Christmas Around the World

Christmas School–Day Eight

Today was part two of “Christmas in Mexico.” Our travels today focused on the poinsettia, both the fact and fiction. We started with facts, and *I* learned several things, including the fact that I have been spelling poinsettia incorrectly my whole life (I always thought it was point-settia). We also learned that the poinsettia was first introduced to America in 1829-ish (it really depends on who you ask!) by Joel Roberts Poinsett, who was the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, and brought the brightly colored flowers home with him. We also learned that the colored “petals” are actually just leaves, which require 12 hours of darkness at a time to change color. Who knew poinsettias were so fascinating?

After learning the true facts about the poinsettia, we then read the legend “A Gift from the Heart,” in The Kingfisher Book of Classic Christmas Stories.  This is the traditional Mexican Christmas story which explains the origin of the poinsettia. In the legend, a young girl, Maria, doesn’t have the money to buy a gift to take to church on Christmas to lay in front of Baby Jesus in the manger. Instead, she brings the only thing she can find–a bunch of weeds. She tries to wrap them in a shawl so that no one will see her lowly gift, but they weeds end up being unwrapped in front of the whole congregation, and they are all shocked to see the beautiful flowers. There are other variations on this legend, some of which we have read in the past, but this was the story of choice for this year.

To wrap up “Christmas in Mexico,” as well as “Poinsettia Day,” we made 3-D paper poinsettias. Turkey and Bunny really liked this project, and they looked really cool when they were finished!

Christmas School–Day Seven

Feliz Navidad!

Today was day one of two that we’ll be learning about Christmas in Mexico. I started with a brief overview of the holiday in that country (thanks to information primarily found in Celebrate Christmas Around the World)–special foods that are prepared, religious festivals, games, (Turkey and Bunny really want a Christmas piñata someday!), that sort of thing. In particular, we learned about Las Posadas, or “The Processions,” in which families and neighbors process through the streets for nine nights, in remembrance of Mary and Joseph looking for a room in Bethlehem.

We then read a cute story–Too Many Tamales. This is charming tale about a little girl who is helping her mother prepare Christmas dinner, and in the process, the mother’s diamond ring gets lost. Many tamales are eaten before the ring is discovered, and there is a lot of laughter, a few tears, and some very full stomachs!

Turkey and Bunny also colored a picture in their Christmas Around the World coloring books. This is the third year we’ve used these books, and they’re still not complete. They’re put out by Dover Publications, and like all Dover coloring books, they have excellent detail. It’s actually pretty cool to compare the first pictures they colored to the ones they’re doing this year. They didn’t have the motor skills or the patience to really complete the pictures two years ago, but now they’re doing a really good job of getting the detail work done.

Tomorrow, we will continue our studies in Mexico, including the legend surrounding a very famous Christmas flower!

Christmas School–Day Five

Buon Natale!

Today we learned about Christmas in Italy. The timing for this was excellent as we’re going on a field trip tomorrow that is related to Christmas in Italy (more on that later). We studied Nativity scenes (Turkey and Bunny thought it was cool that in Italy, Jesus isn’t placed in the manger until Christmas Eve), traditions related to gift-giving (very little Santa, mostly La Befana), special foods (Pizzelles–yum!) and more.

Our main focus of the day was reading the story of “Befana and the Three Wise Men” in The Kingfisher Book of Classic Christmas Stories. I have to admit, this is one of the stranger Christmas legends (a “witch” chooses not to go with the Wise Men in search of the new King, but later regrets it, and tries to find them, but because she’s unsuccessful, is still searching, and leaving gifts at the homes of all children, just in case), but it does get across the point that we should never be too busy for Jesus. We’ll also be encountering La Befana at least twice this Christmas season (possibly both of them this weekend) so it’s good to be familiar with the story.

