners

To homeschool or not homeschool in December, that is the question…

And I would love to know, how do you change things up in December? (Leave a comment below!)

I always plan on doing more than I actually do. But usually, what ends up happening is we put the brakes on things for a bit.  If I don’t, I crash and burn like a dry Christmas tree in a wildfire.  NOT PRETTY.

After all, everything else is ramping up…. events, shopping, decorating, Christmas baking, Christmas card sending, etc. etc. and this introverted mama only has so much fuel in the tank for *ALL* the happenings.

Because this year we have taken part in a co-op on Fridays (after taking a year off) and we are now on a month break from that, it just seems natural to pause or put a brake on things for a few weeks.  So this year, December is an intentional break for us.

I know we’re not the only ones.  Many homeschooling family’s ease up on the gas pedal during the month of December.  Not quit… just do things differently for a bit.

And with the colder weather, and darkness setting in before 5 pm (hello, SAD), it does feel right to just hunker down with some books, twinkle lights, and Christmas music.  I’ve seen this article floating around, and I love the shift in perspective it gives for those of us living in colder regions.

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So, if you were a fly on the wall in our home,

What WOULD you find us doing this December…

Well, you’d likely find:

• Christmas music blaring (likely from one of my favorite Christmas albums!)
• An audiobook playing (so far we’ve listened to A Shiloh Christmas, and part of Little House in the Big Woods)
• Our Jesse Tree – It’s only our 2nd year of doing this tradition, but it’s greatly enriched our Advent time.
• Daily Read Aloud – For the month of December it’s Tabitha’s Travels.  It’s our first year to do this book, but we’ve read Jotham’s Journey (by the same author) in the past.  Both are books written during the time of Jesus’s birth in Bethlehem.  These books are page-turners that the whole family loves!

• More Xbox Kinects than I care to admit, especially so this mama can walk a few miles on the treadmill in peace. (I’m not big on screens but don’t mind as much when they’re moving their bodies)
• Science using No Sweat Science (we are LOVING it!)
• Playing Games (these are some of our favorite math games)
• Christmas Baking
• Kids reading
• Maybe a mom napping…
• 3 Kids “tobogganing” down the basement steps using an exercise mat
• A kid who just can’t help but do his daily math lesson 🙂
• Kids fighting (gotta keep it real)
• Kids playing amazingly well together using their imaginations to make up what they call “Think Stories”
• And a partridge in a pear tree (just kidding! ha!)

Whatever your December looks like, may it be filled with the hope and joy of Christ!

I remember when my oldest was just a wee one, and I loved to read materials on sleep-training.  I was terrified of the idea of not getting enough sleep. (Honestly one of those books I would now throw out, or better yet, burn in the fire!  You may know what book I’m referring to…)

There was a concept in all those books that didn’t quite make sense at the time, though it certainly proved to be true.

That concept?  Sleep begets sleep.

The idea was if you made sure your baby napped during the day would ensure better sleep for baby at night.

I find this concept to be true of many things in life. Whether positive or negative.

Eating healthy begets more eating healthy.

Complaining begets more complaining.

Exercise begets more exercising. 

And now, I’ve come to realize through blogging and also seeing it in my own children that creating begets creativity.

The more we are in the habit of creating, the more the creative juices are flowing.

And when we get out of the habit, it can feel as though the ideas have ceased, but if we start flexing those creative muscles again, our creative strength will return.

Before starting up ‘Outside the Box Learners’ the creative part of me had taken a decade long hibernation.  I would actually tell people “I used to be creative.”

When I began writing again, it woke up the creative part of me and I’ve been amazed by the more I write, how more ideas come.

This idea that creating begets creativity is ALSO one of the reasons I like to let my kids have loads of free time.

And why I think we need to let our kids be bored.   Some of my kiddos’ most imaginative ideas come when they have a few hours of “nothing” going on.

I see this in my 5-year-old who loves TV  and movies…  When I don’t cave in to those desires of his, I see his creativity really come out (after pouting for a bit of course!)

In fact, when we found out our oldest, super creative child, had anxiety the psychologist told us it would be important for her to have time to explore her interests – just being creative exploring things on her own, as opposed to just signing her up for extra art classes.  And she really does do better when she has that time to do so!

How about you?  Are you a “creative”?  Do you need to wake that part of your brain up?

Go, and get your creative self on!