Christmas is Coming

Via Fifth and State Blogspot

Today as I am writing this we have taken a day off of school. One of the many things I love about homeschooling is that lessons can harmonize with life and you get the best out of both. This week we have been busy with company already and we all needed a day without the pressure to get something done to simply digest life, spread our wings and follow our interests without a schedule. It is more likely me the free sprit who wanted the day off but I was listening when Zak had a melt down day before yesterday. One of the things he said as he cried and used his amazing vocabulary (thanks Charlotte for the narration practice) to describe how he felt was that he feels a lot of pressure on him and it never seems to let up. Thus a day off. I am enjoying it immensely. :)

It has been several years now since I heard about the wisdom of slowing down during the holidays instead of ramping up, and I intentionally slow down in many ways. Last year we took the whole month of December off and did fun crafts, read vintage christmas stories, and cooked together. The boys also had oodles of free time to play. I purposely shop early for Christmas presents. I read more, take long walks, and cook fun and nourishing treats for my family and friends. I plan little and fly by the seat of my pants for one month out of the year. I do not over decorate but simply do the tree, and the nativity and a few other things. This year we are still doing school 6 days a week because we plan to travel in the spring so I am fitting Christmas in to the already existing schedule and I am still intentionally aiming to keep the holiday a holiday for us all.

Photo by Faletiz

But what I do that helps me the most is to remembering that it isn't the amount of material I get through in a year because "education is not to give a technical skill but to develop a person. " Charlotte Mason said this in Vol. 6 pg. 147. So many things can develop a person and each family has the privilege of choosing that for themselves. For us we keep life simple during the holidays.

Because we are continuing on with our schedule this year and not taking a month off I am slipping Christmas into the framework of it knowing that schedules can be tools for relaxation too. I am  replacing a book here and a book there and adding a project that will enhance what God is saying to us this year about who He is and what He wants us to remember about His coming. For our stories of faith lesson we are currently reading a delightful story about God's plan of redemption beginning with Adam and Eve in the garden of eden and on through to revelation. It is called Grandpa's Box. The story like many vintage books we love the story is told via an ongoing discussion between Grandpa and his two grandchildren Marc and Amy. In the past we have read One Wintery Night written by Ruth Graham Bell for it tells to whole biblical story too which I find so good to review each year at Christmas.

Once we finish with Grandpa's Box I have several vintage Christmas stories the boys can pick from.

Good Stories for Great Holidays compiled by Francis Jenkins Alcott (This one is a huge anthology of short Christmas stories that are all good. We read through it last year and it took us a while. But is was fun to read so many heart warming stories one after the other.
The Bird's Christmas Carol by Kate Douglas Wiggin This one always makes me cry and the boys say "oh mom!"
This Way to Christmas by Ruth Sawyer We have not read this one yet.
Why the Chimes Rang by Raymond McDonald Alden Another tear jerker.
The Life and Adventures of Santa Clause by Amelia Houghton This one we have read three Christmas's in a row and I wonder if the boys are tired of it yet.
The Christmas Porringer by Evaleen Stein We have not read this one yet.
The Pajama Elves by Hayden Edwards Just found this one on pinterst a week ago, looks fun.

We will also sing some Christmas hymns and do a few crafts.

My men are not too fond of sweets so the one special thing I make for them every year is a homemade cheese ball. I may attempt homemade crackers to go with it since the boys just bought me a new range for Christmas and I am unwrapping it this week. (smile)

Have a Happy Holiday!

Twas The Night Before Christmas!

I have just discovered two blogs which specialize in linking others to public domain materials which you can use to create anything you want for sharing or selling. There is a wealth of wonderful creative tools on these blogs. I hope you find them as enjoable as I have. I have this much fun only when shopping in second hand stores. You can find gems if you look.

1. Homeschool Commons
2. Happy Hearts at Home Library

Using a public domain book, Denslows the Night Before Chrsitmas from the homeschool commons I created a couple of things to add to my publisher page over at currclick. (In january there will be a wishes come true sale. Anything you have in your wish list fom my homepage will be 50% off)

First, I made a My Copywork Notebook with primary and regular lines.

