December really shook up our homeschooling routines quite a bit. For starters, the snow started coming down and we had to cut out our time playing outside. We still take a daily walk but the kids don't stop on the lawn for snacks and games anymore. This, in turn, cuts down our homeschooling time to just one hour a day. I used to be frustrated with the way wintertime wreaks merry havoc with my carefully structured days but this year I am enjoying the change. Our whole routine is different this winter and I finally know to accept the season for what it is. Spring will come again soon enough. In the meantime, I have been much more liberal with media access. I have also used some of our down time to teach the kids more household skills: cooking, cleaning, and knot-tying.
But it was more than just the cold weather that made homeschool unpredictable. For the first two weeks of December, every child in the neighborhood got really sick. It didn't hit all at the same time but was passed from kid to kid in an unavoidable exchange. But once a kid got it, they were out of commission for a week. I kept holding "class" for whoever could come but kept it to just Circle Time while Soren and Carl were sick.
Then, after two weeks of having barely any kids there, all the public school kids in the neighborhood got out on Christmas break. I really wanted to kept going through the holidays so I just invited the other kids to join us. Some days we had eight kids! Although I prefer the smaller group, it is sometimes exciting to organize a bigger one. I got to practice some classroom management techniques and to proactively teach my boys who to be a part of a big group. They learned some valuable waiting, listening, and cooperating skills. I try to seize opportunities to expand our little class because I believe those social experiences are important for my boys.
In Kindergarten
But it was more than just the cold weather that made homeschool unpredictable. For the first two weeks of December, every child in the neighborhood got really sick. It didn't hit all at the same time but was passed from kid to kid in an unavoidable exchange. But once a kid got it, they were out of commission for a week. I kept holding "class" for whoever could come but kept it to just Circle Time while Soren and Carl were sick.
Then, after two weeks of having barely any kids there, all the public school kids in the neighborhood got out on Christmas break. I really wanted to kept going through the holidays so I just invited the other kids to join us. Some days we had eight kids! Although I prefer the smaller group, it is sometimes exciting to organize a bigger one. I got to practice some classroom management techniques and to proactively teach my boys who to be a part of a big group. They learned some valuable waiting, listening, and cooperating skills. I try to seize opportunities to expand our little class because I believe those social experiences are important for my boys.
In Kindergarten
St. Nicholas and the City in the West - Our first unit in December centered around this story of St. Nicholas. I wanted to give the boys a thoroughly religious take on Santa Claus that they could use to enjoy all the Santa-related-hype of the season, if they wanted to. I love the way the story talks about how St. Nicholas is now in heaven but imagines a world where he comes to visit the children in spirit and prepares them for Christmastime. I emphasized the ending of the story, which teaches that "where St. Nicholas cannot go himself, he asks a good and pious person to go to the child and take them" presents, explaining that "Santa Claus" is a name people use when they want to give presents anonymously. I had intended to celebrate St. Nicholas Day (December 6th) with Soren and Carl by making honey cakes to take in the name of "Santa Claus" to our neighbors but by that time I was too sick to do much more than tell stories. So we kept it simple. Because the story has a strong nautical theme, I chose nursery rhymes and songs about boats to accompany the story: "I Saw Three Ships", "Row, Row, Row Your Boat", "Michael Row Your Boat Ashore", and "I Saw a Ship A-Sailing". On the last day of the unit, when we were all feeling well, we pretended to build a boat in the living room, loaded it with goodies, and sailed off with St. Nicholas to deliver them to poor children the world over. That was fun.
The Legend of the Birds - For Christmas, I wanted to tell the nativity story but was a little worried the kids would get bored with it very quickly. So I chose this lovely telling that is through the eyes of the birds present on Christmas Eve. We especially enjoyed the French elements. I accompanied this story with nursery rhymes about birds ("Sing a Song of Sixpence", "I Saw a Little Bird", and "Goosey, Goosey, Gander") and we sang *lots* of Christmas songs. We had a lot of nuts and raisins for snacks, which I told the kids was "bird food". We also took one day off this unit: Christmas day.
The Three Wise Men - After Christmas, we started a unit on the three wise men. I have some fun plans for this unit including:
* a Three Kings Day celebration on January 6th,
* nursery rhymes featuring the number 3,
* all 5 verses of "We Three Kings",
* and a little home-brewed play
More on this in next month's homeschool summary!
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