As we read the La Befana story, Turkey and Bunny re-enacted it with the stick puppets we made today. They had the whole cast of the story–Befana, the three kings, the star of Bethlehem, even the gifts Befana leaves on Epiphany. I found the patterns for them in Celebrate Christmas Around the World. This is one of the best books I have purchased for use in school. There is information on Christmas celebrations in over 20 countries, along with craft activities, games, and recipes. I have used this book every year that we’ve had Christmas school, and I haven’t come close to using everything in it.

Christmas School–Day Three

Froehliche Weihnachten!

Every year during Christmas school, I choose a few different countries, and we learn about some of their Christmas traditions. We also learn how to say “Merry Christmas” in that language, read a story from that country (if we can find one), and do a craft, (or make a recipe), related to that country. And every year, we have “Christmas in Germany” day. It’s one of my favorite Christmas traditions to delve into Germany for a day (or sometimes two!).

We started with a book that I have yet to make it through without choking up–Christmas in the Trenches. This is a fictionalized account of the 1914 Christmas Truce along the front lines of WWI. It’s a beautiful story, and knowing that it’s true makes it even more meaningful. The book came with a CD, so we also got to listen to “Silent Night” in both English and German.

As long as we were talking about wartime Christmases, we stepped back from Germany for a moment to learn about the story of “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.” I found the background for this carol in Christ in the Carols, which is a devotional book. I’ve never actually used it for that purpose, but I enjoy reading the history behind some of our beloved Christmas carols. Learing about how Longfellow came to write the words to “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” provided a good opportunity for us to talk about how sometimes things look very bleak (as was the case during Christmastime in the Civil War and WWI), but if you have faith, you can find hope in the midst of any situation.

We also talked about the legends surrounding the Christmas tree, including the one where Martin Luther is believed to be the inventor of the modern Tannenbaum. This led nicely into our craft–beaded Christmas tree ornaments. I found a kit at Michaels, and while it wasn’t on sale, it was reasonably priced, and the beads in the kit were so pretty, I had to pick it up. We had fun stringing the beads (even though there were some missing from the kit that we kind of needed), and they look very pretty reflecting the lights on the Christmas tree.

The Kingfisher Book of Classic Christmas Stories is a beautiful, hardcover treasury of stories, some legends from around the world, and others feel-good favorites. Today we read “The Elves and the Shoemaker”–a German Christmas legend. Turkey and Bunny have enjoyed every story we’ve read out of this book over the years, and I always look forward to picking it up–we’ll be reading from it several more times this year.

Our last activity in school today was watching a DVD about German Christmas markets. It’s kind of an odd choice–it’s from the TV show The Seasoned Traveler, which is geared toward senior citizens who enjoy traveling. Still, it gives a great overview of Christmas markets, both in Germany, and around Europe (and even my beloved Chicago Christkindlmarket!), and even though we’re not the show’s intended audience, it’s still enjoyable (and educational!) to watch.

Christmas School: Activities

One last post about our Christmas school activities, which are two-plus weeks past at this point.  We had a lot of fun with special craft projects, coloring pages, a field trip, and even some special foods.  As much as we love Sonlight, it was nice to take a break from our regular lessons and focus solely on Christmas–one of my favorite things about homeschooling is the flexibility and the opportunity to study the things that are really important and personally interesting to us.

The field trip is an annual event in our family (St. Charles, MO, Christmas Traditions), and we would do it even if we weren’t homeschooling, but there are so many different things that could be tied into our lessons that it doubled as not only a tradition, but a school activity.  We tried to go the night they did the Las Posadas procession, because that was something we were going to be discussing the day we learned about Christmas in Mexico, but it didn’t work out so well, so we went back the next afternoon. There was still plenty to learn about as far as history and Christmas around the world, so we were definitely not disappointed.

img_5284We also got to pick up a cool coloring book of the different characters we saw there, which was fun to use in school, and the perfect place for some (but not all) of the trading cards we collected while there.

Our Christmas Around the World coloring books were also very helpful as we learned about Christmas in other countries (and the Nutcracker, too!).

