Creating a Calendar with Children
A great project for the New Year is making a calendar with your little ones. I’m talking about making a calendar the old fashioned way, using fresh heavy art paper and your favorite combination of markers, colored pencils, oil pastels, or other media. I first got this idea from the Oak Meadow first grade curriculum, a Waldorf-inspired curriculum which I loosely followed from time to time and adapted for other ages as my family grew.
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What to Do About Christmas Giving
It hadn’t even turned December when we were already starting to hide the Christmas boxes from the girls. The niggling question pricks every year at the same time: What do we do about Christmas giving? As irony works, I sifted through the most recent wave of gifts arrived via mail right after coming home from set-up efforts for the weekend Christmas Fair to raise money for impoverished orphans in India. Sometimes it’s those ironies of life that wake us up and allow us to see in a new way.
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It’s just a few days before Christmas, and almost all of the gifts are purchased. The goodies have been made, the halls have been decked, and we wait in expectation for “the big day”. Yet in spite of all of the conscientious preparations, it seems that the same question arises every year: Did we do enough?
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When you think back to Christmases as a child, most likely the things of which you have the fondest memories are those special traditions your family experienced together. Having special routines that you do year after year helps children develop an excited expectation for the holiday to come, and builds family unity and bonding. “Home for Christmas” can be a lot more than just physical location – Christmas traditions can be the glue that makes people feel like they’re home…
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As soon as Thanksgiving is over, the Christmas excitement begins! The whole month of December is an amazing opportunity to establish family traditions – rituals that ground children in their roots and help them to create meaning and a sense of belonging. Family traditions help to mark shared experiences, encourage intimacy and connection, and help children to identify in a positive way with their families. Consider, for example, the tradition of the family meal…
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Celebrating Christmas With School, Part 2
In a homeschooler’s home is where you want to be in December! This month provides so many opportunities for creative, fun learning as families help children prepare for Christmas. But even for home educators, who generally seek to incorporate education into every aspect of life, it’s easy to let December come and go in a blur of decorations, parties, gift buying and seasonal events. Don’t let it happen to you!
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Celebrating Christmas with School, Part 1
During the month of December, there’s no better place to be than in the house of a home educator! This month provides so many opportunities for creative, fun learning as families help children prepare for Christmas. Arts and crafts, special recipes, decorating, singing… it’s worth taking a bit of a break from the academic rigor maintained through most of the year in order to enjoy some special Christmas-related activities as a family. To get the most out of the holiday, why not try a special study to prepare for Christmas? Christmas lapbooks, Advent devotionals, unit studies – the possibilities are endless! Check out some of these wonderful options for homeschooling in December…
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Inoculating Against Madison Avenue
I was struck by the marketing comprehension exhibited in my children’s play. I hoped it would inoculate them against Madison Avenue, relieving them of the false pressure to buy, collect, and throw away massive quantities of “stuff” in order to feel good about themselves and their lives.
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“What do you want for Christmas?” It’s probably the line most often quoted this time of year, following “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays”. Santa asks it, parents ponder it, and even passersby on the street use it as a greeting line for children. But is it the question homeschoolers really want to ask? Just like home educators seek to teach their children academic subjects, many also seek to inculcate something even more important – character. And this time of year is the perfect time to focus on the character quality of giving to others.
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Educational Christmas Gifts for Children
“What do we get them this year?” It’s a question that goes through the minds of many a parent at Christmastime. The enigma of gift giving for children becomes even more challenging for homeschoolers who wish to bequeath presents that will be useful and worthwhile even once the Christmas glow has dimmed. And while that new English curriculum might be what a homeschooling mother would enjoy seeing under the tree, her children might not be quite so excited. So what’s a conscientious homeschooling parent to do? Where do homeschoolers go to find gifts that are educational in nature, but that children will also enjoy?
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The Jesse Tree: Christmas Tradition and Resources for Homeschoolers
The ubiquitous Christmas symbols are out in force – holly wreaths, festive Christmas trees, eggnog, and of course good ol’ Santa himself. But many homeschoolers seek to move beyond the cultural harbingers of the season to focus on the birth of the Christ child; to celebrate God coming to earth. One of the most meaningful ways to help the family emphasize the true meaning of Christmas is through creating a Jesse Tree. This wonderful tradition not only centers the significance of the holiday around Christ, but it serves as an advent calendar as well, marking each passing day to count down until Christmas.
