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Christmas done classically?

hisforhomeschooling

By hisforhomeschooling,
in K-8 Curriculum Board

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hisforhomeschooling

hisforhomeschooling

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I would love to replace a lot of our "normal" school activities with Christmas-themed ones. We are doing 11 days of school in December. I was thinking of continuing forward with math and OPG, but possibly replacing everything else with Christmas-themed lessons.

 

Specifically, I would stop doing WWE and do narrations and copywork from Christmas stories.

 

I haven't found anything like this pre-made, but was thinking we would do copywork from lines of Christmas carols.

 

For narrations, I was thinking of reading either the entire books or excerpts from Christmas classics. These are the ideas I have so far- A Christmas Carol, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, The Nutcracker, The Polar Express...other thoughts of old or modern classics to draw from? Has someone already made a list of stories or passages to read and ask for narrations from for the Christmas season? I don't want them to be fluff, but stories that have value either from a literary standpoint or because they are beloved.

 

Not sure how I would replace FLL. Maybe just do Christmas Mad-Libs for those 11 days and talk about parts of speech?

 

For science, I was thinking about pre-choosing animals from the Kingfisher book- reindeer and penguin or polar bear. 

 

I was thinking about doing one of the "Christmas around the world" units I have seen online in place of SOTW. 

 

Anyone know any good chapter books to read out loud to my 2, 4, and 6 year olds that are Christmas-themed?

 

Don't want to reinvent the wheel if something is already out there, but looking for feedback and ideas and links if it doesn't already exist.

 

Thanks!

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Farrar

Farrar

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They're almost too little for chapter books. How about The Twenty-Four Days Before Christmas by Madeleine L'Engle. It's short but very sweet.

 

We also liked The Day Santa Fell to Earth by Cornelia Funke. Might be over the head of the 4 yo though (and the 6 yo depending on what sort of chapter books she is up to listening to).

 

I would lean instead toward doing rich picture books. There are so, so many and many of them are rich and full stories with great language worthy of copywork. You named a few, but there are plenty more.

The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey

An Orange for Frankie (and, actually, Patricia Polacco has a bunch of Christmas ones)

The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree

Cranberry Christmas

Great Joy

 

Just to name a few. There are also great adaptation books like Brett Helquist's A Christmas Carol version and Susan Jeffer's Nutcracker.

 

For science you could also do the science of snowflakes and snow. And you could study the science of baking cookies (baking chemistry). And the science of evergreen trees.

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hisforhomeschooling

hisforhomeschooling

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They're almost too little for chapter books. How about The Twenty-Four Days Before Christmas by Madeleine L'Engle. It's short but very sweet.

 

We also liked The Day Santa Fell to Earth by Cornelia Funke. Might be over the head of the 4 yo though (and the 6 yo depending on what sort of chapter books she is up to listening to).

 

I would lean instead toward doing rich picture books. There are so, so many and many of them are rich and full stories with great language worthy of copywork. You named a few, but there are plenty more.

The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey

An Orange for Frankie (and, actually, Patricia Polacco has a bunch of Christmas ones)

The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree

Cranberry Christmas

Great Joy

 

Just to name a few. There are also great adaptation books like Brett Helquist's A Christmas Carol version and Susan Jeffer's Nutcracker.

 

For science you could also do the science of snowflakes and snow. And you could study the science of baking cookies (baking chemistry). And the science of evergreen trees.

They love chapter books :) I read to them while they eat lunch. We read the Little House books and Burgess books and just finished Doctor Dolittle. So I'm not concerned about attention or anything. I will look into the ones you mentioned! Thanks!

 

Science of snow/snowflakes is a great idea! And definitely planning on baking :)

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Holly

Holly

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A few years ago we read A Christmas Carol.  We followed up each day's readings with the only Christmas Carol movie I could find on Netflix, Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol.  I was surprised to find the dialog matched the book word for word!   :lol:  I don't think I would have noticed if we hadn't done them side-by-side like that.  My DC really enjoyed both the book and movie...although I think they were 7 and 9 at the time, so a bit older than your DC.  

 

Another chapter book they've enjoyed has been the Jotham's Journey series.   We also read The Best Christmas Pageant Ever one year.  We also did a Christmas Around the World study using an older set of Reader's Digest Christmas books...your library may have these.

 

I'll be using this with my 6yo (with the others joining in on some things). http://weefolkart.com/join-our-advent-celebration/   I'm also planning to read another of Charles Dickens' Christmas stories, either Chimes or Cricket on the Hearth.  

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HomeAgain

HomeAgain

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This is our December line-up for an approximate 1st grader:

 

Social studies (we don't do history yet): Christmas customs around the world, focusing on Mexico and Spain this year.
Copywork: lines from carols & the book of the week, done in colored pens.

Art: creating a nativity collage using the various art styles he's learned in the past three months as an influence.

Read alouds: The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, The Grinch, and A Christmas Carol.

Music study: Tchaikovsky, with a trip to see the Nutcracker.

Science: nature study with Snowflake Bentley

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happyhappyjoyjoy

happyhappyjoyjoy

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For Carols: I'd start with O Come O Come Emmanuel or research O Antiphons for anticipation and then move into carols that celebrate the birth the closer it is to Christmas.

 

A favorite for us is to listen to Classical Kids Tchaikovsky discovers America.