Turkey and Bunny love craft activities (as do most children their ages), and they had plenty to do over our two week Christmas school unit.

img_5282One of my favorite activities was the hand and footprint angel. Admittedly, they bear a striking resemblance to Jimmy and Jerry Gourd (the instructions said to trace both feet, but in the future, I think I’d only use one), but I love any project that captures how small my children were at the time they made it.

img_5287For our Christmas in the Philippines day, we made waxed paper stars (they’re supposed to be four-point stars, honest!) to mimic the parols that are so integral to a Philippine Christmas.  This didn’t work entirely as planned, because Turkey and Bunny didn’t entirely understand that you can’t just mix colors of crayon shavings without it turning brown or black–their second attempts were much better than first, though.  We also had a little “melted wax on the carpet” incident (my fault, not theirs), but most of it cleaned up.

img_5391A really fun craft that I added to our lessons at the last minute are these stained glass Christmas trees.  After you cut out different shapes from tree, you cover the holes with different colors of tissue paper. They look fantastic in a window with the sun shining through.  Very festive!

img_5187We also made a foam nativity scene that Ryan got to take to work to brighten up his office a bit.  And by we, I mean me, because at it turned out, I really needed the hot glue gun to make everything stick, which Turkey and Bunny can’t help with yet.  They did get to punch out the pieces and hand them to me, and they were very helpful in telling me exactly where everything should go, so they didn’t mind my participation, but I still wish they could have done more of it by themselves.

img_5380Another project that needed a lot of my help was the gingerbread house.  Again, I had to do most of the assembly, but Turkey and Bunny got to do most of the decorating, which is the real fun part anyway, so they had a blast.  I think it turned out pretty cute, too!

img_5206
img_5195Turkey and Bunny also made Christmas ornaments–two candy canes and two wreaths each.  We kept some, and gave some to the grandparents, which was a big hit, on both the giving and receiving end.  Turkey and Bunny were able able to do this one almost completely on their own, and it was good practice in both patterns and counting.

img_5215Speaking of counting, we had another fun project (not really a craft) that I devised to work on the children’s counting skills.  They each had an index card for each of the 12 days of Christmas, and a bunch of tiny chart stickers.  They put down stickers for each gift of each day, and then we counted the number of gifts given per day.  It was a simple enough project, but Turkey and Bunny really enjoyed using the stickers, and they love counting, so it was successful.

baklava

We also had two special food days incorporated into our Christmas around the world lessons.  The first, when we learned about Greece, was Baklava.  This was a big hit with everyone in the family–who doesn’t love a special dessert?

img_5224The second was Zuppa Toscana, from our Christmas in Italy day.  I hear that this is a staple at restaurants like Olive Garden. Having never been there, I’ve never had the chance to try this soup before, but I have to say, it was really delicious.  Just the right amount of spicy, and perfect for a cold day.

So, that’s the end of our Christmas school activities.  We had such a great time, and I’m already collecting craft ideas and names of storybooks for next year!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas School: Miscellaneous Resources

We had a blast with Christmas school the last two-plus weeks!  I was very fortunate to have a wide variety of resources to use: Books, CDs, and DVDs.  Some I got from the library, some I picked up from either the warehouse sale this fall or Amazon.com when I had gift certificates.  Many I already had, even before we had children.  So, I had a good 10 years or more to collect some of this stuff, without even knowing then that I’d be homeschooling now, but it was all put to good use this year.

We started “Christmas School” on December 5, the day before the commemoration of Nicholas of Myra.  I thought that since it was so timely, it would be good to start with Saint Nicholas: The Real Story of the Christmas Legend.  This is a great children’s book that introduces readers to Nicholas’ faith and generosity, as well as the fact that he was a real person.

That day, we also began our Christmas trip around the world.  I found a fun book(Christmas Around the World) that gives a basic introduction to the Christmas activities in twelve countries, including how to say “Merry Christmas” in that country’s native language, what the main symbol of Christmas is in that location, and a general overview of when the holiday is celebrated (not always on December 25), and what that celebration looks like, from food to activities to present opening.

