December is the perfect month to take a break from the schoolwork grind and try a unit study!
Why not celebrate Christmas the ENTIRE month of December?
Though it is harder when teens are in high school, I try to keep our December schedules light.
Often, we have done a special unit study in December. When we have done Christmas units, we continued to do math, but every other subject was part of the unit. It has been a great break for the children, while still getting school days, and learning, into our lives.
We have celebrated Christmas in Colonial America, celebrated Christmas with Anne of Green Gables, celebrated Christmas in Victorian England, and celebrated Christmas back in Roman-occupied Israel. What wonderful memories we’ve made: Christmas teas, amazing recipes, Christmas poems, silly stories, field trip adventures, lovely ornaments that still hang on our tree each year, and all kinds of Christmas decorations!
Christmas Learning
There are so many neat things to do for Christmas that are actually learning adventures. If you address Christmas cards (handwriting), write a Christmas letter (creative writing), bake cookies (home economics), make Christmas presents (art), go Christmas caroling (music), celebrate traditions from other countries (geography), or listen to family stories (history), then you are learning!
When I plan a unit study for the month of December, I incorporate Christmas activities into our unit study, often choosing a topic somewhat related to Christmas. Here are some unit studies I have done.
Prepackaged Unit Studies
Here are some prepackaged unit studies that other moms have prepared for their own families. They are packaged for you to use with your family too.
I have published 2 of the unit studies we have done in our home with more to come. You can purchase Celebrate Christmas in Colonial America Unit Study, Celebrate Christmas in Germany Unit Study, Celebrate Christmas with Anne of Green Gable Unit Study, or Celebrate Christmas with Cookies Unit Study at PowerlineProd. These have been such fun and we have made so many delightful memories!
One year, I found a unit study at the homeschool convention, Celebrate the Savior by Charlene Notgrass. In this unit study, you make a baby book for Jesus. It was adorable and only ten dollars, so I picked some up and we did the unit study the following year.
Planning Unit Study
When I do units on any subject, I center them around reading aloud both fiction and non-fiction living books. If you want to learn more about planning unit studies, check out my book, Quick and EZ Unit Study Fun! which explains step-by-step how to plan a unit study.
Let’s look at some possibilities for Christmas unit studies. We’ll look at 2 different Christmas unit possibilities in future article, but for now here are some categories to think about when preparing a unit study.
Christmas Unit Study
Here is a general unit study about, you guessed it, Christmas. Here are some things you can do for this unit study.
- Bible
- Read Aloud
- Writing
- Handwriting
- Homemaking
- Arts & Crafts
- Music
- Service
- Science
- History/Geography
- Math
- More Fun
Why not enjoy some unit studies that you have created yourself or with your children? I will give you 2 unit studies coming up in future articles: a Christmas Lights Unit Study and a Celebrate Christmas Unit study.
Whatever you do, relax and enjoy learning this year with your children. Keep it fun and festive while learning at the same time.
Enjoying Christmas & Homeschooling with you!
Merey
(Meredith Ludwig Curtis)