Then, using velum, I traced 15 of the full page illustrations to make coloring pages. Once they were traced I scanned that image into my computer and laid it out in Publisher, added text etc. Please feel free to snag this coloring page and use it however you like. With the coloring pages is the complete poem laid out so you can print it and bind it as a book.

Merry Chirstmas!

On the first day of Christmas....

...my true love gave to me....a partridge in a pear tree.

On the 2ND day of Christmas my true love gave to me....two turtle doves...

On the 3RD day of Christmas my true love gave to me....three french hens...

On the 4TH day of Christmas my true love gave to me....Four calling birds...

On the 5TH Day of Christmas my true love gave to me....FIIIIIIIVE GOLDEN RIIINGS!!

On the 6TH day of Christmas my true love gave to me.....six geese a laying....

On the 7TH day of Christmas my true love gave to me....seven swans a swiming...

On the 8TH day of Christmas my true love gave to me....eight maids a milking...

On the 9TH day of Christmas my true love gave to me.....nine ladies dancing....

On the 10TH day of Christmas my true love gave to me....ten lords a leaping...

On the 11TH day of Christmas my true love gave to me....eleven pipers piping....

On the 12TH day of Christmas my true love gave to me....12 drummers drumming..

A few weeks before Christmas we began a lapbook study of the boys favorite Christmas Carol, the Twelve days of Christmas. I added this lapbook to the hands of a child  lapbook to incorporate more handwriting practice in our twoelve days study.The coloring pages we found at DLTK...it was one of the daily things we did to learn about this song and learn all the words.

Each day we learned a new vocabulary word, wrote a few copywork pages, marched our wise men to the nativity, folded up an evelope which held a secret message and colored a picture and of course sang the song as we worked. Then there were special activities different each day. Following are some pictures of our lapbooks and activities.

The coloring pages I tucked into a mailer folder and glued to the very back of the lapbook.

I

I sang, they knelt behind the table, and as the days came up they produced the puppets again and again. I think we are now somewhat tired of our favorite song. I am glad it will not come around until next year. But I must say after 12 days of looking it we KNOW IT!

Felt Pockets are Fun...

especially for an advent calendar. Last year I was perusing the web looking for ideas for advent calendars when I found this one........2 inch by 2 inch adorable white felt advent pockets with red stitches on all 25 pockets lined up on a red and white checkered ribbon. And that's when I knew I just had to make some. I had some felt left over from a Christmas gone by and some embroidary floss....so I copied her pattern (its free here) and did a few of my own (25 to be exact)....took me most of the year to finish them. But they were/are so much fun!!!

I filled them with an assortment of small gifts and a card with the title of a Christmas Carol or a portion of the Christmas story from the Bible. The little cards were perfect. They just fit inside the 2 inch pockets. Once we knew what Carol we were to sing I looked it up in Christmas Carols for a Kid's Heart and read a little story written to go along with the carol. It was great to have the Carols in order of the story of Jesus birth so it would tell the story as we sang them. This book also comes with a CD of the songs. We played the CD at night as the boys went to sleep.

The boys took turns opening one of the pockets each day...Today it was Zak's turn.

In addition to reading about the Carols and singing them, we read as many Christmas stories as we could before Christmas came. We read the following....

The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (our favorite)

For the Children's hour (Christmas and Winter stories..our second favorite)

The Children's book of Christmas Stories (Freebie of the Day)

The Bird's Christmas Carol (Freebie of the Day)

A Christmas Treasury

The Twelve Days of Christmas by Jan brett

Light at Tern Rock by Julia Sauer

One Wintery Night By Ruth Graham Bell

T.J.

I read some VERY good advice from the founders of Living books press....about slowing down Christmas. They suggested that during the Christmas holiday you stop formal lessons at least a week before Christmas and simply read stories. We did that and it was wonderful. We took time after breakfast to open the advent pocket, read a little about a Christmas Carol, sang it, and then read one of the other Christmas books I mentioned above. Then for about one hour or so we worked on a lapbook about our favorite Christmas Carol....The Twelve Days of Christmas. It was a very restful and fun filled holiday for both myself and the boys.