Home-Spun Holiday Traditions

This post is part of the Home-Spun Holidays blog carnival, which is being held at Mentoring Moments for Christian Women.  The theme of the carnival is to share the simple, inexpensive things you do at home to make the Christmas season memorable.  On my Counter-cultural Mom blog, I've shared some of the ways we celebrate Christ's birth during this season. This post is about some of the things we do just for fun.

There are lots of things we do for fun during the holiday season right here at home.  I do a lot of my shopping online, and once the holiday packages start arriving, the kids enjoy making box robots.  They have lots of fun constructing the robots and then playing with each other in their new costumes.

Every year my husband sets up a little Christmas village and a train around the base of the tree. We all love to turn the lights out and light up the tree and the village, and watch the train chug around the track. It's so relaxing and fun. The boys can often be found sitting by the tree watching the train. This is one of our favorite traditions.

Our boys love to drag their bedding out by the Christmas tree and have a "sleepover" together.  They put Christmas music on and fall asleep to the sounds of the season and the twinkling of the tree lights.  I sneak in once they are asleep and turn off the music and the lights.  I snapped this picture last weekend.

It seems almost too silly to mention, but one of the kid's favorite things is to hide army men in the Christmas tree!  They love to pretend these army men are spying on me during the Christmas season, and they take it on as a challenge to hide them so well that I can't find them.  When I pull the tree out every year I find army men that have spent the winter in the tree, never having been found.  The boys love that, because it means they did their job right.

Making Gingerbread houses is another beloved tradition. I'll be writing more about that later this month.

My younger boys still enjoy setting up the Nativity set. We have 4 different sets and two stables, and I put them all out at once. When I am reading aloud to them, they like to play with the little figures and set up the scene.

What do you do to celebrate the Christmas season?  If you blog about it, please link your post to the Mentoring Moments blog carnival.  It will run from December 6-12th.

Art: Studying the Masters

Pieter Bruegel's painting The Land of Cockaigne depicts a legendary place, where food and drink could be found in abundance.

As we read about an artist, I like to have the children work on a project which helps them gain some insight into his work. Often they do a work of art using the style or technique of the artist we are studying, such as a watercolor painting or a plaster of paris fresco.  Sometimes, though, I like them to do a work of art based on the subject of a chosen painting.  We did this recently with Pieter Bruegel's painting The Land of Cockaigne.

First we read the beautiful book The Fantastic Journey of Pieter Bruegel.



This book is written like a diary account, imagining what may have happened on Bruegel's real-life two year journey through France and Italy during the 16th century.


We gathered a little more information about this particular painting in the book What Makes a Bruegel a Bruegel? before the boys began their own drawing of "The Land of Cockaigne".

They enjoyed imagining what foods they would place in their own legendary worlds, where cotton candy clouds rained M & Ms and slices of pizza grew up out of the ground. When they were done drawing, they labeled their work "The Land of Cockaigne".  This fun activity is a simple way to help children remember an artist and one of their famous works of art.

Twelve Days of Christmas 2009

December brings big changes to our schedule. And it is finally here! I'm so excited.

We'll be working hard to finish up any outstanding work from this semester so that we can phase in our favorite Christmas-related projects. This year, instead of making our traditional Gingerbread Houses we plan to do Gingerbread Castles (we are studying the Middle Ages, after all!) Copywork will take on a Christmas theme. I'm looking forward to baking, decorating and reading by the fire.  Advent starts in full swing tonight, too.

Plans for this Christmas season have been in the works around here since October! That's when work began on the annual Mentoring Moments 12 Days of Christmas articles. I put this year's content together, so I got a sneak peak at everything our writers submitted.  It is going to be a wonderful series, so I encourage you to head over there and subscribe so you don't miss a thing!  Christmas party ideas, thoughtful devotions, crafts for kids, recipes, decorating tips and much more round out this series.  We'll be posting several new articles daily for the first 12 days, and one more article daily for the rest of the month.

Today's content includes my article about holding a Gingerbread House party for kids, a yummy punch recipe,  a wonderful idea for creating a Goody Basket for each day's Christmas-related activities courtesy of Brenda (from The Tie that Binds and Joyful Holidays) and my devotional thoughts about finding spiritual refreshment during this hectic season.

I hope you'll check it out!  I also wanted to give a heads up to you fellow bloggers!  Mentoring Moments will be hosting a blog carnival which begins December 6th, titled Homespun Holiday Traditions.  To participate, please write a post on your blog this week about something simple and inexpensive you do at home to make the season special.  Head on over to Mentoring Moments on the 6th and add your post URL to the MckLinky at the bottom of the post.

Spelling with Clay

Kinesthetic spelling activities are helpful for my dyslexic son.  In this exercise, he formed each letter in the spelling word out of clay.  He likes using a different color for each letter.  He also formed a representation of the word's meaning out of clay.  This is an important step for dyslexics, who think in pictures.

When he was done spelling this word and making a little fire to go with it, he took a picture of it in his mind.  He likes to actually put his hand up near his face and make a clicking sound, as if he had a real camera.  Later, when he needs to spell the word, he can recall the picture he took in his mind.

This method has been helpful for him, particularly with those little amorphous words that are difficult to attach a meaning to.  Dyslexics often struggle with words like "the", "a", "of", "and", and a host of others.  The very act of spelling out those little words in clay, and building something to represent them, has been of great value.


For example, to represent the word "and" he might build two people.  It doesn't really matter what he chooses to create to go along with the word, as long as it represents the word to him in a picture form.  This technique has been effective in helping him with both reading and spelling those troublesome little words.

My preschooler and emerging reader love this activity, too, by the way!  My 7 year old absolutely loves making alphabets and words out of clay. He enjoys this spelling exercise just as much as his brother does. He is not dyslexic, but it is a fun hands-on activity for him. And my preschooler??  Well, he just loves mashing it around.

I came across this idea in the wonderful book The Gift of Dyslexia by Ronald Davis.  If you have a dyslexic in your family (or suspect you might), I highly recommend this book.

Joyful Holidays

I'm inspired! I just saw my friend Brenda's new makeover on her Joyful Holidays blog and it has put me in such a festive spirit! Head on over and check it out. She's already got some great Thanksgiving things posted...I'm dying to try out the Thanksgiving fortune cookies, they look so cute! She'll continue posting all kinds of inspiration throughout the entire holiday season.

She's also planning a give-away from her favorite etsy sellers to celebrate her new blog makeover. Check it out this week for fun, and then stop by again December 1st to find out how to enter.

Secrets to Contentment

Thanksgiving is right around the corner. Do you struggle with gratitude? Sometimes life is hard.

And sometimes we just see the glass half empty, even when things are actually going pretty well. I know I can certainly be that way.

I'm a perfectionist. A frustrated perfectionist, that is. In this podcast I share about my journey to contentment. Topics include marriage, children, homemaking, body image and finances.

Medieval Castle Siege Game

Finished castle with "King Toucan"

I got this idea from someone else's blog, but unfortunately I can't remember where I saw it!  We had lots of fun with this one.

First, we printed out castle templates so that the kids could assemble their own castle.  I printed out the black and white ones, and the kids colored them creatively.  This was a simple activity, that required a few printouts, some colored pencils, cardboard (we used old cereal boxes), toilet paper tubes and glue.  The castles did not take long to assemble...maybe an hour to make 3 castles (from start to finish, with most of the time spent coloring.)

Next, the kids placed their castles on a large sheet of butcher paper.  I wish I had had poster board on hand, but I didn't....so the paper had to do.

I read a book about castles to them, pausing at the end of each page so that they could decide if they wanted to "add" anything from the reading to their own castle.  I had to do the writing for the youngest ones.  They made little drawings on the paper to indicate buildings, weapons, and supplies, and then whispered to me what each drawing meant.

I helped them to label their drawings, and then read the next page.  We went back and forth like this, pausing after each page, so they could decide what their castle would need to withstand a siege.

After we were done, I used a printout from this Castle Siege game which prompted them to tell what people would be present in their castle.  Those names were written down (king, blacksmith, peasants, etc.).  They had one last opportunity to mention any supplies, animals, food items, people, buildings, etc. that they needed before the game began.  Once the game started, no one could add anything to their castle.

The Castle Siege game has a bunch of cards that you print and cut out.  Each player draws a card and adds or subtracts points from their total score, based on how well they outfitted their castle.  For example, they add two points if they remembered to include a dungeon, and subtract two points if they forgot.  Once they've gone through all the cards, the game ends and the player with the highest point total wins.

I wanted a chance to play, too, but it didn't seem very fair, because I knew exactly what everyone else had put in their castle, and what the cards called for.  We agreed that I would use our Fairy Tale Castle puzzle, receiving or losing points for whatever the puzzle creators remembered to put into the puzzle.  Let's just say that the Fairy Tale Castle wasn't designed very well for a siege, but it was fun anyway.

This puzzle, by the way, is a remnant from the days when I believed that all boys should have gender-inclusive toys.  No one plays with it in this house now-a-days.  For more on that, please read my post about Boys and Weapons!

This game was fun, and didn't take very long to play.  The longest part of this entire exercise was reading about the castle and getting the boys to label it.  But they absolutely loved doing that part, and they remembered so much more than if we had only read it.  Thinking about what they would need, labeling and listing everything, and then finding out through the game what was missing was very instructive to them, and they won't soon forget this material.

I'm so happy we took the time to do this!  It was well worth it.

Could my child be dyslexic?

 I always knew one of my children was a little different.  At age two, he could quickly complete complicated puzzles that his six year old brother struggled to put together.  His mind just saw the way it had to be!  He was incredibly smart and continually amazed us with his mechanical mind and ingenuity.

When I began teaching him to read, though, he struggled.  He changed b's into d's and 9's into 6's.  More telling, though, was the fact that he couldn't remember little words.  If he was reading "Tim and Tom and Mary and Jan" he would have to sound out the word "and" every single time.  He could not remember it from one second to the next.  I had him informally tested, and he "passed".  We were told he was not dyslexic.  That put my mind at ease for a short while, but not for long.  Signs which could not be explained any other way continued to crop up.

He skipped words or even lines while reading, as if they weren't there.  He read words backwards.  He added letters that weren't there, or deleted ones that were.  He ignored punctuation marks.  Reading and spelling became a horrible chore.  We had him tested again by a trained psychiatrist and found out that he was, indeed, dyslexic.

At first I was stunned.  I had feared this was true.  I had known it somehow, deep down.  Yet the truth still felt like a punch in the gut.  How would this affect him?  What would this mean for his long-term future?  Could we handle this?

Although it did not feel like it at the time, receiving that diagnosis was a blessing.  We could finally begin to understand what we were dealing with and address it in ways that are making a difference.  My patience increased exponentially overnight, as I realized that he really was doing his very best, and as I began to see school through my son's eyes.

I am grateful that I found some excellent programs for him, even before I knew for sure that he was dyslexic.  The psychiatrist was shocked that our son was less than a full grade level behind in his reading and spelling, and he attributed that to the strength of the programs we were using.

Dyslexia is not diagnosed only by a child being behind...it has to do with the discrepancy between the level he is working at when reading and writing versus the level he is able to work at when those components are removed and he is listening and speaking.  There were 8 grade levels of discrepancy between those two points for our son....so although he wasn't very far behind his grade level, he was miles away from living up to his potential academically.

It has been a year since he was diagnosed.  We've kept the good, and improved on the rest and this school year has been our best year by far.  Our son is thriving, and is actually up to grade level now in his reading.  His spelling is coming right along, and he is achieving spelling success every week rather than constant failure.  We are using things like My Audio School to address his core content needs, and Writing with Ease to help him learn how to communicate on paper.

