November 18, 2024 • 21 mins
Many families like to devote a few weeks into December to following a Christmas curriculum, but alternatively, many families don't have the time, patience, money, or resources to do this. However, there are SO many ways to bring the spirit of Christmas into your homeschool and I'm sharing 15 easy ways you can do that in today's episode!
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
I pray this episode blessed you!
- Sarah
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
I know it is not quite Thanksgiving, but as
homeschool parents, we have tobe looking ahead to what's
coming next.
And with Christmas on thehorizon, I thought I would share
15 easy ways to incorporateChristmas that don't require a
lot of money, don't require alot of time.
If you don't want to do a wholeChristmas curriculum, how could
you incorporate differentChristmas things into your
(00:20):
homeschool without it beingsuper stressful?
Glue.
It's messy, it's sticky, it getseverywhere, but it's also really
useful, just like the glue weneed as homeschool moms to glue
our chaotic, beautiful, andwonderfully messy days together
with our children.
I'm Sarah, homeschooling mom ofthree daughters, who is
(00:41):
passionate about helping fellowhomeschooling moms create
intentional moments that act asglue, bringing entire families
together.
I create family-style resourcesfor my business that can help
act as the glue for your family,but I also share lots of ideas
and encouragement here on thispodcast.
Whether you struggle with timemanagement, overwhelm, or just
exhaustion from all the hats youwear as a homeschool mom, I've
(01:03):
got lots of simple ideas thatcan bring you from uninspired
and tired to intentional andprepared.
This homeschool life is a uniqueone that only fellow homeschool
moms truly understand.
I hope each episode leaves youinspired and ready to create a
few moments to help glue yourfamily together.
Thanks for listening.
Let's jump into it.
(01:24):
Hi, I'm Sarah.
Welcome to the Homeschool Gluepodcast.
I love to share intentional waysto bring your family together
through your homeschool and makeyour homeschooling life a little
bit easier, a little bit morestress-free because it can be
really overwhelming.
Um, I run a business, multiplebusinesses, and I homeschool and
I watch kids before and afterschool.
(01:45):
It's kind of a crazy life.
But I also like to show that itis possible to work in many
different capacities inhomeschool.
So I would love if you wouldsubscribe and follow this
podcast if you haven't already.
And if you've been listening fora while, I would love if you
would leave a rating and reviewon Apple Podcasts.
It would really help me out inthe algorithm and getting people
to listen and be part of ourhomeschool community.
(02:08):
With that being said, it is soongoing to be the Christmas
season.
I know many of us, many of youlistening, are Christians and
celebrate Christmas, the birthof Christ.
And so a lot of you may not wantto abandon all of your
homeschool plans to do like awhole Christmas curriculum.
And whether you do or don't,that's totally okay.
(02:30):
But for those of you who don'twant to do that or don't have
time, or it's overwhelming, oryou're trying to save money or
whatever the reason, there arestill lots of different little
things you can do to incorporateChristmas and the joy of
Christmas and the holiday spiritinto your homeschool plans, even
if you're not devoting the wholemonth or even a couple weeks to
Christmas being your maincurriculum and your main focus
(02:53):
for December.
So for our family with a babycoming right after Christmas and
knowing January is going to be amonth where we just kind of do
what we're able to do and we'rejust being really loose with our
homeschool plans.
I wanted to make sure Decemberwas filled with finishing up,
you know, some things that we'vebeen working on for our main
(03:16):
curriculum.
And I didn't want to devote aton of our energy and time into
focusing solely on Christmas.
We did last year, we didTreehouse Schoolhouses Connected
Christmas, and it was amazing,and I loved it.
We did crafts all month long andwe read a ton of good books and
it was beautiful.
Um, and so there's nothing wrongwith that at all.
(03:38):
Um, I have actually plans tomake a Christmas curriculum.
Hopefully, next year, I hadplans for this year, but uh
little baby changed the plans,and that's okay.
And so um I just thought itwould be fun to share 15 easy
ways that you can incorporateChristmas into your homeschool
plans without devoting all ofyour time to it.
(03:59):
Okay, so I'm just gonna jumpright into these 15 different
things you can do.
Now, I don't expect anybody tolike listen to all of these and
then incorporate them all.
Maybe pick one or two, or maybeit will spark an idea that you
have seen or heard about thatyou could incorporate into your
own homeschool.
Okay, and a lot of these youprobably already do, but don't
(04:20):
really think of as school.
So that's also a win when youcan realize actually this is
learning that we already do, andwe can incorporate that into our
homeschool day and feelsatisfied that our kids learned
something through it.
So, one thing we started doinglast year, instead of like um we
have done like Lego adventcalendars and like slime advent
(04:42):
calendars in the past, um, andwe just didn't want to spend the
money on that, and I just didn'treally want the whole month of
December leading up to Christmasto be about material things.
