This year I considered taking a lengthy Christmas break from school; after all, the public school children here get about three weeks, and I have several homeschooling friends who take off the entire month to focus on baking, events, and fun!
But as we've gotten deeper into December, I realized that I don't want a long break.
What's wrong with this picture?! Shouldn't I be ready to stop??
I blame Charlotte Mason. The thought of not reading our books for an entire month makes me feel rudderless and sad. I don't want to skip daily French practice, stop reading Pollyanna during Morning Time, miss all those wonderful Christmas poems, wait to see what happens to our pilgrim in John Bunyan's classic, pause our studies of history. The books we read are too good to leave unread for a month!
So instead of stopping, I'm swapping. Instead of our regular hymn, we are singing "Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus". Instead of focusing primarily on Longfellow and Robert Frost during poetry time, I'm expanding to read other Christmas poems as well. Instead of listening to Beethoven, we'll listen to hours of Handel (of course!). We may learn a Christmas song in French. Finn's piano lessons have ceased, but he'll play Christmas carols. Instead of recitation, we'll learn the children's lines for their Christmas program--a play that my husband writes and directs for our church each year. It's a subtle shift, but one that will incorporate the Advent and Christmas tidbits we love into the the daily rhythm we enjoy. At this rate, I don't think we'll stop school until December 23rd!
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