 Hi you guys, my name is Brittany and welcome back to my YouTube channel you guys in today's video I will be sharing all of my holiday homeschooling plans So if any of you guys are new here to my channel again, I'm Brittany I'm a homeschooling mom to three girls who are in sixth grade kindergarten and preschool So you guys I'm so excited. I'm finally at the point where I'm making my holiday homeschooling plans This just means I am this much closer to the end of our first semester in our fourth year of homeschool So you guys I definitely will say I was really pleased to see where we were at in our curricula And really to see we're able to really just stop all of our core At the end of November and we're really able to like really enjoy this Christmas and holiday season I'm really happy. We worked harder Towards the beginning of our homeschooling year. So now we can really start to slow down this mama you guys I'm exhausted. I'm tired. And I think I mentioned that in my October homeschooling update I am slowing down But I definitely want to wrap up this semester strong and I really want to reach these Halfway points when it comes to my core, especially for my oldest I'm really not so much concerned about my kindergarten or but my sixth grader I really just try to make sure like I'm on the ball when it comes to her. So Like I said before in the month of November, we really only have to do three full weeks of all of our core curricula So that's putting us having a week off for Thanksgiving So what we'll have three weeks We're working a week off for Thanksgiving and then a last week of November will be completely done So for my sixth grader for her math, we're working in math you see Zeta She's already at the halfway point and she's actually wrapping up this curriculum. So I'm really proud of her math Is one thing I typically don't stop even in the month of December. So As we finish off all of like our core curricula in the end of November She still will do a little bit of math in December to really finish off this Matthew C Zeta She's really excited towards the end of Matthew C Zeta It has a lot of review and a lot of the concepts aren't as hard as the concepts that they pack in the middle So I'm really happy that she can kind of like breeze through these last few lessons of this Matthew C Zeta And I'm so proud of her for completing or for almost completing this level I definitely will give you guys my full update on Matthew C Zeta and how I felt about it in our mid-year update But so far I'm happy where we're at when it comes to math with my sixth grader Now as far as her other core curricula pieces her fix a grammar Her oak metals English and ancient civilizations We only have three more weeks till we're at the halfway point with these particular pieces of curriculum so the halfway point of this curricula is week 17 and All we have to do is finish going over ancient Greek and ancient Rome So I'm really really excited We can kind of like wrap up all of our core curricula when it comes to English and history Now as far as science, I'm going to be completely honest We're nowhere near the halfway point when it comes to our science curriculum, and I'm not going to stress about it I just know when it comes to our second semester I'm going to hit it hard when it comes to science, but for right now I'm just going to continuously work in science We're going to wrap it up wherever we're at at the end of November I'm going to wrap a bow on that baby and pick it back up in January I don't want to stress myself out about not reaching every single goal that I have And I definitely want to encourage you mamas out there if you find yourself in my situation where you didn't quite hit it Home in all the subjects, please don't stress yourself out about it You have another semester and I typically find myself not always doing history and science hard on both semesters So I just know next semester I probably will hit it in harder in science and it all will equal itself out and I'm just going to just leave it at that so That is my plan for My sixth grader as far as like all of her core curriculas now all of her supplemental things like her vocabulary Cartoons that we do and things like that. I definitely stopped those in November I just focused on the meat, which is everything I just showed you and of course with her IEW as well I think I forgot to mention this All of the meat is the only thing I focused in on November and reaching those portions and those goals that I want to reach When it comes to her so that is my goals when it comes to my sixth grader as far as like her core pieces I want to really be at the halfway points for Now for my kindergartener. We actually are already at the halfway point with kindergarten math with confidence I haven't enjoyed this curriculum so much with her. It's been so much fun. So What I'm going to do is just continue to work with her until the end of November until we're at our Point where I want to stop all of our curricula in December What I'm going to do is at the end of each of the units that we did They have like the portions with all of the games that we played and what I'm going to do in December For her is we're just going to spend maybe five ten minutes