And so last year we got anadvent advent puzzle off of
Amazon, and it was the nativityscene, and so how it works is
every day there was a little boxthat you would complete as a
(05:06):
family, and it has like 20pieces in it or whatever.
I think it was a thousand-piecepuzzle, so it was more than 20
pieces, but it was uh a bunch ofpieces that you put together and
it's all part of one section ofthe puzzle.
So every day you're doing onelittle section that you're
adding on to the section frombefore.
And I really wanted to do onethat was Christ focused because
(05:30):
that is the whole point ofChristmas.
If you're Christian, that is whyyou celebrate.
And so there are lots of otherbeautiful scenes and things like
that, or Santa Claus scenes andwhatever.
Um, but we really wanted onethat was a nativity scene that
was focused on Christ.
And so every day we would talk alittle bit about like, oh, um,
there's the sheep, there's theshepherd, oh, there's Jesus,
(05:50):
there's Mary, and we would putthe whole picture together and
we were talking about thenativity story as we were
putting it together.
And it was just a fun way tobond as a family.
A lot of times my girls would dothis while I was doing a
read-aloud for the month and so,or for the day, and so that was
just a great hands-on thing theycould do, or they're, you know,
(06:10):
celebrating Christmas in a smallway while we were still doing
our homeschool time.
So if you can find somethinglike that, I will put a link to
some in the show notes.
Um, we're doing that again thisyear, and I just really loved
it.
It was just a fun way tocelebrate Christmas in a new way
together leading up toChristmas.
Another thing you can do, andthis is something we've done for
(06:30):
many years, is have somethingalong the lines of what um uh
story a day, devotional typething, um, but incorporating
ornaments.
And so we did the 25 Days ofChrist.
I've loved that for many, manyyears.
I will have a link to thatbelow.
It is an affiliate link, but wepaid for it ourselves.
Um, I don't know how many yearsago we did that.
(06:52):
So we have a little extra smalllittle Christmas tree in our
dining room next to ourfireplace, which is where we do
most of our homeschooling.
And so the 25 Days of Christ,the way it works, there is a
book um that talks about youknow Jesus' life and the gospels
and you know um the differentmiracles he performed, and then
(07:13):
his death and resurrection andand all of that.
And so every day leading up toChristmas, we read the little
story, and then there is anornament, a beautiful wooden
ornament.
You can get them alreadypainted, or you could paint them
yourselves, which would be a funthing to do with your kids too.
We got them already painted, andso every day we take turns
putting that ornament on thetree, and it's just a really
(07:36):
beautiful Advent celebration ofwhat Christmas actually means.
It's not just about Jesus'birth, which obviously is
important, but his birth isimportant because of his life
and his death and hisresurrection and saving our
sins, um, dying for us.
And so re learning the wholestory um and seeing it full
(07:57):
picture leading up to Christmasis just a really beautiful
thing.
It doesn't take a lot of time,we just add that to our morning
time.
You could add it to supper time,like you can add it whenever you
want.
But um having something likethat where you're going through
the whole story, and if you havesome kind of symbol of each day,
it can be really fun for thekids and help them really
remember um all of thosedifferent things that Jesus did
(08:18):
um during his time leading up tohis death and resurrection.
Another really simple thing youcan do is just listen to some
Christmas hymns leading up toChristmas.
If you do um, if you followCharlotte Mason or you
incorporate hymns into yourhomeschool, just replace your
normal hymn with a Christmashymn.
(08:39):
The same thing goes withChristmas poems.
If you do poetry in yourhomeschool, you could look up
some Christmas poetry and learnthat.
Maybe do a recitation, have themeven do copy work is another
idea, like having some Christmascopy work, either scriptures
from you know, Luke and theNativity story, or having some
(09:00):
different Christmas poems thatyou will have your kids uh do
copy work or recitation from.
Those can all be great ways toincorporate Christmas into your
homeschool, doing things youkind of already do, but just
making them Christmassy andfocused on Jesus and the
Nativity story.
Another thing, kind of goingalong the lines of that, is
(09:20):
having a Chris Christmas picturestudy.
So looking up different paints,paintings or um sculptures or
artwork or whatever it may be,um, usually paintings for
picture study, but justdifferent artwork that reflects
Christmas in some way.
You could look up how differentartists depicted the nativity
scene and talk about that.
(09:42):
Maybe have one a week and thenyou compare what does the Bible
actually say?
What do these pictures show?
Like, are the wise men in thepicture or are they not?
And what does the Bible sayabout that?
And having your kids kind offigure that out and talk about
the differences and similaritiesand how they depict Jesus and
the shepherds and the angels andall of that can be um a really
great way to incorporate picturestudy, but also you're talking
(10:05):
about this the story of Jesusand his birth and what the Bible
actually says and comparingthem, which I think is a really
cool idea.
Obviously, another idea is justto incorporate reading the Bible
and reading the nativity story,or you could read that and then
read.
