Christmas Break Plans

Warning: Rambling ahead

We are taking two weeks off and I love that Christmas came at the beginning of it, so we could incorporate our holiday preparation into our studies… and now we can breathe a bit.

I am in the middle of planning the next three units in order to get us to Easter when we’ll take another two-week break. We are going to be studying Growth for the next four weeks… physical (bodies and nutrition), mental (decision making and problem solving), spiritual (hopefully trying some new Bible study tactics), and social (manners and friendships). It’s really slow going because there is so much wrapped up in this topic.

In February we’ll do a unit on the miracles of Jesus and I’m really looking forward to it. We’ll explore the principles behind the miracles, not to take the mystery out of them, but to gain more understanding and perhaps instill a greater sense of awe in all of us. So, we’ll be looking at nature (water, fish, weather, blindness, fig trees, ears, etc.), distance, disease (all those healings…) death (and resuscitation!), and the spirit world (all those demon possessions). Looking at that list makes me think it’s going to be a crazy ride.

I can’t recall what the next unit will be after that. I obviously still have some work to do.

I’m also starting to think through the next class I’ll teach at our co-op. Waaaayy too many options here. I love teaching academic stuff with a lot of tactile methods, but I also need something that won’t tax me in preparation time. I’m usually up far too late on Thursday nights before class the next day. Some ideas: dinosaurs, ancient Rome, journaling, world religions…nothing’s really screaming at me. Give me suggestions.

Tomorrow, we’ll have a field trip to OMSI. We haven’t been for a while and we received a membership for Christmas. I’m hoping the holiday light show at the planetarium is worth going to. We’ll find out. Next week the older boys are going to Winter Break Basketball Camp here in town Wednesday through Friday. That will count toward p.e. attendance as well. (In WA we have to account for 180 days of schooling, so I get those days in anyway I can, even when we are on break).

Just 10 days left. I’d better get on it.