a day Playing those games when it comes to December so she can still get those skills refreshed But we don't have the pressure of actually completing like a full lesson when it comes to math So that's my goal with her is we're just going to continue to work on math until The end of November and then in December we're going to review and play all the games Really as a refresher and something fun And I enjoyed all the games that we played in kindergarten math with confidence So that's my goal when it comes to my kindergarten or to still keep her skills up in math in the month of December And also still continue to make progress in this subject for her Now as far as her all about reading We're going to continuously hit it hard for the rest of the month of November And when we get into December what I'm going to do is I'm just going to use her Green fluency cards and her review cards. We're going to play all the games in the back of the all about reading Levels, I'm not necessarily going to focus on I guess going through lessons, but more so focusing on that review and fluency We're going to reread the books in the run cat run book And then we're also going to use our Bob books for that additional fluency and practice I'm also going to pull out explode the code for her In December as far as like a way for us to review our phonics still have fun But keep it light for both of us. So that is like my plan for my kidney gardener for November and December Now something I do want to practice and hone in on November and December is we're gonna work on handwriting I feel like this is where I really dropped the ball with my kidney gardener Towards the beginning of our homeschooling year She really wasn't feeling it and I didn't want to push her when it came to penmanship So we just focused on writing her first and last name and her number formation all the way up into this point She's doing so well with that and now she's excited about handwriting when I do pull out this book And I pull out like our dry erase sleeves we're using the kidney garden morning binder from gentle and classical press as far as like her dry erase handwriting practice and number Practice and then at the end of the week we work in her handwriting without tears book And it's been working well So I'm just going to continuously work on her handwriting and I definitely know second semester like I said before We're just gonna like hit it in strong when it comes to handwriting I definitely didn't want to force this skill and I didn't want it to be daunting for her So now that we are going to be a little bit, you know, more so on like our downtime More so on like our fun school schedule when it comes to December This is a time where I'm going to pull out something light like handwriting for my kidney gardener now When it comes to everything else as far as like November This is like really all I'm going to focus on just wrapping up these loose ends as far as like our core curricula with all of my kiddos Now when we hit into December, we will officially be on Christmas mode I have scheduled for us to do the first two weeks of December and then after that we have a three-week Christmas break I'm so excited about it. I really really needed this through Christmas break to really Refresh and rejuvenate myself and kind of like getting us, you know in the holiday spirit and also giving us this break to Gear up for you know, January to really be honest with you guys I really think that me and my kids this break is well-deserved and I really want to I guess Enjoy my Christmas and holiday season. So with that being said I didn't put the pressure on myself to do any type of Christmas or Thanksgiving unit study this homeschooling year We're really just going to focus on math reading arts and crafts like that's my motto math reading arts and crafts Like I don't want to do anything else. I'm not going to get tempted by any of the new Unit studies that is going to be popping up here this holiday season. I am going to stick with this plan I don't want to commit to a unit study and then feel bad that we didn't complete it This is our time of rest and connection and that's what I'm going to use December for You know outside of us doing math, of course because math is just a subject I typically don't stop and then since my daughter is learning how to read I'm not going to stop doing that daily practice when it comes to her fluency cards I really just want to focus in on each of the kiddos for maybe Anywhere between 30 minutes to an hour our first two weeks of homeschool and then after that We're going to do reading arts and crafts. We're going to get in the kitchen and we're gonna rest So I want to share with you guys some of my favorite Christmas books I think I made a video last year of all of my Christmas picture books and chapter books that I love I made it in depth. So if you want to watch that video, I will link it down below I'm just gonna breeze over some of our favorites and if you are looking for a chapter book to read this holiday season I have a few chapter books that we already read in our previous homeschool years and I'm gonna share with you guys So in our first year of homeschool We read the best last worst Christmas pageant