HomeSchool Advent
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
Chronicles 7:14
No matter how old your children are, the period preceding Christmas is exciting and busy. Families are looking forward to gatherings and Grandparents; children are anticipating Santa; young couples may be planning Big Announcements; and most important of all, Christians are making ready to celebrate the Coming of the Lord.
I think all of us struggle to make this period of preparing, this Advent season, meaningful, spiritual, and calm.
And fortunately or unfortunately, the world is Teeming with Ideas for doing just that. So I’ve collected my thoughts and gathered some ideas –MANY MORE ideas, in fact, than any one HS Family needs – that I hope will be helpful. Pick and choose what works for you.
Take the Month “Off”
One of the great advantages of School All Year Round is that you don’t have to “do school” during the month of December via formal classes, tests, and schedules. Use the short days of December to enrich your family’s spiritual life: If you focus on prayer and reading, embrace service, do some directed baking or some crafting – you will find that there’s plenty of “learning” going on this season.
Lighten Up
Somewhere we’ve all heard the advice that we don’t have to attend every party or bake cupcakes for every church event. And yet, everywhere from every side we see bright and shiny over-the-top ideas for making Christmas: Bake a different cookie every day; Sew costumes for little dolls we move around the house; Celebrate Saint Nicholas, Santa Lucia, and Our Lady of Guadeloupe with food, gifts and crafts; Wrap and hide 24 presents; Fill goodie bags for every Co-Op teacher; Create clever Neighbor Gifts and deliver them in secret; fill the Christmas Tree with hand-made ornaments; and leave Santa’s bell, reindeer collar, and footprints behind on Christmas Eve.
These kinds of activities keep us from the prayer, gratitude and service we know should be our focus during Advent. Beyond that, though, they’re stressful and, because they have not been thoughtfully selected, are often doomed to fail. This is no way to build that Treasure Trove of Holiday Memories we’re hoping to create with our children.
For me, the most important planning principle of Homeschooling is Know Your Child — and the most important principle of ExtraCurricular Advent is IF you (and your child) LIKE IT. When I suggest adventures, this caveat is always stated or implied: IF you like cooking, make cookies. IF you like coloring, do an Count-down Calendar; IF you like crafts, make ornaments. IF you like sewing, make costumes. IF you like carpentry, make boxes; IF you like Art History, study Old World paintings of the Nativity. IF you love books, read a Christmas story each day…
But don’t feel that Christmas will somehow be more magical, more meaningful, or more fun if you force yourself to Make a Christmas Tree from Recycled Plastic Bottles IF you’re not excited about doing it. Don’t turn Reading Hour into a Project by gift-wrapping every book and setting up a treasure hunt beforehand. As an indifferent cook, I am not going to build my character by making cookies 24 days in a row – that enterprise is strictly a recipe (see what I did there?) for disaster.
And that’s what I mean by lighten up.
Downsize Santa
I am not a parent who tells my two-year old that Santa isn’t real. But I do think our Santa obsession needs to be curbed.
At our house, Santa has never been solely responsible for every Christmas practice. He does not decorate the tree, or hide the pickle, or bake the fruitcakes, or wrap every present in the stocking (in fact, every Gift in the house does not come from Santa). He is not an invisible Eye in the Sky, watching to make sure everyone behaves.
And we don’t turn ourselves inside out leaving Santa traps, or flour footprints, or climbing on the roof to make Reindeer Noises, or any of the dozen other embellishments clustered around the Christmas Eve Visit. I actually think that the more elaborately you construct the Santa fantasy, the more likely your child is to see through it. (Even a 5-year-old knows that Magic Santa can’t get the job done by napping, so why would you leave a sleeping bag out for him on Christmas Eve?) The more there is for her to poke holes in, the younger she will be when she stops believing. And there goes all the fun of celebrating with a child with a sense of wonder.
Like the Greeks said, Moderation in all things…
So have fun with Santa and let yourself off the hook. Leave out the cookies and have him fill the stockings (a tradition that squares, BTW with both the life of Saint Nicholas and the Clement Moore poem), and enjoy the magic of Christmas Morning surprise.
But don’t drive yourself (or the kids) crazy.
Pray
Spiritually, Advent is a period of “waiting” in joy for the “arrival” (the meaning of the Latin word Adventus) of the Savior into the world, and into our lives. It’s only fitting that prayer, thanksgiving, and service be at the center of our observances. We are blessed to have so many opportunities during this season to “pray constantly.”
Countdown Candles can help facilitate daily prayer. The large pillar is marked into 24 sections (for the month of December). Each day, light the candle and allow it to burn to the next mark. You can use that time for praying and reading together while keeping your eye on the open flame.
Advent Calendars in their most popular format these days are “treat dispensers” (which are lots of fun) and there are plenty of them around. Open one door each day for a surprise picture or small candy. You can use the Calendar for a daily prayer or scripture reading.
Advent wreaths are typically evergreen, with four colored candles that match the liturgical colors of the Church: purple and pink on the circle, and sometimes one white candle in the center. Each week a new candle is lit, and the associated prayers recited as the candle burns.
If you don’t already have your own family collection, there are many resources for Advent prayers and readings — including booklets, Church bulletins, and internet pages.
The “Christmas Prayer”
One of the most popular prayers in this season is Saint Andrew’s Novena also (perhaps more frequently) called the Christmas Novena. This short prayer is prayed 15 times a day for the month of December. It actually starts on the feast day of St. Andrew, the first follower of Christ, which I guess is why it’s named for Saint Andrew. (The prayer is not directly associated with him. And, for that matter, it’s not a novena, either, as it occupies more than nine days. But I guess that’s what happens to culture that loses its Latin. Nevermind: All Prayer is Good Prayer.
