Well the countdown to Christmas has officially started here. The kids are super excited after St. Nick stopped by sometime late last night. They had left their stockings on the table before bed and woke up to a big surprise!
They had been talking about our previous St. Nicholas Day celebrations and how they forgot to put their stockings out last year… Oops!
Don’t worry… that heater was not on ‘HEAT’ as we only have the flames going this morning but it has been doing great job at keeping us warm and cozy so far.
St. Nick did not disappoint with a variety of small toys, coloring books, and other holiday items plus a tiny bit of candy. He also left a couple of new books and a holiday music cd for them. They are looking forward to a midday snack of gingerbread cookies and hot cocoa too!
He didn’t forget about the grownups either and even left a small gift for Nanny J and Papa O. He left Momma some much needed kitchen items, some holiday jewelry, and CHOCOLATE!
Santa had even decorated a little bit and put these cute covers on the chairs.
And he must’ve met up with the UPS man at some point to grab our new Advent wreath for us. It had been stuck in delivery status as the driver couldn’t locate our house.
It is so much prettier than it looked on the internet! I had a hard time deciding what color to get but thought this was a good choice even though it isn’t the traditional Christmas colors. Now we are just waiting for the candles to arrive. After all this excitement it was time for breakfast:
This year I added the chocolate chips to the pancakes while on the griddle for our Santa Claus Pancakes. I forgot to pick up some fresh strawberries and blueberries so we made do with what we had here. I also didn’t realize that Mr. Jacob had added a couple of extra chocolate chips to Santa’s beard… lol!
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Mornings:
We Start every morning off with our prayers and the Pledge of Allegiance. Below is a picture of the prayers that we say and a video of the Pledge of Allegiance.
Not the prettiest example but that’s what we’ve been using for the past few years.
Don’t have a flag? Grab one HEREand print it out to put up somewhere… you could even let the kids make a flag to proudly display. Amazon also has some little ones like this one HERE and HERE.
After this we have our calendar time also where we go over such things as the Days of the Week, the months, and some basic math.
This one came from Lakeshore Learning.
We also like to use this song during our ‘Morning Time’ to help the kids learn the 50 States.
Tip: If you want to go to a certain week/chapter or topic simply push the ‘ctrl’ and the ‘F’ button down together and a small bar will pop up. Type in the week number or chapter number you want and it will take you to it.
Week 6: Chapters 16, 17& 18 (Fire in the Chimney, Pa Goes To Town, The Tall Indian)
In this section the family is talking about Thanksgiving and Christmas. Pa went out hunting and found some turkeys. He knew where they would be when the holidays came up so he was thinking ahead and preparing for the holidays in advance.
These events could also benefit from a yearly routine. In our home we keep a Holiday & Party Binder. This helps us prepare for holiday events and party events that we may have coming up.
Every time we host a party we jot down notes and follow the routine we have written down. There are notes telling us how far in advance we need to order things to make sure we get the items we need. This helps to keep everything going smoothly and easily. It also helps us to enjoy the party when the day comes and to spend time with our family and friends while making great memories.
Does your family have a routine for handling holidays?
Make a list of things that you normally do for Thanksgiving or Christmas.
Jot down some things that you would like to do but never have time for.
Work with a parent to decide when and what you need to work on to get prepared for the big day.
Think about things that may need done around the house before the holiday as well like:
Sometimes you may not have a mop or the floor may just need a good cleaning that can only be done by hand scrubbing. This would be using what we might hear as ‘elbow grease’.
How to hand scrub a floor:
Sweep the floor well before hand scrubbing.
Move anything that can be moved to make the job easier.
Gather your supplies:
bucket
hot water
cleaner
scrub sponge or scrub brush
gloves, optional
old towels
Measure the cleaner into the bucket.
Add hot water until half full.
Start in one corner and begin scrubbing in a circular motion, working your way around the room going towards the door.
Rinse out your scrubber as needed.
You may want to use an old towel to wipe up extra water.
Check the floor for any missed spots.
Empty the bucket.
Rinse the bucket and scrubbers.
Put away your supplies.
When the floor is dry you can put back any items you moved before you started.
3. Character
We will be focusing on OBEDIENCE this unit. If you don’t have the book we used you can go HERE and download a lesson plan guide to use in your home.
Memorize: Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. – Colossians 3:20
We will be studying obedience during this unit. What is obedience?
Watch this video to learn about Philippians 2:5-11.
What do you think this scripture means?
If Jesus humbled himself we should too. verse 7
Verse 8 says he humbled himself and became obedient. It is humbling to be obedient but Jesus wants us to be humble.
Do you know what the opposite of humble is? Pride
How was Jesus rewarded for his obedience? He was exalted and honored.
Ask God to help you be obedient and humble like Jesus was.
Ma and Laura acted quickly when there was a fire. Would you know what to do if there was a fire in your home?
Watch this fire safety video:
Discuss what you learned.
Come up with a fire safety plan and practice it.
2. Burn Treatment
After the fire was out Ma checked Laura for burns but she wasn’t hurt. This was a good thing.
We have learned about fire safety but sometimes we might find that we have accidentally gotten burned. Let’s learn about how to treat a burn:
Discuss what you have learned.
3. Games/Outdoor Play
Pa told them about the geese and turkeys he saw while out hunting and brought back some ducks for dinner. Have you ever watched the birds flying south for winter? If not, maybe you can keep an eye out for them in the Fall.
I will try to update this list with some fun activities as well. Feel free to click the links to find out more about the origins and meanings behind these special days. I plan to incorporate a few of these into our normal homeschool routine to add a little fun and excitement to our days. We’ll update this page with ideas as we go along. Have fun and maybe make up your own personal family holiday or tradition for the month!
This month is also know as:
Aviation History Month
Child Safety Protection Month
International Drum Month
National Adoption Awareness Month
National Caregivers Appreciation Month
National Diabetes Awareness Month
National Epilepsy Month
National Model Railroad Month
National Novel Writing Month
Native American Heritage Month
Peanut Butter Lovers Month
The weeks are known as:
Week 1 Chemistry Week
Week 3 Game and Puzzle Week
(These links will be updated as we get closer to the actual holidays.)
I will try to update this list with some fun activities as well. Feel free to click the links to find out more about the origins and meanings behind these special days. I plan to incorporate a few of these into our normal homeschool routine to add a little fun and excitement to our days. We’ll update this page with ideas as we go along. Have fun and maybe make up your own personal family holiday or tradition for the month!
*This post contains affiliate links, which help to support our blog and our family.
Frankenstein Day in honor of author Mary Wollenstone Shelley, who wrote the book Frankenstein. It is celebrated on August 30th. Click here to learn more about this holiday.
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