Slowing Down in the New Year

Congratulations, mom & dad! You survived Christmas! 🙂 Now, what?!?!

If you’re anything like me, you have a hard time getting back to “real life” after a month like December! So, today, I’m going to share with you a super-helpful-astonishing tip for your homeschool in January. Are you ready for this amazing tip?

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Slow down.

Whew. Sometimes I need permission, maybe even encouragement to just.slow.down. Maybe you do, too. I know we’ve all heard it before, but I think January is the perfect time to be reminded that in those still, quiet moments God is doing some of His best work.

You do remember that Jesus took time to go up on the mountain side and spend time with His Father, right?  Our children need that quiet, slow-down time as well. Not only is it good for us spiritually, it is good for us physically and emotionally. Our bodies were created to need rest for a purpose. Rest serves a purpose.

So what does “slowing down in January” look like for a homeschool family? You may feel like you took “time off” in December to celebrate Christmas, and that is wonderful!! But you can still “slowly” ease back into your regular routine! That is the key: slowly.

I don’t know exactly what that will look like for you, we each have different requirements placed on us…but I will tell you what that does involve at our household!

Slow-Down Tips

  • Add in one “new” subject matter a week til you’re back to all your regular subjects.
  • Spend more time reading aloud wonderful books together.
  • Let your children sleep in.
  • Earlier bed times.
  • Get back to healthier eating now that the Christmas snacking/parties is over!
  • Instead of an intense writing program, spend January writing Thank-You notes for Christmas gifts received!
  • Not plan many “extras” for the first 2 weeks of January. Just stay close to home when you can!
  • Something that helps my kids is to completely switch up the chore charts – give them a new list so they are fresh and oftentimes with new chores they seem to work hard and think it is more fun when it isn’t their typical chore. 🙂

These are really just a few simple ideas to get you thinking…prayerfully you and your family can ease back into the school year after the holiday break. Decide what is most important and go from there!

Be still and know that He is God in the New Year, friends!  

Candace is just a broken, messed up mama in need of God’s fresh, new mercies daily ~ moment by moment. You can read about their homeschool journey, her struggle with depression, great books and more at her personal blog His Mercy is New.