🎀Festive Freeschoolin'🎀

We don't celebrate Christmas.

WHY? For our family, the buying, excessive sugar intake and social pressure became overwhelming and unpleasant so we looked to redesign our holidays a few years ago. It wasn't until this year that we felt drawn to move our celebratory day to the 21st, in alignment with the longest night of the year. Our goal? To light up the night as a reminder that no matter how dark it gets, light is always there to guide us. This was the first year a holiday season felt consistently peaceful and joy filled for our family. WHAT DO WE DO?

To start, as stated above, we celebrate on the 20-21st. For decorations we use evergreens from our land and make them into arrangements and garland. Anything other than lights, we use from years prior, except for new ornaments we create. We wrap with shipping paper and used paper bags and only buy a few gifts for Hope. Jaze and I do not exchange gifts as we are more interested in making this season about presence over presents. Our feast is simple with a focus on nutrition, rather than excess and overindulgence. We source local and organic, which makes what we do consume sustainably delicious.

This year we created a lit up forest trail with lights and flameless candles, so after our dinner we took a walk together and talked under the stars.

Hope enjoyed her gifts including becoming a sponsor for Wiley the 9 month old Coyote from Soper Creek Wildlife, real paint pens and of course some new stuffie friends.

Never have the holidays seemed so magical without all the familiar stress.

THESE PAST WEEKS

Technical difficulties and other obstacles kept me from blogging regularly, so I'll catch you up on our Unschooled days! Hewitts Farm Market, a nearby farm we've visited before, put on a drive through light display, much to our delight. Thankful for local farms! Before our province's lockdown, a homeschool group we're a part of arranged another trip to Blue Mountain Plunge Aquatic Centre, where we were excited to swim and have another stroll around the village. Hope and Jaze even ate an authentic Beaver Tail which led to discussions of making our own at home, organic style! We've had awesome snowventures out on our land, played games of twister, drew together while Jaze grocery shopped, roleplayed, waterplayed (in the bathtub) and watched scary stories together on Youtube. Hope has been playing Spore, enjoying creating creatures and watching them evolve and of course drawing daily.

SUBJECTS LEARNED Navigation, Geography, Body Care, Phys Ed, Nature Studies, Physics, Meteorology, Time Management, Project Management, Community Living, Traditions, Gratitude, Generosity, Celebrations, Social Studies, Socialization, Water Safety and Skills, Exploration, Bonding, Geology, Fear Management, Conflict Resolution, Reading, Technology, Art, Research, Emotional Regulation, Decision Making, Money Management, So Much More...

VIDEO

HOLIDAY HOME TOUR (BONUS Nighttime Footage!!!!)

However you celebrate the holidays, may it be abundant with love and joy above all!

Sending all the best of the Season's wishes to you and your family, from ours.

Much Love Always, Wendy

BOOKS, CLOTHING & MORE

About the Author

Wendy Elizabeth Hart - Author, Illustrator, is a radical unschooling, homesteading Mom of 2 amazing kids and wife of more than 10 years to her bff, Jaze. Together with their daughter Hope, 10, they live a life of daily discovery in rural Ontario, Canada and share it with the world to connect with other families in the unschooling community.