Homeschool Christmas Break

What We Studied

Arthur thrives on routine and structure. Too many days of unstructured activities lead to a very moody 7 year old. For Christmas break, I tried to do a bit of math and language arts most days with some little crafty projects thrown in here and there.

Literature and Poetry

I randomly picked up The Very Very Far North by Dan Bar-el from the library and it turned out to be the perfect winter break read-aloud. It’s a very gentle story about Duane the Polar Bear who lives in the Very Very Far North and who meets new friends in his explorations. Each friend has a different personality and Duane has to learn how to value each new friend. A sequel just came out and I’m currently on hold at the library for it. This was such an easy story for our cold snowy days. Perfect! We also read a few winter themed poetry books.

• The Very Very Far North by Dan Bar-el
• A Chill in the Air by John Frank
• Winter Bees by Joyce Sidman and Rick Allen

Math

We did some holiday theme math pages throughout and progressed a bit more in Khan Academy. Arthur definitely has trouble with inattentive mistakes. I’m hoping some more practice will help him get more steady so we can move on. I do know that Singapore Math 2A will be a bit of review so that might help.

Social Studies

Nothing formal, but we did do a mini unit on New Year’s Day. We read a few books (fiction and nonfiction) about the holiday and discussed how people celebrate. And then Arthur made a few mini books with resolutions.

• New Year’s Day by Dana Meachen Rau
• Squirrel’s New Year’s Resolution by Pat Miller
• The Night Before New Year’s by Natasha Wing

Science

Does playing in the snow count? We definitely did that a lot. And there was some documentary watching and random conversations about topics we have already studied a bit.

Art

We made some fun Christmas and winter themed crafts to hang around the house. Arthur and Quentin also got a huge stack of craft kits for Christmas, so we’ve been doing some of those on random days.

Music

Nothing formal

Unit Theme

We read the last of our Christmas themed books throughout the end of December. Right before the New Year, I started pulling winter themed books from the library for our first couple of second semester weeks. I also made sure that some of them were picture books for night reading.

24 Days of Books - Another successful year!

• The Shortest Day by
• Goodbye Autumn, Hello Winter by Kenard Pak
• The Finest Christmas Tree by
• Christmas Farm by
• The Nutcracker Ballet
• Merry Christmas Stinky Face
• Merry Christmas Little Elliott
• The Polar Express
• The Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss

Misc. - Random picture books read

• Pirate Jack Gets Dressed by Nancy Raines Day
• One Dark and Dreadful Night by Randy Cecil
• Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Pena
• Fright Club by Ethan Long
• Good Night, Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle
• Quit Calling Me a Monster by Jory John
• Only a Tree Knows How to Be a Tree by Mary Murpjy
• Dino Duckling by Alison Murray
• Animal City by Joan Negrescolor
• Unicorn Day by Diana Murray
• Goodnight, Veggies by Diana Murray
• A Birthday for Cow by Jan Thomas
• Miffy Can Help
• Linus the Vegetarian T. Rex by Robert Neubecker
• A Time for Sleeping by Ron Hirschi
• Walk on the Wild Side by Nicholas Oldland
• There’s a Dinosaur on the 13th Floor by Wade Bradford
• From Ed’s to Ned’s by Gideon Sterer
• Dragon was Terrible by Kelly DiPucchio
• A Trapezoid is NOT a Dinosaur by Suzanne Morris
• If You Hopped Like a Frog by David M. Schwartz
• Up the Creek by Nicholas Oldland
• Unlike Other Monsters by Audrey Veronica
• Hockey in the Wild by Nicholas Oldland
• Al Pha’s Bet by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
• If Frogs Made Weather by Marion Dane Bauer
• Who Stole Mona Lisa by Ruthie Knapp
• Dinosaur Countdown by Nicholas Oldland
• Outstanding in the Rain by Frank Viva
• Make Way for Dumb Bunnies by Dav Pilkey
• Super Saurus Saves Kindergarten by Deborah Underwood
• Ice Boy by David Ezra Stein
• A Trip to the Bottom of the World with Mouse by Frank Viva
• The Walrus Who Escaped by Rachel and Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley
• Snow Party by Harriet Ziefert
• Flannel Kisses by Linda Crotta Brennan
• The First Day of Winter by Consie Powell
• Little Red Gliding Hood by Tara Lazar

Highs

Even in the midst of a pandemic with no travel, I think we managed to have a lovely Christmas.

Lows

Arthur definitely thrives on schedules and we didn’t really have any schedules over break. I could see his attitude decline throughout. Thank goodness we’re going back to a schedule this week.

Next Week

We’re back to our regularly scheduled homeschool week.

Next up on the TBR pile: