by Betsy Pierce
Dec. 8, 2025
Welcome! Welcome! Welcome! Come and visit my family’s Christmas celebrations! In our home we love lights, treats and games, and I am delighted to share some of our many favorite elements to the holiday. This is some of how we homeschool in December and display Christ to our children. I’m a great believer in stealing and adapting ideas from other families for my own, so I encourage you also to embrace your inner brigand and steal some of these for your own family! By necessity, the December regular study schedule is much reduced … fewer math lessons, leaving off science experiments, less spelling … I’m ninety-nine percent sure I would have a mental breakdown if not! I have children ranging from preschool to young adults in my home, and our traditions range for all ages and have developed and changed over the years. But I don’t see these activities as time off from school, rather this is a time of applying our lessons in a tangible and exciting way. You know that question? The bane of mothers everywhere? “When will we ever use this?” Well, we certainly use it during Christmas! Music: Filling Our Home with Song Music lessons are important for our school’s course of study, but all of that individual practice is lonesome at times. Music is inherently social, and joy flows between performer and audience when it is shared with others. Christmas gives us motivation! In December we usually have two or three church and community concerts that, between organizing clothes, late nights, and prepping snacks, completely take over the entire household for several days. The younger children are part of a church play, and the older kids and parents are part of more advanced orchestras and choirs. However, I know that the younger children are learning as they are dragged along to rehearsals when I overhear a dolly “singing” Handel’s Messiah in the six year old’s voice! It’s not only about formal settings though. We share joy in our music by taking some hours at home to play and sing our favorite hymns and carols together with just family and friends. It’s easy to search songs in playable and singable keys, and we print enough copies and keep them in a binder. Advent Calendars: Scripture and Delight Family worship in December typically takes longer in the morning for us. We try to have our ordinary reading and prayer, but we have two advent calendars to work through as well. One is fun and playful, with a daily activity or treat, and we often recite a large portion of Luke 2 before examining the card inside. The other calendar is focused on twenty four names of Jesus. It’s easy to find a set of names and corresponding Bible verses online via a google search, and many are pre-arranged pdf’s to cut out for simplicity. My set came in circles, and I cut them out and glued them to some leftover red and green foam. Actually, I think it was school for one day with the preschoolers to make our set the first year, and we talked about making patterns of colors and not using too much glue. They hang with clothespins on a string that’s pinned in the shape of a tree to save wall space. You can use your family’s preferred Bible translation and if you make it fun or a game reviewing and reading through the set each day, it’s absolutely astounding how quickly the kids memorize the name and verse associations. Decking the Halls: A Family Decorating Day Sometime early in December, if not right after Thanksgiving, we make an effort to all work together and do the Christmas decorating. It’s developed into a crazy time with loud music, singing, and a goal to try to finish in an allotted time. I’ve made an effort to dig through clearance bins of decorations in January over the years, and so we have an eclectic collection of items to choose from. Within the public rooms of the house, the teens have autonomy to decorate their assigned area as they please. I try my hardest not to veto anything but the most outrageous ideas. Typically the boys climb in the trees to hang lights outside, and the girls take areas like the fireplace mantel or entryway inside. This is not a hard rule however, as we’ve been known to have some girls scurrying up tree trunks! I see value in taking time for this as they are practicing creating beauty for their homes. I myself have very little natural talent in home decorating, and developing skills by trial and error over the years has been a challenge. I see these hours as homemaking training, especially for the girls, and so allow them to take time out of busy high school to practice. When it comes to decorating our tree, my husband and I have a humbling and precious tradition of choosing a Christmas tree ornament to represent that year for us as a couple. It takes extra time, but it is worth it. Only we as parents are allowed to place these ornaments, and as we do, we recount what was going on and thus tell our family history-the story of how God has worked in our lives. We have one to joyfully mark the birth of each child, but also one for the year of marriage struggle and recommitment. We have an ornament of a year of financial struggle, one valuable one of a year of plenty, and one for the year we realized we needed to take more time to play and have fun. It’s a family history and testimony. I keep a little notebook in the storage bin to remind us of the order and meaning of each ornament. I can’t wait to share more of our traditions with you next week! _______________________________________ Betsy is a second-generation homeschooling mom of eight, ages 4 to 19, and considers herself blessed beyond measure. She loves twinkle lights, a crackling fire, eggnog in her coffee, and every year refuses to spend a lot of time picking a Christmas tree when it always looks great when full of ornaments anyway. She often joins her husband, Nathan, at events for Family Protection Ministries, where her heart is to encourage other moms and dads as we all walk the path of discipleship through homeschooling.