Um you could read the whole oneof the whole books of the
(10:27):
Gospels.
Uh, a lot of people read Lukethis time of year because it has
the most thorough nativitystory.
Um, but you could compare thatand then you can, or you could
read that and then read, youknow, the different miracles
that Jesus performed.
You could read about his deathand resurrection.
Um, I just think obviouslythat's a really important thing
to do this time of year.
(10:48):
But if you hadn't thought aboutdoing that, um incorporating
that into like your morning timeor over breakfast or over
afternoon tea or at supper timeor before bed as a family,
however you want to do it, uh,is probably the most important
thing you could do toincorporate Christmas into your
homeschool.
And um, something obviously weshould all be doing, whether we
(11:08):
homeschool or not, if we areChristians leading up to
Christmas, if we celebrate.
Obviously, another fun thing todo is incorporate Christmas
picture books.
There are many great picturebooks um about Christmas, some
of which aren't necessarilyfocused on Jesus, but many that
are.
Um I'm not going to share abunch of names of different
picture books, but there aretons of lists out there.
(11:30):
So having like a picture book aday where you're reading either
about what Christmas actuallymeans or about like more like
virtuous stories or moralitystories or stories of kindness
and goodness and things likethat during the holiday season
is just a really fun thing todo, and they're just fun to pull
(11:50):
out every year.
We just love reading picturebooks this time of year.
Another thing you can do, and Iknow a lot of people wouldn't
necessarily necessarily think ofthis as homeschooling, but you
can do some of your Christmasbaking, and that is science, and
it's also life skills.
Um, having your kids help youbake cookies um or bake the
(12:15):
Christmas ham or whatever it maybe leading up to Christmas,
doing those different thingsthat you do as a family and
baking and cooking differentthings that are special.
Um, and if you want to likemaybe make different recipes
that people use to celebrateChristmas all over the world or
something, so then it's alsohistory.
But just think of the differentum subjects you're learning
(12:37):
through these things, and itstill is school.
Uh, we did a lot of baking forschool last year, and um we
still do with our peaceful presscurriculum, there's a recipe
every week.
We don't always get to it, butthat is definitely still
learning.
Um, it's something that's beenlost in the schools, if you ask
me, but also very important forkids to learn for the future,
(12:58):
and so that's definitelysomething you can consider as
school.
Also, if you take your kidsshopping and have them do the
math, do the budgeting, you havethis much money to spend, um, or
we as a family have this muchmoney to spend and kind of have
them take on, okay, how muchmoney do we have per person?
(13:20):
How much do each of these thingscost?
Do we have enough money forthat?
Having them actually pay for it.
Even if you did it online, itwould still be the same.
But I think it's even moremeaningful if you go out and
actually do that together.
But that is math, that isbudgeting, that's finances,
that's life skills.
Um, that's definitely stilllearning.
Um, probably a way better way oflearning than just doing like a
(13:42):
math problem about it isactually going and doing it.
So that's another fun way.
Uh, I already mentionedChristmas copy work, but finding
um a poem or a scripture everyweek that you want, or even the
hymns that you want to have yourkids copy or recite are great
ways to incorporate Christmasinto your homeschool.
(14:05):
Another thing many families do,but maybe you wouldn't even
think of it as homeschoolingstill, is doing some kind of
artwork or craft for Christmas,um, making ornaments or
decorating cookies or creating,like even making cards.
I know for our homeschool co-op,I'm teaching watercolor right
now to five to seven year olds,and I am not a watercolor
(14:28):
painter by any means.
I'm just a couple steps ahead ofthem.
And we, for our final projectthis term, we are making, we are
painting Christmas cards.
So there's like one version hasa wreath, one version has a
tree, and one version is like abeautiful night sky with some
bare trees with snow on thebranches.
(14:50):
And so those will turn intogifts for people, but they're
also learning a skill throughthat.
They're learning art throughthat.
And so you could have your kidspaint um or decorate wrapping
paper, um, ornaments, like Isaid, so many different things
they could be using as artduring the Christmas season
(15:11):
that's not just fun, but alsocan be functional, which is also
like a double bonus.
Obviously, incorporating aChristmas read-aloud is
something really, really fun.
I'm gonna just mention a few.
Um, and if you want to add insome hot chocolate chocolate and
Christmas treats while you'rereading to your kids, or having
them do the um the puzzle orsomething like that, or doing a
(15:34):
craft while you're reading, um,you can get double the benefit
or triple or quadruple,depending on how many things
you're having them do.
But some of our favoriteChristmas read alouds, and I
will have links to these in theshow notes.
Um, the Vanderbeakers, theirvery first book, um, is set
during Christmas time.
My oldest daughter, we read thata couple years ago, and she just
(15:56):
loves the Vanderbeaker, sothat's a fun one.
