Weekly Wrap Up December Week Two

Well, we got a little less school done this week then last, but we at least did SOMETHING ;).  Still focusing on Christmas using books, music, and movies.

Non Christmasy:

We have been working still on AAS.  Charger finished level one step 14 and went on to 15.  We usually do about 10 words per day.  Spelling them with the moveable alphabet on day one and writing them out on day two.  Mustang is on level two step 2.  For her we do ten words spelled out with the alphabet and then written out on the same day.

All the kids have been working through the workbooks I have found for them to do this month.  Charger doesn't really like them, Mustang tolerates them, and Mini Cooper loves them.  So, we will continue with workbooks with Mini Cooper in January, but go back to our old style with Charger and Mustang.

Christmas books we read:

The Wild Christmas Reindeer by Jan Brett-This is a silly book, and the reindeer have different names then our traditional ones.  But, the favorite part was certainly looking at all of Jan Brett's illustrations.  In the margins, she draws pictures of what all the elves are doing each day of the month of December in preparation for Santa's big night.  Making clocks, baking cookies, and counting oranges.  We loved looking to see what they were going to do each day!

The Little Drummer Mouse by Mercer Meyer.  This book somehow missed my list of books, I think.  This is certainly a favorite!!  The pictures are incredible, and the story is so much fun to read!  Lots of chances for voices of the mouse and the kings!  I loved it.  Certainly a must read!

Little House in the Big Woods, adapted from Little House on the Prairie.  We talked about the differences in our Christmas and Laura's.  How we received many more gifts (not sure if that is a good thing).  How we traveled by car.  How our stove looked very different.  I also pointed out that the house we live in once had a stove like the one in the pictures and we talked about how life would have been different living in the small original house of the 1870's.  This prompted Mustang to take out our Little House paper dolls and recreate the story.

Christmas Songs:

Well, um, I dropped the ball on this one this week.  BUT, they have been happily singing the 12 Days of Christmas!

Christmas Movies:

How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Jim Carrey version), Santa Claus is Coming to Town (realized that it was a strange and creepy movie), Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, Frosty Returns, and Family Man (Daddy's favorite).

Christmas Printables:

I believe all of our printables this week came from the 3 Dinosaurs printable pack and the Reindeer Pack from Royal Baloo. 

We also finally had our first snow of the season!!  Great big HUGE flakes and now about 5 inches of snow.  Loved it!!

This week we may or may not be doing school.  We WILL be wrapping presents, packing, and getting ready for Christmas at grandma and grandpas!!  Can't wait!!

Hope your December is going well!

Merry Christmas,

Lisa

Our Christmas Picture Book List

Over the years I have read other blogs about reading a different Christmas picture book each night of December.  Well, we are doing things a wee bit different and reading them during school, since December is always our 'break' month.  I have collected quite the stash of Christmas books, and have managed to get 23 Christmas titles!  Many of them are family favorites.

I thought I'd share our list with you. Since I am always looking for books to add to our pile, I thought you might want to see ours, too.

1. Santa's Favorite Story: Santa Tells the Story of the First Christmas  -this is a GEM!!!  If you want to draw attention away from Santa, but still have him in your Christmas celebration, I highly recommend this book.

2.Who is Coming to Our House?   A sweet book for little ones.  

3.  The King's Christmas List-We reviewed this book three years ago, and it still makes its yearly appearance.  A wonderful book to teach about giving.  

4.  Tree of Cranes- This was new to the stack last year and we loved it!  Perfect for learning about Christmas traditions in other countries!

5. The Crippled Lamb - Can you have a Christmas list without this one on it?  I don't think so ;).

6. The Mitten - This is an older version of this story, but very sweet!

7. The Night Before Christmas, from Jan Brett

8. Madeline's Christmas  

9. Bless You, Santa!   This one is flat out cheesy, but a ton of fun to read out lout.  Always gives my kids the giggles!

10.The Very First Christmas - Wonderful telling of Luke 2 (direct text), that has lots of questions throughout from a little boy who is listening to his mother read from the Bible.  It breaks up the sometimes boring text (to a little one), and keeps their attention.

11.If You Take a Mouse to the Movies-another silly fun one!

12. The Wild Christmas Reindeer -I've actually never read this one before.  I'm looking forward to it!

13. Christmas in the Big Woods (Little House) -The perfect book for discussing Christmas traditions and how they have changed or stayed the same.  

14. The Night Before Christmas This one is from Mary Engelbreit.  We love this story and it's fun to see a different illustrator of the same story.

15. Clifford's First Christmas   This was a gift for Mustang's first Christmas.  So, we read it every year.

16. Arthur's Christmas: An Arthur Adventure (Arthur Adventure Series)  Nothing super special about this one, lol!  But, my children love Arthur :).

17. Merry Christmas, Space Case (Picture Puffin)  Another silly one.  We have never read the Space Case books, but my children think this is a very funny story!

