I send this article out each year at this time and get many thank you’s. I think it is because it touches on something important to us all and offers simple, cost-free solutions to the Christmas bustle. Enjoy!

Secret #1: Call off homeschool for the Christmas season

You are probably saying, “What! That will put me behind in our school work.”

Years ago, my homeschooling mentor told me that she suspended regular homeschooling for the weeks leading up to Christmas. Instead she had the learning relate to Christmas-stories, math, crafts, cooking, writing and so on. I tried it. Instead of stress and burnout, it was fun and real learning was taking place. You might want to try it?

Secret #2: Read Christmas stories together every day

Another question which shows up this time of year is ‘How can I slow down the Christmas rush?’ The answer is: By reading high quality Christmas stories together. Sound too simple?

 We started a family tradition of reading a Christmas story each day for the seven days before Christmas. It was a big hit. At the time my daughter was in her early teens and not willing to listen to “baby stories”. I scoured the Internet and library and found a wonderful selection. Just the commitment to sit together 15-20 minutes a day to read these special stories made our pulses slow and the smiles come back.

 I put them into a notebook for future Christmases. In the Christmas Holiday Helper as the freebie provided for you. In it are some of the same stories my family enjoyed. Be blessed and love one another the more this holy season.

Secret #3: Enjoy the Christmas Story in great art

Children need the images of Christ’s birth etched in their hearts. What better way to do it than through the art of the masters. Charlotte Mason expressed this idea very eloquently:

The study of such pictures (are) a valuable part of a child’s education; it is no slight thing to realize how the Nativity and the visit of the Wise Men filled the imagination of the early Masters, and with what exceeding reverence and delight they dwelt upon every detail of the sacred story. This sort of impression is not to be had from any up-to-date treatment, or up-to-date illustrations; and the child who gets it in early days, will have a substratum of reverent feeling upon which should rest his faith. But it is well to let the pictures tell their own tale. The children should study a subject quietly for a few minutes; and then, the picture being removed, say what they have seen in it. It will be found that they miss no little reverent or suggestive detail which the artist has thought well to include.

~From Home Education, pp. 245-253

Studying these wonderful pictures with your children should not be a burden or an art lesson. Simply look at the pictures together and let the children tell you what they see. Do not interpret for them. Let them encounter the pictures on their own and let Holy Spirit speak to them through the images.

There are several excellent sources online for art. One I especially like is from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

http://www.metmuseum.org/explore/Christmas_Story/intro.html

Another is:

Art and the Bible (good for any subject in Scripture). Type “Nativity” or “Birth of Christ” in the search box and you will find many.

http://www.artbible.info/

Above all pray that the grace of God will abound in your family this holiday season.

We had a wonderful webinar last night on Nature Study for the Whole Family. If you couldn’t make it and still want to learn, contact me at lbcinfo@livingbookscurriculum.com .

Dara, a mom of  two, wrote the following this morning after the webinar:

You’ll be proud to know that today I took my two children to the “mog” as my husband calls it. It’s a stream/ small river that flows through town. We went to the portion just on the outskirts of town, which is surrounded by plenty of prairie grasses that we collected and compared to each other. I had never paid attention to the many different kinds of grass seeds there are. We saw baby ducks, a snake, red-wing black birds and a turtle. It was a very successful first visit. I promised the kids that we would visit again soon and bring some paper and paint brushes to better record our visit. Thank you for the inspiration.

Here are a few tips for a nature study lesson from our webinar:

Begin with what your child is already familiar.
Give abundant observations, few inferences ( if you have to talk, make observations, don’t give explanations).
Study a subject under natural conditions (reading about a natural topic is okay but no substitute for the real thing).
Discovery of a principles at work in nature is strengthened by oral expression (let your child talk about what he sees, rather than have you explain what you see.).

Five kinds of nature walks
Inside your house 
Yard
Nearby woods or other natural place
Park, Nature Center, botanical gardens, any organized display
Family vacations or outings to special areas 

Each summer between vegetable gardening and our annual Upper Peninsula trip, I have prayed this prayer: “Lord, show me the best way to meet my daughter’s needs and homeschool her in a way that honors You.”

Then, with my journal nearby I go about my work or play, pausing to write down what I sense He is saying. God has never failed to give me direction and the rights words to explain it to others.

Why is homeschool planning so important?
Charlotte Mason said in Home Education (p. 8), that a parent who does not follow a fully thought out plan of education will fail to fulfill the claims his children have upon him for growing to adulthood in full possesion of his abilities. Wow, this only underscores the need for careful planning. It’s not just about getting the right books and putting them in order. It is a heart process first.

Do you have questions about how to move forward in your homeschool? I encourage you to wait before the Lord and ask Him, “which way and how for my homeschool, Lord?”.

Read Jeremiah 6:16:
“Stand at the crossroads and look;
ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
and you will find rest for your souls.”

The Scripture refers to “crossroads” and tells us we are to stand there. Crossroads are the points of decision in your life. Surely this time of year you have decisions? Stand in the midst of them. Make your crossroads as clear as possible, then ask for God’s best–the good way. When you see it, walk in it. You will find rest there and joyful learning.