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Writing a Holiday “How-to” Paragraph
As holiday decorations come out and the tree or menorah take center stage, children can become increasingly distracted, sidetracked, and fidgety in anticipation of upcoming seasonal celebrations.
Homeschooling doesn’t need to fall by the wayside during December! The holidays can be a great time to assign writing activities that focus on the festivities, allowing children to immerse themselves in the fun while encouraging productivity. This month, have your kids write a paragraph describing a holiday-themed process where they explain, in a step-by-step manner, how something is done.
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If there’s ever a time to put aside the books and break out the project supplies with the kids, it’s Christmas! With all of the emphasis on baking, making crafts, decorating, learning the history of Christ’s birth, and establishing family traditions, Christmas for homeschoolers is like sitting down to a buffet of children’s enrichment. Even if you homeschool with academics throughout the month of December, be sure to save some time in the day for some special family projects that will bring the family together and make the season meaningful for your children!
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Target Giving: Your Key to a Relaxed Holiday Season
Do you struggle with shopping for gifts each year during the holiday season? Is it more stressful than joyful? Would you like that to change? Then take a few minutes to consider a new approach to your gift-giving and find yourself putting the happy back in your Happy Holidays!
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With the holidays right around the corner, we often hear the familiar refrains of our favorite Christmas carols and seasonal music. But too many of us tend to sing different words to the familiar tune of Jingle Bells:
Dashing to the mall,
In a light blue mini-van,
Stashing all our loot,
Behind the garbage can.
We think the kids need more,
‘Tho their closest’s full of junk,
Then someone sends unneeded things
We’ll just stow into a trunk!
Ohhhhhhhhhhh…….
Christmas bills! Christmas bills!
For Christmas we must pay!
See all of our Christmas bills
Still here on New Year’s Day!….. Hey??!!!
Christmas bills! Christmas bills!
We can’t pay today….
We have so many Christmas bills,
There’s got to be a better way…!
Do the phrases “frugal living” and “holiday giving” seem to be at opposite ends of the spending spectrum? Is it possible to spend no more in December than during other months? Will your family still love you if they don’t find “the latest and the greatest” under the tree? Our families deserve the best we can give. But if we’re paying our Christmas debts for the next five years, complete with all the stresses that usually accompany outstanding bills, what good is it? No matter what our personal financial situation, we all could use a few simple money-saving ideas for the holidays.
1) Try checking out books from the library on holiday customs and crafts from other lands. These books can provide a wealth of innovative ideas, often for minimal expense. Last year, in a book on Swedish customs, we found instructions for making an evergreen Advent wreath. Old newspapers soaked in water and wrapped around a wire coat hanger were decorated with pine boughs from a backyard tree. Four large nails stuck through the paper wreath held the candles, and we added finishing touches of small pine cones and red bows. The Advent wreath was beautiful, incredibly simple, and made from items found around the house. It also added a meaningful centerpiece to our holiday celebrations.
2) Do you have solid-colored glass ornaments that you’re tired of? Let your children decorate them with glitter glue, holiday stickers or craft paints. This tip serves a dual purpose: new decorations for very little money, and an inexpensive, fun holiday activity for the whole family!
3) How about giving a homemade “Dessert-of-the-Month” gift certificate to someone special on your gift list? Or maybe a “Cookie-of-the-Month,” or “Dinner-of- the-Month?” Each month you would deliver a different home-baked goody to the recipient. This gift is especially enjoyed by people who might not eat a lot of home cooking, i.e., college students, singles, elderly shut-ins. These are also appreciated greatly by moms with multiple children (a treat they didn’t have to prepare! They’ll be so thankful for you and your thoughtfulness!)
4) Learn to do calligraphy. (It’s much easier than it looks!) You can make personalized gifts by writing the person’s name and framing it in a simple mat with a pressed flower or two glued to the picture or mat.
5) Do you enjoy sending ... Read More »