The Octave Before Christmas (Dec 17-24)
There is also an ancient tradition of praying what are called the “O Antiphons” the week (or Octave) before Christmas. An “Octave” is basically an “extension” of an important holiday largely via prayer. Antiphons are very short chants that come before a longer prayer (in this case, the Magnificat, and each begins with “O”)
The prayers associated with this Advent Octave are devoted to the names of Jesus.
Pray for Others
As a family, pray for a different person or other intention (peace, discernment) every day. That includes Family, Neighbors, Friends, Church and Civic leaders; those who have passed on.
To keep it simple, add the appropriate words to the end of your daily devotional. If you’d rather something more visual, these ideas will easily double as both a prayer reminder and a daily “Countdown” activity:
For example, the timeless paper chain: Write a name on each “link” (strip of paper) of the chain. Build the chain by adding the link during the daily prayer OR make the chain on December 1 and pull one link off each day when you pray for your people.
Similarly, put names on craft sticks or slips of paper and store in a jar or box. Pick one each day.
Another option is to combine daily prayer with making a papercraft Advent wreath craft IF your child would enjoy it. Cut simple leaf shapes OR handprints from green paper. Build the wreath by gluing the paper leaves (prayers) onto a cardboard circle when you pray each day. OR on the first Sunday of Advent, or on December 1, paste all the leaves down at once and each day add a sticker or draw a heart on one of them as you make the prayer.
The same thing can be accomplished by coloring. Depending on how much your kids like to color. Each day color one of 24 small or large pictures to represent your prayer intention.
Consider a Novena
A Novena is a prayer recited for nine days in a row (from the Latin, novem, “nine”). These shortish recitations are a good way to work prayer into the Everyday AND to bless others, near and far. They also allow us to focus our prayer on special situations, special events and special intentions (personal loss, a sick child, grieving neighbor, political leaders, Saints, and worldly concerns like ending human trafficking). Pray More Novenas offers a prayer community and quite a lot of devotions.
Thanksgiving for Family
In addition to praying for them, we can express gratitude for our families this Advent simply be being kinder, more patient, and more generous with our time: Reading to or playing a game with a younger sibling, saying Thank You for Dinner, taking time to listen to Grandpa, helping Dad shop, …
Why not have everybody say one nice thing about Dad (or Johnny, Aunt May, or Grandma Jones) at dinner or breakfast. Make a Giant Construction Paper Card — or a Keepsake Jar filled with slips of paper — recording the answer to “Dad is Great because…” or “I Love my Sister because…” During weekly Advent, read them off, one family member each week.
Diane Hopkins, one of our first Homeschool Superstars, shared an idea with her readers that she called a Secret Service Star. Family members secretly perform good deeds for one another, passing along a gold star when they do.
Again, IF you like the idea of homemade gifts, make Appreciation-themed artwork for a lucky godparent or special Uncle. Handprint Wreaths (or Trees) are good for this: Each handprint tells why “Grandma Rocks.” Win-Win; we spend time thinking and praying for our family member – and Grandma will like this gift way better than Old Lady Scented Soaps.
Budding writers in your house? Adopt Dutch tradition and have brothers and sisters write humorous poems or letters to each other on Saint Nicholas Day (Dec 6), Letter Writing Day (December 7) or Christmas Card Day (December 9). Read them aloud during dinner. BTW, this activity – an opportunity to communicate with family members – also has many “school” implications (practicing penmenship, spelling, composition, life-skills, etc). See why you can take the month of December “off”?
On Christmas Eve, the last day/night of Advent, Polish families share called oplatki , unleavened unsweetened wafers reminiscent of the communion host. At dinner, beginning with the father, each family member breaks off and gives a piece of the wafer to another family member. Doing so, s/he expresses gratitude, well-wishes, or if needed asks for (and grants) forgiveness.
Although Oplatki are for sale all over the net, there are few recipes online. To me, they look difficult to make, but IF you or your student enjoy a cooking challenge, try this recipe from Chef’s Pencil. Of course, if you just like the idea of sharing biscuits and praise for one another on Christmas Eve, you can simply sub in some simple Crackers and get to the heart of the ceremony
Service
We hear the “Give!” message a lot this season, though many of the major ones (Operation Christmas Child, for example) have November (or earlier) deadlines and are pretty much finished by the time Advent starts. Nursing Homes and Children’s Hospitals can be overwhelmed by visitors in December. So why not hold your RAK and focus on day-to-day service? Let someone go first in the grocery line. Pay the toll for the car behind you. Secretly shovel snow or rake leaves for a neighbor. Babysit for free. Tape a dollar to a vending machine.
If you send cards, send one to a nearby Veteran’s Center, Children’s Hospital, or Nursing Home. (Always liked the idea of saying a prayer for the unknown recipients as you address the card). Leave a postcard for the Mail Carrier; send brief thank you greetings to the Fire or Police Department, Sheriff’s Office and Trash Collectors.
Give up one small luxury (sodas at dinner, e.g.) and donate that money to a site that makes Homeschooling easier — like the Internet Archive or LibriVox.
And you may have your own charitable traditions hosted by your church or neighborhood, By all means embrace those as a family – IF you find that doing them makes you feel closer to God, of course.
Anyway, Happy First Sunday of Advent
