Our Journey Westward » Christmas

Christmas School

Cindy — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 03:33:34 +0000

{Although a silly story (needing some tweaking), the science mystery experiment pictured above is both fun and worthwhile as you step away from the textbooks this Christmas season. Enjoy the Christmas Cookie Mystery with Teacher Directions.}

Below is an article I wrote for CHEK’s December Newsletter. I thought I’d post it here just in case some of you are overwhelmed this Christmas season.

Are you tired yet? By the time December rolls around each year, I’m ready for a break – only to find all the busy moments surrounding the Christmas season staring me in the face! Instead of throwing in the towel on homeschooling in order to manage all the other to-do’s of December, we have “Christmas school”. That’s a fancy term meaning we relax the regular schedule and make the to-do’s part of our school routine.

During these two or three weeks just before Christmas, the textbooks are often replaced with practical things such as menu planning, couponing, baking, party planning and decorating, shopping for presents on a budget, crafting homemade gifts, addressing Christmas cards, practicing for plays and musicals at church, and more. We’ll spend extra time fitting in service opportunities, too.

We also replace our daily Bible routine with one that prepares our hearts to celebrate the birth of Christ. There are so many different Bible schedules and Christmas devotions readily available, even some with learning activities! I’ll mention just a few to get you started. We love completing a Jesse Tree and have done this several different years. We have completed several themed studies relating to Advent, the Symbols of Christmas, and the Names of Jesus. We’re also suckers for good literature. Our very favorite Christmas series is written by Arnold Ytreeide and includes three books (read one book per year) with readings every day of December leading up to Christmas day. If you are new to this series, I would read them in the following order: Jotham’s Journey, Bartholomew’s Passage and Tabitha’s Travels.

Don’t let the craziness of December leave you feeling overwhelmed and spent. Enjoy your family. Enjoy your homeschool. Enjoy the to-do’s. Enjoy the extra-gushy time with our Lord and Savior.

Christmas Nature Books

Cindy — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 21:31:06 +0000

There are so many great Christmas books to read with your children! I’ve posted about some of my top favorites from years past. But, since I write nature studies, I thought I’d highlight some of my favorite Christmas picture books that relate well with nature study. Really good ones are few and far between, with so much twaddle to weed through! I’ll admit that a few of these are a stretch when you consider tying them into nature study, but think creatively! For instance, the following two don’t have explicit nature themes, but An Orange for Frankie is appropriate when you consider the topic of Fruits and Nuts; while Silver Packages fits best with Snow and Ice.

If you’ve come across other great Christmas & nature-related books that I haven’t mentioned, please leave a comment!

A Red and Green Walk

Cindy — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 21:15:33 +0000

By far, the Nature Study Through the Holidays study has been our biggest seller. For that, we thank YOU! The short and simple activities tied into the Advent theme are just enough during this busy season in our house.

Last week, my three children and I headed to a local cemetery for a red and green scavenger hunt, as suggested in Nature Study Through the Holidays. Luckily for us, it was a mild day, so we took advantage of the fresh air opportunity as we scoped out small glimpses of red and unique greens in nature.

Here are some photos from our walk. We found more reds that we had predicted!

Berries

A stately conifer tree

Buds

Lichen

More buds

A thriving vine

A ladybug

Some research is leading me to think this is a prickly sow thistle, but I'm not quite convinced yet. Any ideas?

Easy Pinecone Decorations

Cindy — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 21:12:58 +0000

During our Red and Green Walk from Nature Study Through the Holidays, we collected several cones for this activity. It’s mentioned for use during the 4th week of Advent (next week), but my preschooler was raring to go last week. So, last week it was! This is a glimpse at glittery pinecone ornaments as done by a three-year-old. Older children can take the process up a notch and make the ornaments something really spectacular!

Roll the cones in glue.

Then roll them in glitter - or sprinkle the glitter on.

Once dry, pile several cones prettily in a bowl or tie them with string to hang on your Christmas tree.

