Gel Pen Learning

I can’t speak for anyone but myself, but I can’t rest with a silent “to-do” list. If you’re not familiar with a silent “to-do” list, it is this:

You look at the stack of bills on the table and think:

I need to balance my checkbook.

You find a cup on the counter and think:

I need to order groceries.

And clean out the fridge.

And put gas in the car.

And order new knives.

Just thinking about it is making me shudder.

The last thing I want is to have my holiday hijacked by an unending list of tasks and one way that I can mitigate this, is by putting our homeschool to bed.

There are few times in life where 20-minutes actually make a difference.

1. Put Every School Thing Away (ALL OF IT)

This is not a light tidy.

This is a “school is officially closed” reset.

Checklist

• [ ] Put books back on the shelf
• [ ] Stack or store binders
• [ ] Close and put away the gradebook
• [ ] File or toss loose papers
• [ ] Return pencils, markers, scissors, erasers to their homes
• [ ] Clear off the kitchen table or homeschool table completely
• [ ] Put the homeschool cart or bins back in their corner

Visual closure is important. If your school piles are still out, your brain will stay in “unfinished task” mode.

2. Log What Needs Logging

Even if you’re batching grading later, do these now:

• [ ] Quick attendance check
• [ ] Mark any lessons completed this week
• [ ] Note hours if you track the hours
• [ ] Jot down topics covered (two minutes, tops)

This keeps January-you from screaming into the void trying to remember what happened mid-December.

3. Finish or File All Grading

• [ ] Grade what’s sitting in the basket
• [ ] Enter the grades into your gradebook
• [ ] Toss the stuff that doesn’t need to be saved
• [ ] File the stuff that does

If it’s graded and logged, it’s not haunting you while you’re caroling.

4. Draft Your Quarterly Report (Rough Draft Only!)

Not the final version. Only the skeleton.

• [ ] Copy and paste topics covered
• [ ] Insert the “Student has completed at least 80% of required assignments for the quarter,” statement
• [ ] Save as a draft

You can finalize mid-January when you have all the subjects and grades covered. Drafting it now means you enter January with ZERO paperwork dread.

5. Choose Your First “Strong Day” in January

A strong day = a day when you:

• have a full schedule block
• have the determination to make it happen no matter what
• have an empty calendar day

Mark it now:

-It will probably be the first Monday after Jan 1

-Schedule only two hard subjects and leave it at that

This gives you a clean restart instead of a chaotic cold open.

6. Walk Away Knowing You’re Done

When the piles are gone, the grading is logged, the report is drafted, and the table is clean…your brain gets to switch out of “homeschool mode” and into “holiday mode.”

The switch matters.

Winter break should feel like a break.

What’s Your Winter Break Reset Routine?

Let me know in the comments below!