Beginning December 22^nd and joyfully extending through January 4^th, we will be away from school appreciating family, friends and traditions. Time for splendid holiday fun and ringing in the New Year!

Happily, the holiday break is a chance for our school-based learning to be applied to real life situations. Students can do this without realizing that they are using the talents developed at school and keep their math, writing, reading, etc. talents sharp with these creative ideas.

Put math skills to use in cooking and baking. Every recipe calls for measurements, yield, cooking times and more, and during the holiday season most of these recipes have to be doubled or tripled to feed larger crowds. This creates equations. Good old-fashioned science is used in instances of cooking and baking too. Mixing in wet and dry ingredients to make dough, experimenting with food coloring…the scientific list goes on and on.

Set up holiday journaling and fine tune writing skills. Write your own “12 Days of Christmas”…or how about creating your own fictional holiday story based off of family traditions you know of. By the end of holiday break, you could have a number of creative writing pieces to show off.

Take in a classic holiday novel and bond over reading time. There are so many to choose from…Dr. Seuss’ “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”; Chris Van Allsburg’s “The Polar Express”; Clement C. Moore’s “The Night Before Christmas”; Jane B. Mason’s “The Nutcracker”. Visit your local library over the break and discover your favorites.

Make your own geography or social studies lessons. Our break is in itself a chance for children to explore and learn for themselves. No greater learning happens than when children experience things first hand. Some of our students will leave their usual surroundings and be able to visit new areas of the state or even country. These opportunities can enable children to discover new cultures and ways of life.

Whatever it is you do over the holiday break, take in new knowledge, make new observations. Keep learning. It’s fun!