Um, Little Christmas Carol,that's the new book put out by
the same uh writer and author ofLittle Pilgrim's Progress with
the little bunnies, which isbeautiful.
They have Little ChristmasCarol, so it's a retelling um
with beautiful illustrations ofCharles Dickens' The Christmas
(16:18):
Carol.
And so you could read that um orjust the original, but that
one's really fun for youngerkids.
The best Christmas pageant everwe read a few years ago, we saw
the play, and now the movie isout and has Lauren Graham in it,
so I'm extra sold on it, but umjust a really great, funny but
also endearing story about kidslearning about Jesus for the
(16:42):
first time through a nativityplay.
Um beautiful book, very shortand easy to read.
Another one is I saw threeships.
There's a return to Christmas,The Family Under the Bridge, set
in France.
Uh, we read last year, The TrueGift, uh, which is about a cow.
Then there's Nancy and Plum, weread.
(17:04):
That one um is about twoorphans.
We read a few years ago.
We really enjoyed.
And then The Best Christmas uhis a fun, more a little bit
older story um for your family.
So lots of different ideas.
There's tons of other ones outthere, of course, but those are
some of our favorites that Iwill link to that you can read
one or two of leading up toChristmas, either during your
(17:27):
homeschool time or at the end ofthe day.
It's still learning, it's stillreading, um, still counts.
And so that's another way toincorporate into your
homeschool.
Another idea is to make gifts.
So maybe you're going to makecandles.
Um, that would be like science,but also just, you know,
anything you do with your hands,a handicraft.
Um, if you're gonna have yourkids like sew something or
(17:48):
crochet something or knitsomething, do a cross stitch,
um, do some woodworking, makesomething out of paper slowed.
Like there are so many differenthandicrafts you can incorporate
into your homeschool and thengive those as gifts.
So it's like double benefit.
They're learning, they'repracticing some uh hands-on
skill, and then they're able togive it away.
(18:08):
Uh, and those are some of themost meaningful gifts, too.
So that's another way toincorporate that Christmas into
your homeschool.
Also, your kids could, if theyplay an instrument, have that,
you could have them learn how toplay Christmas music um on their
instrument.
That's definitely learning.
That's, you know, if they werein school, that would be banned.
Um, and so that's another idea.
(18:31):
And then my very last idea toincorporate Christmas into your
homeschool is to go on some kindof field trip.
Um, who doesn't love ahomeschool field trip?
Doesn't even have to be duringlike your normal homeschool
time, but anything you do umoutside the home can be
considered a field trip ashomeschooling family.
So going to see the nutcracker,um, we're going to see a
(18:51):
Christmas carol, the play, goingcaroling, volunteering in some
way, going to a symphony.
We're doing actually a few ofthese things, going to a
historical home tour.
Um, so many different things.
Uh, going to see the Christmaslights, like all of that.
We do, we often will do atrolley tour of the Christmas
lights.
And um, all those things can beconsidered, you know, field
(19:15):
trips.
They're not always supereducational, but a lot of these
are, um, especially if there'slike a play or music involved or
something like that.
So lots of different ways toincorporate Christmas into your
homeschool, many of which youprobably already do in some way,
but haven't considered ithomeschool.
And many of which are reallyeasy to just kind of insert um
(19:36):
or replace something you alreadydo with one of these.
Like if you already do a readaloud, just replace it as a
Christmas read aloud.
If you already do poetry, justfind some Christmas poems.
Like, it doesn't have to besuper complicated.
You can still bring thatChristmas spirit into your
homeschool without devoting thewhole month to everything
Christmas, which is okay too.
If you want to do that, um, youhave that freedom as a
(19:56):
homeschooling family, and wehave done that in the past.
But these are just some fun waysto incorporate homeschool uh
Christmas into your homeschool.
I hope this was inspiring.
Um let me know if there's anyother ideas that you have, DM me
over on Instagram athomeschoolglue.
I would love to share some extraideas in my stories if there's
other ideas.
Um, but if you found somethinguseful out of this episode, I
(20:20):
would love if you would leave arating and review on Apple
Podcasts.
Really uh does help us out.
And so I appreciate it so much.
And I hope leading up toThanksgiving, if you're in the
US or just leaning into theChristmas spirit, if you are,
you know, in Canada or somewhereelse in the world, uh, that you
will have a great time with yourfamily and can really connect
(20:42):
and bond and focus on the truemeaning of all the holidays
coming up and just enjoy andreally relish this time
together.
Thank you so much for listening.
I will talk to you soon.
Happy homeschooling.
Thank you for stopping by mylittle cozy home here on the
(21:02):
internet.
I pray this podcast episodeblessed your life and helped
encourage you.
I would appreciate so much ifyou would leave a rating and
review.
And why not share this episodewith a friend while you're at
it?
