Getting Organized for the Holidays and Beyond: Free Winter/Spring 2015 Calendar
The holiday season is here! This time of year, I really have to keep a close eye on our calendar and plan things out in advance to help keep the stress (and extra errands/shopping) to a minimum. At the same time, I want to make sure we schedule in the fun traditions that make this season special for our family. That takes some planning and organization, especially since we continue to homeschool through mid-December.
I spent some time this weekend, getting some new planning pages ready for my planning notebook. I printed out some new calendars and planning pages which I hole-punch and put into a 3-ring binder.
If you can use them, all of the calendar pages and various planning pages are free in this pdf:
Free Calendar Winter-Spring 2016-Holiday Planning Pages
I also wanted to be sure I was keeping on top of our homeschool (and personal) goals in the next month and a half or so. I updated some of our planning pages (and added these into this file as well in case any of you can use them). In this pdf, you’ll find the assignment checklist we use, but there’s also a blank one and a number of other planning pages I’ve used from time to time. There’s also a goal planning sheet that I fill out once a week or so which I made at the beginning of the year.
Keeping on top of Homeschool During the Holiday Season:
This time of year it’s good to have an overview in advance of what days you can homeschool and what days you won’t.
*Mark in the normal activities (sports, scouts, co-ops, rehearsals etc.).
*Add in all the “special events.” Mark down other holiday programs, concerts, etc. Cross off the days when these events or holidays will take more than 3 hours.
*Mark in all the holiday parties (and make a note of dishes to bring).
*What family trips will we be taking? X out those days on the calendar.
*What days are we busy with doctor’s appointments?
*What homeschool holiday crafts do we want to do? Pick a day and jot them down.
*What days will we do “themed” printables? (For example, we usually do math printables that correspond to the holidays.) Mark them down on the calendar.
*What units do we want to finish up? (How long will that take? Do we have the time?) Pencil these onto the calendar.
Relax and Give Yourself Permission to Miss Days: Give yourself permission to miss a day, a couple of days, a week! Homeschooling is a journey not a destination! I suspect the memories of a fun, stress free holiday will be more be more powerful to the kids as adults than any “homeschooling goal” we might have ticked off the ole checklist. It’s important to keep it all in perspective!
Holiday Planning Pages: Finally, I also wanted some general holiday planning pages so I could jot things down as they come to mind. There are some *really* wonderful Christmas planning websites out there. For example, you’ll find a lot of Christmas checklists and planning pages at ChristmasPlanner.com. Last year I spent a lot of time looking around Organized Christmas website. I just needed space in my planning notebook to be able to jot things down as they come to mind, so the pages I made and am using are much simpler, but are included in the pdf as well.
One last thing before I go, I thought I’d share something our family is going to do this December that is new.
Christmas Mailbox: This year instead of an advent calendar we picked up a Christmas mailbox to store on the dining room table. We are all going to “mail” little messages to each other this holiday season… thoughtful things we noticed someone doing, praise for something they did well, or just a nice comment to make someone feel good. We decided that each of us would have a day (M-F because there are five in our family) when the rest of us would leave a nice note in the mailbox. The kids were pretty excited about this idea. I like the idea of doing something thoughtful and kind for others during the holiday season. I hope it works out well! 🙂
I hope you have a happy and safe Thanksgiving and that your holiday season is stress free and meaningful!
See you again soon here or over at our Homeschool Den Facebook Page! Don’t forget to subscribe to our Homeschool Den Newsletter.
Fall and Thanksgiving Printables:
- Free Fall-Themed Packets for Ages 3-6 (PreK-Gr. 1)
- Fall and Thanksgiving Themed Printable Activities (Free)
- We have lots of other free Thanksgiving printables here on the blog if you use the “Search” button or the Thanksgiving tab on the left.
It’s a bit early for these, but for those who find this post later in December, you might be interested in these related holiday posts:
- Free Christmas Number Cards and Math Games (13 pages total)
- Christmas Division Pages (Pete the Cat)
- Christmas Addition Pages with Pete the Cat and Christmas Pup
- Christmas Multiplication Pages with Pete the Cat and Christmas Pup (2s through 5s)
- Not Christmas-related but we did a whole unit on Pete the Cat and you’ll find more of those posts here.
- Preschool at Home: Math Ideas for the 2 1/2 to 3 Year old Crowd
- Christmas Math Activity (Addition of 3 numbers, double digit addition)