I found one other book at the library that I used in our trip around the world: Christmas in the Philippines.  This book wasn’t a storybook, so it’s not like I could just sit down and read it to Turkey and Bunny, but they did enjoy looking at the pictures (and there were many), of what Christmas looks like in that country. There were also some interesting looking recipes at the back, but Asian cooking is not my strong point, so I don’t know if any of those were good.

A book that provided me with some craft activities, as well as possible explanations for the meanings behind the 12 Days of Christmas was The Adventure of Christmas.  There are lots of great ideas in this book, for a variety of ages, so I’m sure I’ll be using for many years to come.

One storybook we really enjoyed was The Lion Storyteller Christmas Book.  It’s as good as the original Lion Storyteller that we’ve been reading in school, and we read a lot of the stories in it.  Some of our favorites included: “Old Befana,” “Wenceslas’ Winter Walk,” “A Flower for Christmas,” “The First Christmas Tree,” “Francis’ Christmas Pageant,” “Father Joseph’s Christmas Song,” “Brother Comgall’s Christmas,” “Papa Panov’s Visitors” (a great story illustrating the words of Jesus in Matthew 25: 31-46), and “The Cobbler’s Sons.”  There was also a whole section of Bible stories at the beginning of the book, and we might try to read some of those before it goes back to the library.

Turkey and Bunny also had two coloring books they enjoyed using.  The first, the Christmas Around the World Coloring Book, had beautiful pictures detailing Christmas celebrations in many different countries.  In retrospect, this book was probably a little too detailed and advanced for them, but they didn’t color all the pictures, so we’ll probably be able to use it for several more years.  The second, Christmas Traditions, is a fun book that we picked up at our favorite Christmas festival. The pictures were much less complex in this book, and it had the added bonus of Turkey and Bunny having seen a lot of the characters at the festival, so that was probably the more popular of the two. Both also had pictures of the Nutcracker story, so they were very useful on the days we were learning about that story.

My favorite purchase at the warehouse sale (as soon as I saw it, I knew I needed it for Christmas school), was Sacred Songs of Christmas.  This is actually a book and CD set, and includes the lyrics and music for 19 Christmas hymns and carols.  It’s a beautiful book, and in addition to the lyrics, contains stories, poems, and verses from other hymns.  We gained more insight to some of the hymns we associate with Christmas, as well as some of the characters and places in the Christmas story.

We also had a few other Christmas CDs that we listened to during different school activities.  The best was the Classical Kids Christmas CD.  I continue to be impressed with this series of CDs for children, and the Christmas version is my favorite so far.  It’s organized much like a children’s Christmas program, and includes songs from around the world, and showcases some of the other holidays associated with Christmas in various Christian cultures.  The Time-Life Treasury of Christmas was also helpful to us, primarily for listening to the 12 Days of Christmas on the days we were doing our special Christmas math activity, but also for providing festive background music on a few occasions, and listening to songs such as “Feliz Navidad” and “Adeste Fidelis” when we were learning about Christmas around the world.

While the Nutcracker was our primary source of videos in Christmas school, we did have one other show we watched, the final day of school.  It was an episode of The Seasoned Traveler, which is a PBS show.  This particular episode, entitled “Christmas Markets,” allowed us to see what Christmas markets are like all around Europe, but particularly in Germany. It may not have been a story like the Nutcracker, but Turkey and Bunny really liked it, because it was real–a show about a real event, at real places, that real people can go to.

We had a lot of resources to go through this year, but I’m already looking ahead to years down the road, and what we might add to our school as the children get older.  Included on that list are The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (I still remember reading about the Herdmans when I was in grade school) and The Annotated Christmas Carol (which is probably still several years off–I don’t think Turkey and Bunny will really “get” it; they don’t really “get” the Muppet version, either!).

That’s a lot of books–it’s a good thing Turkey and Bunny like reading as much as I do!

Fröhliche Weihnachten!

We concluded our trip around the world, as well as our two-week Christmas unit, today by learning about Christmas celebrations in Germany.  We listened to a German Christmas carol (“Now Sing We, Now Rejoice”), and talked a little bit about the difference between hymns (more formal), and carols (much more laid back, and very well suited to singing while strolling down the street).