Make sure you follow me over onInstagram at homeschoolglue for
lots of other intentionalmotherhood and homeschool tips
and encouragement and some funnymemes in there.
And as always, happyhomeschooling.
(21:24):
I'll talk to you soon.
Have a good day.
I know it is not quite Thanksgiving, but as
homeschool parents, we have tobe looking ahead to what's
coming next.
And with Christmas on thehorizon, I thought I would share
15 easy ways to incorporateChristmas that don't require a
lot of money, don't require alot of time.
If you don't want to do a wholeChristmas curriculum, how could
you incorporate differentChristmas things into your
(00:20):
homeschool without it beingsuper stressful?
Glue.
It's messy, it's sticky, it getseverywhere, but it's also really
useful, just like the glue weneed as homeschool moms to glue
our chaotic, beautiful, andwonderfully messy days together
with our children.
I'm Sarah, homeschooling mom ofthree daughters, who is
(00:41):
passionate about helping fellowhomeschooling moms create
intentional moments that act asglue, bringing entire families
together.
I create family-style resourcesfor my business that can help
act as the glue for your family,but I also share lots of ideas
and encouragement here on thispodcast.
Whether you struggle with timemanagement, overwhelm, or just
exhaustion from all the hats youwear as a homeschool mom, I've
(01:03):
got lots of simple ideas thatcan bring you from uninspired
and tired to intentional andprepared.
This homeschool life is a uniqueone that only fellow homeschool
moms truly understand.
I hope each episode leaves youinspired and ready to create a
few moments to help glue yourfamily together.
Thanks for listening.
Let's jump into it.
(01:24):
Hi, I'm Sarah.
Welcome to the Homeschool Gluepodcast.
I love to share intentional waysto bring your family together
through your homeschool and makeyour homeschooling life a little
bit easier, a little bit morestress-free because it can be
really overwhelming.
Um, I run a business, multiplebusinesses, and I homeschool and
I watch kids before and afterschool.
(01:45):
It's kind of a crazy life.
But I also like to show that itis possible to work in many
different capacities inhomeschool.
So I would love if you wouldsubscribe and follow this
podcast if you haven't already.
And if you've been listening fora while, I would love if you
would leave a rating and reviewon Apple Podcasts.
It would really help me out inthe algorithm and getting people
to listen and be part of ourhomeschool community.
(02:08):
With that being said, it is soongoing to be the Christmas
season.
I know many of us, many of youlistening, are Christians and
celebrate Christmas, the birthof Christ.
And so a lot of you may not wantto abandon all of your
homeschool plans to do like awhole Christmas curriculum.
And whether you do or don't,that's totally okay.
(02:30):
But for those of you who don'twant to do that or don't have
time, or it's overwhelming, oryou're trying to save money or
whatever the reason, there arestill lots of different little
things you can do to incorporateChristmas and the joy of
Christmas and the holiday spiritinto your homeschool plans, even
if you're not devoting the wholemonth or even a couple weeks to
Christmas being your maincurriculum and your main focus
(02:53):
for December.
So for our family with a babycoming right after Christmas and
knowing January is going to be amonth where we just kind of do
what we're able to do and we'rejust being really loose with our
homeschool plans.
I wanted to make sure Decemberwas filled with finishing up,
you know, some things that we'vebeen working on for our main
(03:16):
curriculum.
And I didn't want to devote aton of our energy and time into
focusing solely on Christmas.
We did last year, we didTreehouse Schoolhouses Connected
Christmas, and it was amazing,and I loved it.
We did crafts all month long andwe read a ton of good books and
it was beautiful.
Um, and so there's nothing wrongwith that at all.
(03:38):
Um, I have actually plans tomake a Christmas curriculum.
Hopefully, next year, I hadplans for this year, but uh
little baby changed the plans,and that's okay.
And so um I just thought itwould be fun to share 15 easy
ways that you can incorporateChristmas into your homeschool
plans without devoting all ofyour time to it.
(03:59):
Okay, so I'm just gonna jumpright into these 15 different
things you can do.
Now, I don't expect anybody tolike listen to all of these and
then incorporate them all.
Maybe pick one or two, or maybeit will spark an idea that you
have seen or heard about thatyou could incorporate into your
own homeschool.
Okay, and a lot of these youprobably already do, but don't
(04:20):
really think of as school.
So that's also a win when youcan realize actually this is
learning that we already do, andwe can incorporate that into our
homeschool day and feelsatisfied that our kids learned
something through it.
So, one thing we started doinglast year, instead of like um we
have done like Lego adventcalendars and like slime advent
(04:42):
calendars in the past, um, andwe just didn't want to spend the
money on that, and I just didn'treally want the whole month of
December leading up to Christmasto be about material things.
And so last year we got anadvent advent puzzle off of
Amazon, and it was the nativityscene, and so how it works is
every day there was a little boxthat you would complete as a
(05:06):
family, and it has like 20pieces in it or whatever.