 

If you have read any Little House books before, you could do some read-alouds from the Christmas chapter.  Most of the books have a Christmas chapter.

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Gentlemommy

Gentlemommy

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I was just going to suggest this! We have the book on video from a Scholastic DVD and it's pretty cool. Perfect for the ages of your kiddos.

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Carol in Cal.

Carol in Cal.

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Animated version of a stunning German Christmas folktale: 

http://www.amazon.com/Red-Boots-Christmas/dp/B0002OQRCO

 

A very classical, history oriented Christmas book:

http://www.amazon.com/Very-First-Christmas-Paul-Maier/dp/0758606168/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1448373852&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=paul+maier+christmas

 

Beautiful Christmas crafts made from mostly natural materials (Waldorf type stuff):

http://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Craft-Book-Thomas-Berger/dp/0863158277/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1448374007&sr=1-1&keywords=christmas+craft+book

 

Excellent Advent devotion book, with a paper ornament for each day of Advent:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/057004992X?keywords=concordia%20publishing%20house%20advent%20devotions&qid=1448374162&ref_=sr_1_2&sr=8-2

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hisforhomeschooling

hisforhomeschooling

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Sounds fun! Can I send my 6-year old DD to join in?!

 

Haha, sure! If I get my act together before December 1st! Haha!

 

A few years ago we read A Christmas Carol.  We followed up each day's readings with the only Christmas Carol movie I could find on Netflix, Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol.  I was surprised to find the dialog matched the book word for word!   :lol:  I don't think I would have noticed if we hadn't done them side-by-side like that.  My DC really enjoyed both the book and movie...although I think they were 7 and 9 at the time, so a bit older than your DC.  

 

Another chapter book they've enjoyed has been the Jotham's Journey series.   We also read The Best Christmas Pageant Ever one year.  We also did a Christmas Around the World study using an older set of Reader's Digest Christmas books...your library may have these.

 

I'll be using this with my 6yo (with the others joining in on some things). http://weefolkart.com/join-our-advent-celebration/   I'm also planning to read another of Charles Dickens' Christmas stories, either Chimes or Cricket on the Hearth.  

 

Thanks for the ideas!

 

This is our December line-up for an approximate 1st grader:

 

Social studies (we don't do history yet): Christmas customs around the world, focusing on Mexico and Spain this year.

Copywork: lines from carols & the book of the week, done in colored pens.

Art: creating a nativity collage using the various art styles he's learned in the past three months as an influence.

Read alouds: The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, The Grinch, and A Christmas Carol.

Music study: Tchaikovsky, with a trip to see the Nutcracker.

Science: nature study with Snowflake Bentley

 

The idea of colored pens would go over big with my littles! Do they have erasable red and green ones that don't cost an arm and a leg? 

 

I am going to see if there is a Nutcracker play we could see somewhere around here! I didn't even think of doing that. We used to go see A Christmas Carol, but my kids spook easily, so I think we are a few years away from straight up Dickens. 

 

Thanks for sharing your plans!

 

For Carols: I'd start with O Come O Come Emmanuel or research O Antiphons for anticipation and then move into carols that celebrate the birth the closer it is to Christmas.

 

A favorite for us is to listen to Classical Kids Tchaikovsky discovers America.

 

If you have read any Little House books before, you could do some read-alouds from the Christmas chapter.  Most of the books have a Christmas chapter.

 

Great ideas! Thanks!

 

I was just going to suggest this! We have the book on video from a Scholastic DVD and it's pretty cool. Perfect for the ages of your kiddos.

 

We have a scholastic dvd collection. I will check to see if we have it :) Thanks!

 

 

Thank you for the links! Looking into them!

 

 

Going to read it right now. Thanks!

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hisforhomeschooling

hisforhomeschooling

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Oh my goodness. I love DecemberTerm! That's pretty much exactly what I am trying to figure out how to do. And I love the idea of keeping up with a picture study of music study during that time and having it laid out with a Christmas theme. Thanks for pointing me to this site!

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Kristie in Florida

Kristie in Florida

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Oh my goodness. I love DecemberTerm! That's pretty much exactly what I am trying to figure out how to do. And I love the idea of keeping up with a picture study of music study during that time and having it laid out with a Christmas theme. Thanks for pointing me to this site!

Truly, one of my favorite blogs these days. Andwe I don't even use Ambleside as intended.

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ALB

ALB

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We're doing something similar for the next couple of weeks.  We will reread A Christmas Carol for the third year in a row, adding in some biographies about Charles Dickens and life in London during his time.  We'll also read The Nutcracker and learn about the history of that, then do some simple Christmas Around the World books from the library.  

For picture study, we're doing The Annunciation by Fra Angelico and Madonna of the Magnificat by Sandro Botticelli (using our Memoria Press art cards, but could find these or similar online).  For music, we'll listen to parts from The Nutcracker and also Carol of the Bells.  

 

Poetry will be Christmas Bells by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

We'll memorize Adeste, Fideles (O Come All Ye Faithful) in Latin.  

 

I'm looking into different nature themed art projects and crafts that we can combine nature study and art with (and make some gifts for family members at the same time).  I'm super excited about our plans!

 

BTW, I started reading A Christmas Carol to my kids when they were 7 and 5 and they actually loved it, which was thrillingly satisfying to me since I LOVE Dickens.  Don't be afraid to go with the real thing!

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