We also turned once again to the Lion Storyteller for one more Christmas story–a legend from Germany, but one that, ironically, takes place in England:  “The First Christmas Tree.”  I had some mixed feelings about this story, because part of it was darker than the other stories we have read, but I felt that the ending was worth it, really driving home the fact that Jesus is the only sacrifice required by God.  And, while Turkey and Bunny did seem a little troubled by part of the story, they didn’t seem scared, so I think we struck a good balance.

Following learning about the custom of decorating Christmas trees, we made a really neat Christmas tree that has an almost stained glass effect when you hang it in a window.  Turkey and Bunny practiced making the small snips with their scissors that the project requires, but in the end, when working on their actual trees, I made the snips for them.  Bunny just doesn’t have the fine motor skills yet to make cuts that small, and while I’m certain Turkey *could* have done it, once he saw me making specific shapes in Bunny’s tree, he wanted me to do his, too.  They did have a great time with color selection and gluing, and some trimming (mostly on Turkey’s part–he’s way better with scissors than his sister is!).

They also had a tree decorating coloring sheet in their Christmas Around the World coloring books, and a picture of Kris Kringle in their Holiday Traditions coloring books.  We may not “do” Santa here, but I do think it is interesting for them to learn about the way other cultures view the legend of St. Nicholas.

The highlight of the day (other than the tree project), was learning about “Christkindlmarkts.”  That is my favorite thing about Christmas in Germany, and I really hope to attend the Nuremberg market someday.  I have been to the Chicago Christkindlmarket, and from what I can tell, it’s a pretty good replica.  It was also my very favorite Christmas tradition when I lived up in the Chicago area (schnitzel sandwich and hot spiced cider, anyone?), and I can’t wait to take the children there in a few years when they’re older.  I’ll confess to actually having had dreams about it, I enjoyed it so well, and miss it so much.

After I explained to them what a Christmas market is, we watched an episode of “The Seasoned Traveler” from PBS.  I saw this show a few years ago, and really enjoyed it, so I was excited to find this year that’s it’s available on DVD.  I don’t know how I never caught before that the show is geared toward seniors who like to travel (I know, the title should have tipped me off, but I really thought “seasoned” just referred to people who were experienced travelers!), but I don’t think that really matters, and Turkey and Bunny loved seeing the different markets in Germany, as well as other places in Europe.  They were quite surprised that those were actual places, especially the Nuremberg market, with a children’s area, complete with carousel and ferris wheel, and I think they really want to go to a Christmas market now!

I wish I could find the Christkindlmarkt video that we watched every year in my German class in high school.  I have no idea what it was called, but it was really cool, and told a story about a little German girl, while she went exploring through the market (I think maybe in Cologne?).  I know Turkey and Bunny would enjoy that, since it focuses on a child, but try as I might, I can’t even find out what it’s called, much less if I can get a copy anywhere.  I think that’s the only thing that would have made our Germany exploration better, though–we had a great time with Christmas around the world, and Christmas school!

Fröhliche Weihnachten and Merry Christmas!

Feliz Navidad!

Today in school we moved onto Mexico.  Actually, this was a little bit more low-key for us, as Turkey and Bunny already  had some familiarity with Christmas in Mexico.  They knew “Feliz Navidad,” they had an idea of Las Posadas from our failed field trip a week ago Saturday (someday, I would like to give seeing that traditional procession of Mary and Joseph looking for a room at night, illuminated by candlelight, lanterns, and flashlights another chance, because I think it would be awesome to see!), they knew pinatas are used for parties (although they were a little surprised that they could be used for something other than a birthday party!).

They did enjoy reading about the legend of the poinsettia, though.  We turned back to our favorite Lion Storyteller Christmas Book, and read “A Flower for Christmas.”  I have no idea if that’s the “real” poinsettia story, or if there might be others out there, but they really enjoyed it, even if Turkey did insist on pointing out to me that that could never happen.  But we talked about how we have some poinsettias in our church, and we added a new symbol of Christmas to our list:  stars in the Philippines, nativity scenes in Italy, Christmas trees in America, and now, the red poinsettia plant as a Christmas symbol in Mexico.

