How are you incorporating the holidays into your studies?

[ktgrok]

When they are little it is easier I think. But I do want to do some fun holiday stuff. I swore that if I ever homeschooled we would do giant unit study for December on the holidays. But now i realize that would put me 3 weeks behind in History, etc etc.

 

So, what are you doing?

[Lily_Grace]

At home we're studying the history of Christmas and since my son is doing the ancients, we're going over the biblical story with a fine tooth comb and figuring out what could have been, what probably was, and what became "fact" when the legend was printed.

 

 

My co-op class is moving into the Elizabethan age and will be doing a "Shakespearean Christmas" - making pomanders, wassailing, learning about the introduction of different Christmas customs (like the 12 days).

[ThreeBlessings]

They'll be learning to play Jingle Bells and We Wish You A Merry Christmas on piano. I'll play other carols while they learn the lyrics and sing along. We're also going to do A Christmas Carol and The Story of the Nutcracker for read alouds. I may choose another holiday related book.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

When they are little it is easier I think. But I do want to do some fun holiday stuff. I swore that if I ever homeschooled we would do giant unit study for December on the holidays. But now i realize that would put me 3 weeks behind in History, etc etc.

 

So, what are you doing?

 

It's not behind if that's the plan.

 

We're doing early modern this year, mostly American colonization, revolution and the Civil War.

 

I have picked the Longfellow poem "Christmas Bells" fpr my youngest to memorize. This was written during the Civil War and references the war.

 

I also found an interesting study of the poem, Longfellow and abolition. [ETA: One of the handouts on ahttp://www.hwlongfellow.org/pdf/Roller_Abolitionists.pdfbolition for this lesson is here.]

 

And thanks for the reminder. I tend to forget to spend time on the history behind Saint Nicholas Day.

 

I think that ending school (or just history) a few weeks later is worth the building up of family traditions for Christmas.

Edited November 28, 2011 by Sebastian (a lady)

[redsquirrel]

No. I did 'units' when they were 'pre-school' aged, but stopped at first grade. We have lots of family activities and traditions to mark any holidays we celebrate. I don't feel the need to work them into school. But, that is just me. It certainly isn't what anyone else needs to do.

[Laura in STL]

We are studying the Liturgical Year as part of our religion studies this year, so we are learning about Advent. Other than that the holidays are not really part of our formal studies anymore. I do plan baking and crafts with the kids. Our tween homeschool group is having a cookie exchange, and we decorated our own gift bags for their enrichment teachers. Also, they enjoy making ornaments every year.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Oh, I forgot that this year we're also doing a Jesse Tree for the first time. I made the ornaments a few years ago, but our holidays were so chopped up with moving the last few years that we never got them up. Since there are pretty long readings that go along with this, it is a good chunk of our Bible study each day.

 

I also have a couple Teaching Company lectures on Christmas in Victorian England and in 19th Century America that I'll probably have the kids listen to. These are from a few years ago. I'm not sure if they will do something like this again this year.

[Beth in SW WA]

We are reading A Christmas Carol (Dickens) together this week. Thankfully the girls are learning all about Advent at church on Sundays this month. We are reading and discussing parts of the Christmas story daily. We watched The Nativity Story on Sunday afternoon. :)

[Beth in SW WA]

I forgot to mention that they love Christmas-themed mad-libs. They each have their own Holly Jolly Mad Libs that they work on in their spare time. I can't complain. :)