I think it was a thousand-piecepuzzle, so it was more than 20
pieces, but it was uh a bunch ofpieces that you put together and
it's all part of one section ofthe puzzle.
So every day you're doing onelittle section that you're
adding on to the section frombefore.
And I really wanted to do onethat was Christ focused because
(05:30):
that is the whole point ofChristmas.
If you're Christian, that is whyyou celebrate.
And so there are lots of otherbeautiful scenes and things like
that, or Santa Claus scenes andwhatever.
Um, but we really wanted onethat was a nativity scene that
was focused on Christ.
And so every day we would talk alittle bit about like, oh, um,
there's the sheep, there's theshepherd, oh, there's Jesus,
(05:50):
there's Mary, and we would putthe whole picture together and
we were talking about thenativity story as we were
putting it together.
And it was just a fun way tobond as a family.
A lot of times my girls would dothis while I was doing a
read-aloud for the month and so,or for the day, and so that was
just a great hands-on thing theycould do, or they're, you know,
(06:10):
celebrating Christmas in a smallway while we were still doing
our homeschool time.
So if you can find somethinglike that, I will put a link to
some in the show notes.
Um, we're doing that again thisyear, and I just really loved
it.
It was just a fun way tocelebrate Christmas in a new way
together leading up toChristmas.
Another thing you can do, andthis is something we've done for
(06:30):
many years, is have somethingalong the lines of what um uh
story a day, devotional typething, um, but incorporating
ornaments.
And so we did the 25 Days ofChrist.
I've loved that for many, manyyears.
I will have a link to thatbelow.
It is an affiliate link, but wepaid for it ourselves.
Um, I don't know how many yearsago we did that.
(06:52):
So we have a little extra smalllittle Christmas tree in our
dining room next to ourfireplace, which is where we do
most of our homeschooling.
And so the 25 Days of Christ,the way it works, there is a
book um that talks about youknow Jesus' life and the gospels
and you know um the differentmiracles he performed, and then
(07:13):
his death and resurrection andand all of that.
And so every day leading up toChristmas, we read the little
story, and then there is anornament, a beautiful wooden
ornament.
You can get them alreadypainted, or you could paint them
yourselves, which would be a funthing to do with your kids too.
We got them already painted, andso every day we take turns
putting that ornament on thetree, and it's just a really
(07:36):
beautiful Advent celebration ofwhat Christmas actually means.
It's not just about Jesus'birth, which obviously is
important, but his birth isimportant because of his life
and his death and hisresurrection and saving our
sins, um, dying for us.
And so re learning the wholestory um and seeing it full
(07:57):
picture leading up to Christmasis just a really beautiful
thing.
It doesn't take a lot of time,we just add that to our morning
time.
You could add it to supper time,like you can add it whenever you
want.
But um having something likethat where you're going through
the whole story, and if you havesome kind of symbol of each day,
it can be really fun for thekids and help them really
remember um all of thosedifferent things that Jesus did
(08:18):
um during his time leading up tohis death and resurrection.
Another really simple thing youcan do is just listen to some
Christmas hymns leading up toChristmas.
If you do um, if you followCharlotte Mason or you
incorporate hymns into yourhomeschool, just replace your
normal hymn with a Christmashymn.
(08:39):
The same thing goes withChristmas poems.
If you do poetry in yourhomeschool, you could look up
some Christmas poetry and learnthat.
Maybe do a recitation, have themeven do copy work is another
idea, like having some Christmascopy work, either scriptures
from you know, Luke and theNativity story, or having some
(09:00):
different Christmas poems thatyou will have your kids uh do
copy work or recitation from.
Those can all be great ways toincorporate Christmas into your
homeschool, doing things youkind of already do, but just
making them Christmassy andfocused on Jesus and the
Nativity story.
Another thing, kind of goingalong the lines of that, is
(09:20):
having a Chris Christmas picturestudy.
So looking up different paints,paintings or um sculptures or
artwork or whatever it may be,um, usually paintings for
picture study, but justdifferent artwork that reflects
Christmas in some way.
You could look up how differentartists depicted the nativity
scene and talk about that.
(09:42):
Maybe have one a week and thenyou compare what does the Bible
actually say?
What do these pictures show?
Like, are the wise men in thepicture or are they not?
And what does the Bible sayabout that?
And having your kids kind offigure that out and talk about
the differences and similaritiesand how they depict Jesus and
the shepherds and the angels andall of that can be um a really
great way to incorporate picturestudy, but also you're talking
(10:05):
about this the story of Jesusand his birth and what the Bible
actually says and comparingthem, which I think is a really
cool idea.
Obviously, another idea is justto incorporate reading the Bible
and reading the nativity story,or you could read that and then
read.
Um you could read the whole oneof the whole books of the
(10:27):
Gospels.
Uh, a lot of people read Lukethis time of year because it has
the most thorough nativitystory.