They also got to color a new picture in their Christmas Around the World coloring books.  Much like we had discussed, it showed children taking turns at a pinata, with a backdrop of poinsettias.  They loved the shapes the pinatas were in (three different animals), and they were puzzled and excited that the picture actually showed the pinata being used outdoors.  So, they’ve decided that when the little tree we planted in our yard last spring gets bigger, they would like to try their hands at a pinata out there.  Not a bad idea, actually.

Friday, we finish our Christmas journey around the world with my favorite country (outside of America, of course!): Germany.  Until then, Feliz Navidad!

Buon Natale!

Merry Christmas from Italy!  (Or at least the Italian sector of our house…)  We had a great time learning about Italian Christmas traditions today.  We started with basic geography–where Italy is on the map, what it’s shaped like (Turkey and Bunny were very amused to realize it looks like a boot!), and what that type of land is called (a peninsula).  Turkey also pointed out, with no prompting, that Florida is also a peninsula–proud Mommy moment for that one!

We read two stories from the Lion Storyteller Christmas Book–the first was about Saint Francis and the first Christmas pageant.  This led to a discussion about the use of nativity scenes in homes in both Italy and America. We then made a foam nativity scene from a kit I picked up at Michael’s.  It will be a cold day when I get another one of those things, but the end result was pretty cute, and Turkey and Bunny enjoyed helping me put it together (they didn’t get to help as much as I had hoped, because I had to get out the hot glue gun, so they had to back off, lest they burn themselves like I did, several times no less!).

We had two different Italy coloring sheets, too.  One, from our Christmas Around the World coloring book, was of a living nativity, much like the one Saint Francis put together in our story.  The other picture (of La Befana) was actually from a coloring book we picked up at our Christmas field trip over the weekend.  Our second story was about the legend of La Befana, so the two fit together nicely.  Using that story as a bit of a springboard, we also talked a little about the wise men, and listened to the hymn, “What Child is This?”

Our big “taste” of Italy, though, was our dinner tonight.  I decided to be adventurous and try out a recipe for  Zuppa Toscana I found online.  It was quite a bit of work to put together, but it was really delicious, and Turkey and Bunny both enjoyed sampling food from Italy.

We will continue our trip around the world on Monday…until then, Buon Natale!

Maligayang Pasko!

(That’s how they say “Merry Christmas” in the Philippines, in case you were wondering!)

We continued our trip around the world to see how other cultures celebrate the birth of our Savior.  We enjoyed learning about what the people of the Philippines call the “longest Christmas celebration in the world.”  The official start of the Christmas holiday is December 16, and they keep on going right through Epiphany (the way it should be, in my opinion!).

The main symbol of Christmas in that country is the Christmas star lantern (or parol, as it’s called there).  So, today in school, we made our own (highly simplified) version of the parol.  Basically, we melted crayon shavings between stars cut out of wax paper, and the effect was really cool.  The first attempts were a little on the dark side, because Turkey and Bunny mixed a few too many colors too close together, but they learned from that and the next ones were much better.

We also talked about the song the “12 Days of Christmas,” because there is such a focus on the time between Christmas and Epiphany in the Philippines.  I told Turkey and Bunny about the possible Christian interpretations of the song, and we listened to a popular recording as well.  We’ll be continuing with that theme throughout the week as we use the “12 Days of Christmas” to do some math.

This country was a little harder than the others I have planned, because I couldn’t find any traditional Christmas stories or legends originating from the Philippines, and I’m not so good with cooking Asian foods.  At least we had a fun craft to do, though, and I also managed to find a World Book Encyclopedia book dedicated entirely to Christmas in the Philippines at the library, so we were able to look at some pictures of their celebrations, as well as many different styles (and intricacies) of parols.

Now, can anyone tell me how to pronounce the above “Merry Christmas” so I can figure out if I was even close?