Let Them Actually Rest: The Case for a True Winter Break

We need to talk about winter break, or more accurately, what we're turning it into.

I know the pressure you're feeling right now. There's still so much content to cover, and January feels impossibly close. You're worried about learning loss, about students forgetting everything they've learned, about falling behind the pacing guide. So you're considering it: assigning that novel, those practice problems, that research component. Just a little work to keep them sharp.

But, what if the most valuable thing we could give our students right now isn't another assignment, but actual rest?

Think about your own winter break plans. You're probably looking forward to sleeping in, spending time with family, maybe reading something just for pleasure. You've earned that break. The emotional labor of teaching is exhausting, and you need time to recharge. Don't our students deserve the same thing?

Our students have been grinding since August or September. They've navigated six or seven different classes with different expectations, juggled extracurriculars and part-time jobs, dealt with social pressures and family responsibilities. They're tired. Really tired. And when they see us assign work over break, what they hear is: "Your rest doesn't matter as much as my curriculum."

Here's the truth we don't say enough.

Students should have less work than you over the break.

Actually, let me be clearer. 

Students should have no work over the break. 

Zero. None. While you're grading at your own pace or lesson planning in your pajamas, they should be completely disconnected from academic obligations.

"But they'll forget everything!" I hear you. But research on spaced learning tells us that a short break actually helps consolidate memories. And the student who returns rested, recharged, and actually happy to be back is going to learn far more effectively than the one who returns resentful and burned out.

The learning loss we should worry about isn't the couple of math formulas they might need to review in January. It's the loss of their love of learning. It's the lesson we teach when we tell them that rest isn't valuable, that their worth is measured only by their productivity, that there's never a moment when they can simply be.

So this year, give them the gift of a real break. Trust that two weeks away from your classroom won't undo everything you've built. Trust that your students are capable of returning and picking up where they left off. Trust that rest is not the enemy of learning. Rather, it's the foundation.

Send them off with a genuine "Have a great break" and mean it. The content will still be there in January. Your well-rested students will be ready to learn it.