Nobody tells homeschool parents that December is two jobs at once. School still has to happen. Then the whole season piles on top of it. By mid-month you are tired, someone has a cold, and January feels heavy. If that sounds like your house, you are in good company.
FROM THE VIDEO
Key moments from Saner Christmas Strategies with Dr. Melanie Wilson of the Homeschool Sanity Show:
Common questions from parents
How do I keep homeschool going in December without burning out?
What is the one-calendar test for the holidays?
Is it okay to move a holiday party to January?
How many Christmas gifts should each child get?
Homeschool Christmas feeling like too much? Try the one-calendar test. Every event in one place, before December fills up. Then cut, or move it to January.
Why does a homeschool December feel so heavy?
You are still the teacher. Now add parties, baking, gifts, family visits and a cold going around. Each of those brings a pile of small choices. Which party do we go to? Which cookies do we bake? How many gifts is enough? Do we still do school on concert day?
Our view is that the choices wear you out as much as the tasks. We see it with daily routines too. A set routine takes choices out of a day. Then more of your energy goes into the work itself. Our page on learning routines and daily structure says more. So this month, aim for fewer open questions.
Dr. Melanie Wilson hosts the Homeschool Sanity Show. She is a psychologist and a homeschool mom of six. Her first tip is to treat December as its own kind of month. Let everyone sleep in. Start school later. Add a longer rest time, or two rest times in the day. Decide that new rhythm once, at the start of the month.
She also uses the slower month to reset. Put the school space back in order and file the papers. Then clear the house one room at a time. Throw it away, give it away, sell it, or store it. In her view, a clear house makes guests and colds easier to handle.
A packed week looks packed on paper, and that lets you cut early.
Laura Lurns · Learning Success expert
What is the one-calendar test?
Her strongest move is simple. Put every planned activity on one calendar. Parties, concerts, trips, baking days, the light show across town. All of it goes in one place.
Why one place? She says the stress “will be more evident” once you see it all. A packed week looks packed on paper, and that lets you cut early. You make the choice while you still have one. Wait, and the busy season makes the cut for you.
She starts with a family Christmas bucket list. If the pricey light display misses the list, it misses the calendar.
Try it tonight:
- Write down every event and task you expect this month.
- Put all of it on one calendar.
- Circle the weeks with no empty days.
- Cross off what is not on the bucket list.
Some things you love still will not fit. Wilson has an answer for that too. Do not skip it. Move it. Her co-op moved its Christmas party to January. It was easier away from the busiest week of the year. Kids who dreaded going back to school now had something to look forward to. Family gatherings work the same way. They do not all have to land on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.
Key takeaways
- One calendar first: Put every event in one place so packed weeks show up early.
- Move it, don't skip it: A party moved to January is easier and gives kids something ahead.
- Limits shrink choices: A firm gift number turns an open question into a settled one.
How do limits make each choice smaller?
Some choices never end. How many gifts is enough? There is always one more thing to buy. Wilson gives each child three gifts. She ties the three to the gifts in the Christmas story. She puts it this way. “The limit and focus of the three types of gifts helps me decide what to buy.”
That last line is the key. The limit turns an open question into a closed one. You do not need her story to borrow the idea. To us, any firm number does the same job.
Her second limit is a question. “If you don’t love it, why are you doing it?” If you love big baking days, keep them. If you do not, buy the cookies. Borrow the ugly sweater instead of making one with a glue gun. The season is meant to be about people. She points to the Grinch. The Whos still sing after every gift is gone.
Her last limit is on January. Do not plan to hit school hard the week you come back. Expect some groans, and line up something fun for the first days. She says it plainly. “Kids and moms need fun in January, even more than they need it in December.” For more on a fresh start, see our January homeschool refresh.
Not sure where to start? Start with the calendar tonight. Then pick one limit, like a gift number. Then move one event to January. Three small moves, and the month gets more empty days.
The limit turns an open question into a closed one.
Laura Lurns · Learning Success expert
You don’t need a credential to be the most important teacher your child will ever have. You already are one, and this season is yours to shape. The old script says a good Christmas means doing it all at once. That script wears down the parent who holds the house together. Before January, read our free Focus Foundations PDF on focus and homework resistance. Get the free Focus Foundations guide.
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