Christmas Comes to America

{Christmas Unit Study Review}

 

The Holidays are a great time to change up the pace of your homeschool and study what is going on around you and your family.  Year after year, I long to make memories with the kids and to teach them more about this season.  Right now is a great time to start thinking about doing a Christmas study and Homeschool Legacy has one!  Check out Once-a-Week Unit Study Christmas Comes to America or maybe you are looking to study Thanksgiving?  How about a Once-a-Week Micro-Studies Thanksgiving with the Pilgrims!

 

Every year we love to mix up what we are doing around the Christmas holiday.  Sometimes we take a long Christmas break and just enjoy each other and relax.  So, when I found out about this Christmas Comes to America Unit Study, I was ecstatic to get started and to incorporate it into our routine.

This unit study is divided up into four weeks.  Each week the focus is on one country and how the people of that country celebrate Christmas: The Dutch, The English, The Germans and the Americans.  It seems that you could potentially do this study in any order but we decided to start with first one: The Dutch.  I love this study for a few reasons.

Reasons we LOVE this Christmas Unit Study

Each week these things are included:

1.) The Book List

• This Christmas Unit Study includes a list of read-alouds to choose from for non-readers and for each unit they include a list of books specific to that country/area of the world.
• The book list and video choices include the library numbers, title and author so that it is easy to search for – even at the library!
• There is a lot of variety on the list in case you can’t find some – you should be able to find the others
• I personally really enjoyed several from this selection!  These are books that I hadn’t read before and were very enlightening.

2.) An Extensive List of Fun Christmas Ideas

• This is amazing!  What a huge collection of ideas to make wonderful Christmas memories with your children.  Some of the ideas are just to add to the Christmas fun and others are for showing your kids the true meaning of Christmas.

3.) It is written as a Once a Week Study (with occasional add-ons like family read alouds)

• This leaves you the opportunity to focus on other studies if you choose to.  You could also just keep your math lessons going and then stretch this out to be used for all subjects each week.
• This can be used as your main source of history and science for the month, if you choose.
• History of Christmas in that country is written out in each unit.
• We learn how to say Merry Christmas in their language and who their “gift giver” is and what he is called (for instance Kris Kringle).
• Vocabulary and Language Arts is also included!

4.) It fulfills the merit badge requirements for several organizations!

• Boy Scouts of America
• American Heritage Girls
• 4H Project Record

5.) Family Devotional

• Each week there is a family devotional which include both the prophecies surrounding Jesus’ birth and the accounts from the four gospels.

6.) An Awesome Hands-On Activity

• My kids have enjoyed this part tremendously!  There are some fun activities including making homemade cocoa and homemade Christmas Cards.  There are also directions on how to make garland out of food, how to decorate an After Christmas Tree for the Birds … and so much more!

7.) Field Trip Ideas 

• This Christmas Unit Study includes some great ideas like concerts to attend, caroling, and picking out a Christmas Tree!

8.) Books, Music, and Video Selections

• Each week includes books for independent reading or read-alouds for non readers as I stated above.
• It also includes family read alouds like A Christmas Carol and Hansel and Gretel!
• There are movies listed that can be watched at any time and some that go with that particular culture/country.

 

 

 

My kids absolutely LOVED making homemade hot cocoa!  They learned what ingredients are in it, how to mix it and we even served it to the friends who came to Family Bible study the first week of our study.  My kids loved that this is an easy gift you can give to friends and family at Christmas.

 

We love this Christmas Unit Study.  This is such a fun way to do school during the Holidays whiles also learning more about the real reason for the season.  For this reason, I recommend it!  At only $14 for the downloadable version and $18.95 for the printed version, this is also a great deal!  I think it is great that all the work is done for you.  There really is no planning– they even include a list of supplies needed for the week (mainly for the craft or cooking) and a list of books you can get at the local library.

 

The kids were mesmerized by the Christmas traditions of others countries from around the world, they enjoyed the fun crafts and cooking activities, and we all loved reading the scripture verses from the Old and New Testament surrounding the birth of Jesus.  This is a complete study that will only enrich your month as you lead up to Christmas Day!

 

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