18.Nine Days to Christmas: A Story of Mexico (Picture Puffins)  My ABSOLUTE FAVORITE Christmas book that we read.  It's wonderful.  You can read our lesson plan from last year.

19.On Christmas Eve  by Margaret Wise Brown.  A beautiful classic!

20.Jingle the Christmas Clown  by Tomie dePaola.  This is a very different story, but I like how it addresses the fact that not every one's Christmas is a good one.  And, that we can look for ways to help others have a good Christmas even if they don't have a lot of money or Christmas cheer.

21. Annika's Secret Wish  This book is amazing.  A genuine must read!!  

22. The Berenstain Bears' Christmas Tree (Berenstain Bears/Living Lights)   I think this is pretty much the best Berenstain Bears Book ever.  I hope you get a chance to read it!

23. The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree: An Appalachian Story  I saved the best for last.  This is my very favorite Christmas book (well I guess I can't decide between this one and 9 Days Till Christmas).  Be sure to have a tissue handy, even if you aren't pregnant!

So, that's our line up for this year!  I'm looking forward to reading all of these great books and doing some activities with them.  

Are you doing the countdown to Christmas in books?  What's on your list??

Merry Christmas,

Lisa

*If you haven't already, be sure to check out my current giveaway for a natural baby kit from Four Cow Farm*

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Christmas Learning Through Literature: Our Favorites

Well, I had big plans to do a lesson plan a week on great Christmas books.  But, well, here it is one week before Christmas and I only wrote out one.  If I wait to write a blog post for each of our books, it will be Valentines, lol! I still wanted to share with you our favorite children's Christmas books this year!

Our overall theme was Christmas around the world.  You can read about our lesson for Christmas in Mexico with 9 Days Before Christmas.

Tree of Cranes, by Allen Say, takes place in Japan.  Using our Continent Map, we discussed where Japan is at.  Before I read the book to my children, I looked up Japanese Christmas customs online.  Turns out, only 1% of Japanese people celebrate Christmas.  This is because only about 1% of the population are Christians!

In addition to the discussion of the differences in Japanese life and ours-floor mat beds, sliding doors, paper crane wishes-we also talked about what it would be like to live in a country where people did not believe in Jesus and did not celebrate Christmas.

After we read Tree of Cranes, we tried to make our own origami animals.  Lets just say that THIS American isn't very good at making them!

Annika's Secret Wish, by Beverly Lewis, is an absolute gem of a book!  It takes place in Sweden sometime before the advent of electricity, likely in the late 1800's.  This was a special treat since my Great-Great-Grandmother immigrated from Sweden in the late 1800's.

The story line blends information about Swedish Christmas traditions with the true meaning of Christmas.  Annika gives away her wish so that her brother can have his wish.

"It is more blessed to give then to receive," Acts 20:35 is the heart of Annika's Secret Wish.  And, I loved the line that author Beverly Lewis adds "the almond could bring smiles and laughter, but only God could make a miracle."

Jingle Bells, by Iza Trapani, was a complete surprise to me!  We already had this title on our shelves and I thought it was just the text of the song Jingle Bells!  Well, thumbing through the book I was pleasantly surprise to find out that it is actually a quick sleigh ride around the world through different cultures and Christmas celebrations!

If you are looking for a quick way to discuss Christmas around the world with little ones, I recommend this title!
I used it with our Co-Op 3's play group and they enjoyed it very much.

After reading the book, we still got out our jingle bells and sang the song.


Some other stories we liked that weren't about cultures:

If you wanted to do a sort of Jesse Tree without working too much at it, the Jesus Storybook Bible has the perfect solution!  Each of the Old Testament stories end with a reference to the coming Messiah.

The story of Jesus' birth and the visit of the angel, shepherds, wise men, and everything about the story of Jesus' birth is perfectly written for little eyes and ears.  We have completely enjoyed reading the prophesy of Isaiah, the parallel of Jonah, and the birth of Jesus with this Bible.  If you don't have one-get one.  It's a must :).

The Berenstain Bears Christmas Tree is just simply adorable.  It is funny, festive, and has a great message of sharing and putting others first.

There are actually many extra discussions of animal habitats that can be discussed in this story, as well as the truth of listening to your mom :).

Certainly one of our favorites!

And while we are on the subject of Christmas trees, I wanted to bring you one last book.  The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree by Gloria Houston.  It may or may not be one of my children's favorites.  But, it's certainly one of mine.

Make sure you have a tissue handy the first time you read the story, because you are likely to need it.

After we read this story, we discussed that some children would not have their daddy's home this year because they are fighting in a war.  We talked about how lucky we are to have our family all here and how we should be thankful.

Do you have a favorite Christmas book?  I am already on the look out for more to add next year.  I'd love to hear your suggestions!!

Merry Christmas!

Just a note:  Do to the laws in my state, I am not an Amazon affiliate.  I provide links simply to help you find the product you are looking for.