Um, but you could compare thatand then you can, or you could
read that and then read, youknow, the different miracles
that Jesus performed.
You could read about his deathand resurrection.
Um, I just think obviouslythat's a really important thing
to do this time of year.
(10:48):
But if you hadn't thought aboutdoing that, um incorporating
that into like your morning timeor over breakfast or over
afternoon tea or at supper timeor before bed as a family,
however you want to do it, uh,is probably the most important
thing you could do toincorporate Christmas into your
homeschool.
And um, something obviously weshould all be doing, whether we
(11:08):
homeschool or not, if we areChristians leading up to
Christmas, if we celebrate.
Obviously, another fun thing todo is incorporate Christmas
picture books.
There are many great picturebooks um about Christmas, some
of which aren't necessarilyfocused on Jesus, but many that
are.
Um I'm not going to share abunch of names of different
picture books, but there aretons of lists out there.
(11:30):
So having like a picture book aday where you're reading either
about what Christmas actuallymeans or about like more like
virtuous stories or moralitystories or stories of kindness
and goodness and things likethat during the holiday season
is just a really fun thing todo, and they're just fun to pull
(11:50):
out every year.
We just love reading picturebooks this time of year.
Another thing you can do, and Iknow a lot of people wouldn't
necessarily necessarily think ofthis as homeschooling, but you
can do some of your Christmasbaking, and that is science, and
it's also life skills.
Um, having your kids help youbake cookies um or bake the
(12:15):
Christmas ham or whatever it maybe leading up to Christmas,
doing those different thingsthat you do as a family and
baking and cooking differentthings that are special.
Um, and if you want to likemaybe make different recipes
that people use to celebrateChristmas all over the world or
something, so then it's alsohistory.
But just think of the differentum subjects you're learning
(12:37):
through these things, and itstill is school.
Uh, we did a lot of baking forschool last year, and um we
still do with our peaceful presscurriculum, there's a recipe
every week.
We don't always get to it, butthat is definitely still
learning.
Um, it's something that's beenlost in the schools, if you ask
me, but also very important forkids to learn for the future,
(12:58):
and so that's definitelysomething you can consider as
school.
Also, if you take your kidsshopping and have them do the
math, do the budgeting, you havethis much money to spend, um, or
we as a family have this muchmoney to spend and kind of have
them take on, okay, how muchmoney do we have per person?
(13:20):
How much do each of these thingscost?
Do we have enough money forthat?
Having them actually pay for it.
Even if you did it online, itwould still be the same.
But I think it's even moremeaningful if you go out and
actually do that together.
But that is math, that isbudgeting, that's finances,
that's life skills.
Um, that's definitely stilllearning.
Um, probably a way better way oflearning than just doing like a
(13:42):
math problem about it isactually going and doing it.
So that's another fun way.
Uh, I already mentionedChristmas copy work, but finding
um a poem or a scripture everyweek that you want, or even the
hymns that you want to have yourkids copy or recite are great
ways to incorporate Christmasinto your homeschool.
(14:05):
Another thing many families do,but maybe you wouldn't even
think of it as homeschoolingstill, is doing some kind of
artwork or craft for Christmas,um, making ornaments or
decorating cookies or creating,like even making cards.
I know for our homeschool co-op,I'm teaching watercolor right
now to five to seven year olds,and I am not a watercolor
(14:28):
painter by any means.
I'm just a couple steps ahead ofthem.
And we, for our final projectthis term, we are making, we are
painting Christmas cards.
So there's like one version hasa wreath, one version has a
tree, and one version is like abeautiful night sky with some
bare trees with snow on thebranches.
(14:50):
And so those will turn intogifts for people, but they're
also learning a skill throughthat.
They're learning art throughthat.
And so you could have your kidspaint um or decorate wrapping
paper, um, ornaments, like Isaid, so many different things
they could be using as artduring the Christmas season
(15:11):
that's not just fun, but alsocan be functional, which is also
like a double bonus.
Obviously, incorporating aChristmas read-aloud is
something really, really fun.
I'm gonna just mention a few.
Um, and if you want to add insome hot chocolate chocolate and
Christmas treats while you'rereading to your kids, or having
them do the um the puzzle orsomething like that, or doing a
(15:34):
craft while you're reading, um,you can get double the benefit
or triple or quadruple,depending on how many things
you're having them do.
But some of our favoriteChristmas read alouds, and I
will have links to these in theshow notes.
Um, the Vanderbeakers, theirvery first book, um, is set
during Christmas time.
My oldest daughter, we read thata couple years ago, and she just
(15:56):
loves the Vanderbeaker, sothat's a fun one.
Um, Little Christmas Carol,that's the new book put out by
the same uh writer and author ofLittle Pilgrim's Progress with
the little bunnies, which isbeautiful.
