This week we have been focusing on Thanksgiving with our homeschool studies. I had purchased ‘A Christ-Centered Thanksgiving‘** several years ago but just never got around to using it. This season I am trying to be a bit more intentional and I have included different seasonal activity slots into our school schedule to help me remember to look through what I have.
I will say that I have been pleasantly surprised with this book and the kids have been enjoying learning the history of Thanksgiving. I have added ‘Make a Thanksgiving Tree’ to our list of activities for next year as I am in love with the idea that was mentioned in the book. We have been making ‘Thankful Turkeys‘ this year. We have also been able to incorporate some of the hymns and poetry into our fine art studies as well.
We are getting to the section about Thanksgiving meals and we may even try to add a few of these recipes to our dinner this year, as long as we have everything the recipes need. The kids are excited to see what recipes we may try. We can even count this section for Home Ec/Life Skills as there is a lot of great information, shopping lists, and even a cooking guide to help plan out your dinner.
Towards the end, it mentions some traditions for the meal itself, including the ‘Five Kernels of Corn’. I think this may be one that we will definitely include in our meal this year! There is also a list of Thanksgiving hymns which I will be trying to put together as a playlist for Thanksgiving Day… so many great ideas from this quick and easy-to-read book! I think it is perfect for anyone trying to do their first Thanksgiving meal or their 50th and your family would definitely enjoy reading through this.
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In addition to this study, we are reading through Molly’s Pilgrim** which is a sweet short book that the kids are enjoying. We may try watching the movie HERE or HERE when we finish the book. I just added it to my school calendar to remind me about it as well. We have been watching a few virtual tours of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty to go along with the book too. We used this FREE coloring page to draw our own Clothespin dolls as I didn’t have any wooden pins** on hand.
Update: The movie was just as sweet as the book!
For even more fun traditions and activities I am trying to look through Homespun Holidays: Fall and Winter by the Old Schoolhouse. There are so many ideas in this book that I know I won’t be able to do as many as I’d like this year but hopefully, with some intentional planning next year I will be able to include more of them in our next school year.
I also have some great resources for the Five Kernels of Corn tradition HERE:
Five Kernels of Corn resources:
The Legend of the Five Kernels of Corn
Five kernels of corn: a Thanksgiving lesson
Kids lesson: The legend of the five kernels
Free Printable Corn Templates & Outlines for Fall Crafts
FREE PRINTABLE CANDY CORN TEMPLATES
These could easily be printed out and used as busy activities for the week of Thanksgiving! Our past homeschool week has consisted of the kids learning how to calculate cook times of various size turkeys and then calculate what time they would need to start preparing the dishes and getting them cooked so we could eat at a certain time. They have also worked on making grocery lists, checking the pantry and freezers for supplies, and helping to order the groceries while making lists of things that we need to get done. Each child has picked a recipe (or two) to help prepare as well! These are all valuable life lessons that will help prepare them for the future.
The important thing is to have fun and try not to stress. These are just some ideas that we have been using that may work for you and your family… if you don’t have the money to purchase them maybe you could add them to your wishlist on Amazon and ask someone to purchase them for Christmas? We have been gifted many books in this fashion and it works out great for people who aren’t sure what to buy for our family!
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