FREE Christmas Devotional Booklet

I am so excited to share my latest project with my readers and homeschooling friends!

I have put together a FREE e-book of one of my favorite traditions that will be available DECEMBER 1st!!!: 

• It's a Homeschool Christmas Devotional book for short and sweet, daily homeschool lessons during the holidays, 
• OR a Devotional Booklet for any family that would like to implement family Christmas devotionals as part of their yuletide celebrations.

What are Homeschool Christmas devotionals?

Each year at Christmastime, I used to feel over-whelmed at the thought of continuing a full home-schooling schedule. 

But then, I found that if I combined an old family tradition of nightly Christmas devotionals with our daily "Table Time," I could still be consistent with covering some learning basics.

This idea also enables me to simplify our daily lessons, help my children build their testimonies of Jesus Christ, and allows us to enjoy the festivities and lovely feelings of this very special time of year.

The booklet will have SEVENTEEN devotionals that you can use between December 1st and December 23rd. That is enough devotionals for 5 days a week from the beginning of the month until Christmas Eve.

This new resource will come directly to the email boxes of those who subscribe to this blog. 

To do that, fill in the "Subscribe" box on the right sidebar.

How do the devotionals work?

There are several options for each day's devotional-- and the beauty is that each family can choose what to include in their own devotional, and what they don't need. But the options are there for them!

For our family, I like to include:

• A scripture for copy-work (handwriting practice)
• A Christmas carol to sing together
• A beautiful piece of artwork to study and discuss or replicate
• A short story or poem to read aloud

Another great thing to add is a chapter book that the family is reading aloud together throughout the season. (See the booklist of suggested Christmas read-aloud books at the back of this booklet for some ideas.

I hope you will enjoy these devotionals as much as our family does. Don't forget to subscribe to this blog in the right sidebar to get yours on December 1st!

Lots of love,

Mama Rachel

December 2015 Term: Week One

"The Adoration of the Shepherds" by Rembrandt van Rijn

Our family is loving our time together each day, learning using Charlotte Mason principles. I do have to spend time planning each term, so that I can use a customized plan just for our family.

Planning ahead for each term helps me sooo much on a day to day basis. It makes our learning time flow smoothly, yet gives me lots of wiggle room to still be spontaneous within those plans.

Our first term of the school year just ended as we took a break for Thanksgiving, and now we are really having FUN with our special "December term" of homeschool. For years, I have hoped that we would spend all of December learning more about Christmas, the Savior, doing service, baking, and doing Christmas crafts.

But most Decembers have just flown by, with us running hither and yon, and we have done next to nothing for our homeschool learning in December. But not this year!!! I am excited on this December first to share our first ever December Homeschool Plan! I thought I would post our schedule each week, just in case  anyone wants to take advantage of all my planning. Here we go! (NO affiliate links are included in the list below.)

WEEK ONE

• Scripture Memorization- Isaiah 9:6 "For unto us a child is born..."
• Read Aloud Book- "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens
• Singing- "O Come, O Come Immanuel" (vocals) {Gorgeous instrumental only version here.}
• Daily Focus-
• Monday: Poetry
• "The Holy Night" by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
• Tuesday: Music Study
• Learn about the origins of the old Christmas carol "O Come, O Come Immanuel"
• Wednesday: Art Study
• "The Adoration of the Shepherds" by Rembrandt
• Thursday: Shakespeare
• "A Winter's Tale" retelling from "Shakespeare's Stories for Children" by Edith Nesbit 
• Family Evening Activities- 
• Tuesday, December 1st: Make cookies and take them to the missionaries serving in our ward.
• Wednesday, December 2nd: Watch a Christmas movie and eat popcorn.
• Thursday, December 3rd: Put together a puzzle as a family, while listening to Christmas music
• Friday, December 4th: Have a Birthday celebration with cake and ice cream and presents for our sweet Avalon Noelle, who is turning 7 years old!

Merry Christmastide to all!

With joy,

Rachel