They have Little ChristmasCarol, so it's a retelling um
with beautiful illustrations ofCharles Dickens' The Christmas
(16:18):
Carol.
And so you could read that um orjust the original, but that
one's really fun for youngerkids.
The best Christmas pageant everwe read a few years ago, we saw
the play, and now the movie isout and has Lauren Graham in it,
so I'm extra sold on it, but umjust a really great, funny but
also endearing story about kidslearning about Jesus for the
(16:42):
first time through a nativityplay.
Um beautiful book, very shortand easy to read.
Another one is I saw threeships.
There's a return to Christmas,The Family Under the Bridge, set
in France.
Uh, we read last year, The TrueGift, uh, which is about a cow.
Then there's Nancy and Plum, weread.
(17:04):
That one um is about twoorphans.
We read a few years ago.
We really enjoyed.
And then The Best Christmas uhis a fun, more a little bit
older story um for your family.
So lots of different ideas.
There's tons of other ones outthere, of course, but those are
some of our favorites that Iwill link to that you can read
one or two of leading up toChristmas, either during your
(17:27):
homeschool time or at the end ofthe day.
It's still learning, it's stillreading, um, still counts.
And so that's another way toincorporate into your
homeschool.
Another idea is to make gifts.
So maybe you're going to makecandles.
Um, that would be like science,but also just, you know,
anything you do with your hands,a handicraft.
Um, if you're gonna have yourkids like sew something or
(17:48):
crochet something or knitsomething, do a cross stitch,
um, do some woodworking, makesomething out of paper slowed.
Like there are so many differenthandicrafts you can incorporate
into your homeschool and thengive those as gifts.
So it's like double benefit.
They're learning, they'repracticing some uh hands-on
skill, and then they're able togive it away.
(18:08):
Uh, and those are some of themost meaningful gifts, too.
So that's another way toincorporate that Christmas into
your homeschool.
Also, your kids could, if theyplay an instrument, have that,
you could have them learn how toplay Christmas music um on their
instrument.
That's definitely learning.
That's, you know, if they werein school, that would be banned.
Um, and so that's another idea.
(18:31):
And then my very last idea toincorporate Christmas into your
homeschool is to go on some kindof field trip.
Um, who doesn't love ahomeschool field trip?
Doesn't even have to be duringlike your normal homeschool
time, but anything you do umoutside the home can be
considered a field trip ashomeschooling family.
So going to see the nutcracker,um, we're going to see a
(18:51):
Christmas carol, the play, goingcaroling, volunteering in some
way, going to a symphony.
We're doing actually a few ofthese things, going to a
historical home tour.
Um, so many different things.
Uh, going to see the Christmaslights, like all of that.
We do, we often will do atrolley tour of the Christmas
lights.
And um, all those things can beconsidered, you know, field
(19:15):
trips.
They're not always supereducational, but a lot of these
are, um, especially if there'slike a play or music involved or
something like that.
So lots of different ways toincorporate Christmas into your
homeschool, many of which youprobably already do in some way,
but haven't considered ithomeschool.
And many of which are reallyeasy to just kind of insert um
(19:36):
or replace something you alreadydo with one of these.
Like if you already do a readaloud, just replace it as a
Christmas read aloud.
If you already do poetry, justfind some Christmas poems.
Like, it doesn't have to besuper complicated.
You can still bring thatChristmas spirit into your
homeschool without devoting thewhole month to everything
Christmas, which is okay too.
If you want to do that, um, youhave that freedom as a
(19:56):
homeschooling family, and wehave done that in the past.
But these are just some fun waysto incorporate homeschool uh
Christmas into your homeschool.
I hope this was inspiring.
Um let me know if there's anyother ideas that you have, DM me
over on Instagram athomeschoolglue.
I would love to share some extraideas in my stories if there's
other ideas.
Um, but if you found somethinguseful out of this episode, I
(20:20):
would love if you would leave arating and review on Apple
Podcasts.
Really uh does help us out.
And so I appreciate it so much.
And I hope leading up toThanksgiving, if you're in the
US or just leaning into theChristmas spirit, if you are,
you know, in Canada or somewhereelse in the world, uh, that you
will have a great time with yourfamily and can really connect
(20:42):
and bond and focus on the truemeaning of all the holidays
coming up and just enjoy andreally relish this time
together.
Thank you so much for listening.
I will talk to you soon.
Happy homeschooling.
Thank you for stopping by mylittle cozy home here on the
(21:02):
internet.
I pray this podcast episodeblessed your life and helped
encourage you.
I would appreciate so much ifyou would leave a rating and
review.
And why not share this episodewith a friend while you're at
it?
Make sure you follow me over onInstagram at homeschoolglue for
lots of other intentionalmotherhood and homeschool tips
and encouragement and some funnymemes in there.
And as always, happyhomeschooling.
(21:24):
I'll talk to you soon.
Have a good day.
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