ever and this is just about some bad kids named the Hurtman's who took over the Christmas pageant and They found out what the true meaning of Christmas was so I really really enjoyed this one right here So if you're looking for a chapter book to read this one is a great one I also we also read the Vanderbeekers of a hundred and forty first Street This is about a group of kids who live in upstate New York and right as they're preparing for the holiday season Their landlord decides not to renew their lease. So during the Christmas holiday season, they are fighting to stay in their Brookstone and They are really finding out the true meaning of Christmas. This was a fun light-hearted read I really enjoyed the family and the connection in this book right here So this is the Vanderbeekers of a hundred and forty first Street. It's a lot of books in this series We never got back to the rest of them, but I definitely want to revisit this series But this one was a great Christmas story now last year. We read the Christmas carols, which was about Holly Carol and her family. They're like the Christmassy family They move into a new town a new community and Holly finds herself in A new school environment. She's been homeschooled up into this point. So Holly. She is just one of a kind She has her Christmas backpack that she loves carrying around to spirit cheer enjoy to all the other You know people and when Holly joins her new adventure in school, she finds herself not necessarily fitting in with new friends She changes herself. She Wants to fit in but in the end they need Hollis Holly's Christmas spirit to save the day So this is a great fun light-hearted read. I was crying at the end of this This really embarked and it showed the true meaning of Christmas It really talks a lot about giving and I think that's what I really appreciated about this story So because we love this one so much this year. We are reading the second book of the series, which is The Christmas carols and the Christmas competition So we're gonna follow Holly and her new friend Archer as they are going to embark on a Christmas competition These books were so good where this one's so good. I'm excited to read the second one I'll let you guys know at the end of the Christmas season if this chapter book was just as worthwhile So these are again some of my Christmas my top Christmas chapter books If you're looking for a longer read to read during this holiday season Now, of course, I have all of my picture books. These are just some of my favorite Picture books. I pulled off my shelf. I love Christmas. So I have so many So this is Christmas and logos. This is there's a lion in my nativity This is under the Christmas tree, which is like a curation of different Christmas poems and my daughter really loved this last year She made like hot cocoa and we had like a Christmas poetry tea time last year It was so much fun We had it with like cookies that we sugar cookies we made and it was really really fun doing like poetry tea time Christmas theme So we're definitely going to do one and read poetry. My oldest sort of loves poetry I also have a pick a pine tree. I got the Christmas spirit This is nutcracker in Harlem and grace at Christmas So if you want more details about these of my favorite Christmas picture books, like I said I will make I will link the video down below because I really enjoy all these Christmas books And this is like what our third no our fourth year rereading these books and they're still a hit in our home school So as far as like arts and crafts I went to the Dollar Tree so far and I picked up these cute little Ornaments that we're going to paint and we probably will use these ornaments as like Christmas tax for our Christmas gifts for our family members and I think the kids are going to enjoy painting and creating different ornament tax for Family members. I went on Pinterest you guys and I went crazy anything that was like a simple activity that included like construction paper glue and glitter I pinned it because That is how simple I'm going to keep the arts and crafts for my younger to my oldest order She really still likes to tag along when it comes to like the arts and crafts and things like that So hopefully she will enjoy doing arts and crafts We're going to get in the kitchen again this homeschooling year when it comes to like our Christmas school I definitely want to continue to teach my daughter how to make some of our family's Christmas tradition meals and and You know in different recipes and things like that as her skills is getting up there when it comes to the kitchen So like I said before this holiday season We're going to focus on resting reading arts and crafts and connection and and that's it That's where I'm leaving it at so you guys let me know. What are your holiday homeschooling plans? Do they look anything like mines? Are you just going to be laid back and relaxed or are you going to do a Christmas unit study? You're a Thanksgiving unit study. Let me know in a comment section down below I love to hear what you guys are going to be doing this holiday season But as always you guys thank you so much for watching today's video and I look forward to seeing everybody in my next one Bye