It is almost time for my favorite time of our school year, Christmas School. Christmas School means different things in different home schools and let me explain how we utilize it in our home school year.
What It Is:
In general homeschooling circles, Christmas School is schooling during the Christmas season. It can look different from one homeschooling family to the next. Some add a special devotional or study to their current schedules, and some, like us, take a break from regular school and have a particular focus for the holiday season.
It allows us to continue building school hours and attendance days without pressure. We are still doing school, but the intense course study pauses as we usually finish the bulk of our curriculum for the year. It also allows us to say YES! We are often home after a long stint away and able to spend more time with family. The school doesn’t take very long or quickly shifts around during Christmas School. I don’t feel guilty about missing school to participate in different things during the holiday season. Some of our lessons during this time double up as presents or baking preparation for our holiday get-togethers. This allows us to count the time for school and get things done in preparation for family gatherings.
How We Utilize Christmas School:
We taper off our formal lessons (so there is a logical endpoint for a break) right before Thanksgiving. Then after the Thanksgiving weekend, we dive into approximately three weeks of Christmas School. Our focus shifts from traditional learning to focus on the true reason for the holiday season. We come together for lessons, unlike typically during the school year. I choose a family read-aloud (Christmas Themed), and we do activities and projects related to the books and the Christmas Season. We also work on reviewing math skills during this time so as not to lose these skills during this time.
I enjoy this time of year, and the girls look forward to it. I love how much less pressure the holiday season is now for us. I also use the extra time to prep for our next school year. Without this spare time, year-round schooling becomes a jumbled mess for me.
What’s in Store for Our 2022 Christmas School
I have been creating lesson plans and projects for several years now. I’m excited to share these plans on our Homeschool Printable Page and my Teacher’s Pay Teachers Store.
This year our Christmas School features The Last Holiday Concert by Andrew Clements. I am making two different options available, which include the following as listed below:
Last Holiday Concert Literature Unit
What is Included:
Lesson Plan Pages
Discussion Questions (use oral discussion questions or weekly short answer discussion questions and a final discussion question test (short answer and multiple-choice questions).
Literature Worksheets (Character study, Two Sets of Prediction Worksheets, and Plot Diagram Worksheet)
Vocabulary Work (General Vocabulary, Focused Vocabulary, Vocabulary Dictionary, Crossword, Word Search, Vocabulary in Context, and Vocabulary Quiz)
Final Project (Have students design a concert. They must have a theme, create a stage, costumes, and decorations, and select relevant acts)
BONUS: Christmas Song Battle (much like the march madness basketball tournament, you will start with your sweet 16 of either classic or modern Christmas songs, and then students will vote and battle it out until there is a winner).
Last Holiday Concert Christmas Unit Study
What is Included:
Lesson Plan Pages
Literature Worksheets (Character study, Two Sets of Prediction Worksheets, and Plot Diagram Worksheet)
Vocabulary Work (General Vocabulary, Focused Vocabulary, Vocabulary Dictionary, Crossword, Word Search, Vocabulary in Context, and Vocabulary Quiz)
Final Project (Have students design a concert. They must have a theme, create a stage, costumes, and decorations, and select relevant acts)
Copy work (Jingle Bells and We Wish You a Merry Christmas songs)
Seven Crafts
6 Food Activities
BONUS: Christmas Song Battle (much like the march madness basketball tournament, you will start with your sweet 16 of either classic or modern Christmas songs, and then students will vote and battle it out until there is a winner).
Bonus #2: Single Digit Multiplication Worksheets (15 pages of multiplication practice)
As always, keep following our journey on our Facebook Page or Instagram. If you want more in-depth conversations, check out our Facebook Parent Group.