Preschool Christmas Fun

Cindy — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 15:38:22 +0000

There’s a delicate balance to be made between getting a preschooler geared up for Christmas and keeping him geared down at the same time! We chose to do a craft or activity everyday so we could talk about different aspects of Christmas and prepare his little heart for the celebration of Jesus’ birthday. However, the activities were mixed in with “regular” school to keep the excitement factor under wraps. Why? I’ve been there and done that with two preschoolers in the past and too much excitement leads to crazy little people who can’t control themselves! lol

A construction paper count down chain

Play dough Christmas trees with jewel ornaments

Jingle bell bracelet

Christmas foam sticker graphing

Glittery pine cone ornaments

Measuring Christmas ribbons

Patterns with linking cubes

A relay with bows held by tongs

Christmas ornaments added to the tree from the roll of a die

A torn paper wreath

Water dropper ornaments - place waxed paper over a tree template and drop red colored water on the tree as ornaments

Simple construction paper gifts (that happened to turn into birthday thank you notes)

Christmas card collages

Hole-punch star decorations

Handprint, shoeprint reindeer

Pattern block pictures

The pattern block templates came from PreKinders.com.

Several Christmas printables

These printables came from 1+1+1=1.

Eli was a shepherd in a simple Christmas drama at church, too!

Christmas Train Ride

Cindy — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 17:16:04 +0000

This past weekend, our family took a Christmas train ride at the Bluegrass Railroad Museum. An old-fashioned steam engine pulled four antique passenger cars for an hour’s drive through the countryside. The cars were decked out with lights and streamers, the conductor punched letters into our tickets Polar Express style, and merry music played in the background – all of which made the trip very festive! Top that off with a visit from Mr. and Mrs. Claus and a conductor who led us in Christmas songs and hymns, and it was downright fun!

All Aboard!

Santa arrived in style....

much to the excitement of Eli!

Everyone got to visit personally with the big guy in red.

Mrs. Claus led us in songs.

The conductor led us in songs and talked to us about the REAL meaning of Christmas!

Our family wishes yours a blessed time celebrating the real meaning of Christmas as you remember and praise Him for the birth of Jesus who saves us from all our sins!

December Reading

Cindy — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 18:41:15 +0000

Great December Reading

Oh, and have you met God? Apparently Eli has! Every time he gets his busy little fingers on a Santa ornament he says, “God.” (Very reverently, I might add.) His innocent little eyes looking up at us with complete seriousness that he is holding God right in his chubby little hands.

Names of Jesus Unit

Cindy — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 18:50:25 +0000

This has been such a relaxing and awesome study! Using Easy Fun School’s free unit titled The Names of Jesus, we’ve spent a little time each day focusing on one of His names from the Bible and creating a scrapbook-style keepsake for each name.

I chose not to include most of the other suggestions from the unit since we were already doing other things each day. It has given my children the chance to really focus on the meaning of each of Jesus’ names and plenty of time to create a daily scrapbook page.

Take a look at a few of their pages. What a great memory maker for them!

Pretzel and Nut Bark Recipe

Cindy — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 18:10:02 +0000

Here’s one of my favorite and super-easy Christmas sweets.

Pretzel and Nut Bark

3 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup thin pretzels broken into small chunks

2/4 cup salted nuts of any kind (I use mixed nuts)

1/3 cup white chocolate chips or almond bark

2 Tablespoons (more or less) of Christmas colored sprinkles (any style)

Line 13×9″ pan with foil so that the foil hangs over the edges. In a large bowl, microwave the semisweet chocolate chips 1-2 minutes. (Stir the chips after one minute, microwave in 30 second increments until chips are melted.) Stir in pretzels and nuts. Spread in pan.

In a smaller bowl, microwave the white chocolate chips or almond bark for 1 minute or until melted. Place melted chocolate in a plastic ziptop baggie. Snip the corner and squeeze the chocolate over the bark in the pan. Lightly cover with sprinkles. Chill for about 1 hour (until firm).

Lift the bark out by the foil, then peel the foil away. Break the bark into pieces. Keep chilled until ready to eat.

Artist Study – Nativities

Cindy — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 18:20:17 +0000

This was our second week studying nativities of various artists. After seeing this great art project at That Artist Woman, I just knew it would be perfect for our study.

Here are our attempts at nativity silhouettes as we listened to Handel’s “Messiah”.