I thought there might be a post in here somewhere, but I can tell already that there is a series here.    I'll look forward to sharing more soon about what we've been doing with him to achieve encouraging results academically as well as a much happier school day for both mom and son.

In the meantime, if any of this rings a bell for you, check out this post on Symptoms of Dyslexia  
on the All About Spelling website.  Perhaps that nagging feeling in the pit of your stomach is a wake-up call.  I didn't want to face the truth, but it has truly set us free.  Now we are working with our son's strengths and helping him learn how to accommodate for his weaknesses.

Another way to narrate...

The Bath house of Mohenjo Daro

Charlotte Mason teaches that a child should tell what he has learned after reading a book. This narration is meant to be done in his own words, rather than in the Classical style's question and answer format. We use both methods in our homeschool.

Sometimes it is hard to get my little boys to narrate to me. The idea is that they would tell about the things that they felt were interesting or important, but sometimes they get self-conscious and don't know where to start or what they should say.

 Enter the Hands-On Narration Activity.

This is a re-creation of the ancient Indus Valley city Mohenjo Daro, within its city walls.  I couldn't tell you at this moment what each lego represented, but he certainly could! And that's the point...

If I ask my boys to "set up a scene" depicting what they learned, they are overjoyed and race off to comply. When they tell me about their scenes, I find out quickly how very well they have been listening. No detail is too minute to share, as they have been careful to incorporate everything they remember into their scene.

Here, they used blocks and plastic dogs and cats to set up a scene from our reading about the Mayans.

They love these opportunities, and I love seeing their creativity and hearing them tell me in detail about what they have learned.

Everyone wants in on the action!

The Multiple Personality Mom

As women, we often experience a wide range of emotions on any given day. To our husbands and children--and even to ourselves--these mood changes can seem like multiple personalities. You may meet some of your "other selves" in this encouraging, allegorical podcast.




This podcast (written last year for The Ultimate Homeschool Expo) is 19 minutes long. To listen, press play in the widget box, or click "visit my call" to download to Mp3.

Homeschool Apple Awards

I feel so blessed to be nominated again this year for the Homeschool Blog Awards.  Thank you!  In honor of the awards we decided to hold our own little awards ceremony today:  The Homeschool Apple Awards.

Four distinctive apples were chosen:  Granny Smith, Golden Delicious, Gala and Honey Crisp.  Slices of each were sampled and a vote was taken.  Which apple would win?

Granny Smith and Golden Delicious tied.  Gala and Honey Crisp were eliminated, having garnered only one vote each.  A re-vote was taken.

Golden Delicious won, hands down!  Only Grandma voted for Granny Smith.

"My favorite apple won!!!  Mwaaa haaa haaa haaa haaaa.........."

Yes, this is just a bit of silliness.  But you should try it!  Our lunch conversation was lively and now I know what kind of apples to buy next time at the store!

File Folder Spelling

My nine year old dyslexic son has been making great strides in his spelling.  I like to use hands-on, kinesthetic methods as he works to learn his spelling words.  One of his favorite activities is File Folder Spelling.

He is given a stack of different colored alphabets, a file folder, his spelling list and some thumbnail pictures printed from a clipart program or *Google Images (one per spelling word).

First, he cuts out the letters he needs to spell the first word on the list.  Next, he glues them down.  He then finds the appropriate picture that goes with the spelling word, and he glues the picture down beside the spelled word.  This helps him to visualize both the spelling of the word and its meaning, which is very helpful for him.  Last, he writes the word out in his own hand.

You'll notice that the last word on this list is "the".  Words like these are the most difficult for dyslexics, who think in pictures.  This word no longer gives him trouble in reading or spelling, and I truly think it is because of exercises like this one, which help him to visualize a definition for this little word.  For this file folder, he had a picture of a group of stick people, and he circled one of them to represent "the".

*I always search for images myself.  It is incredible what a benign search of google images can pull up, so you would NEVER want to allow a child to search for images himself, even when your computer is set to "safe search".

Preparing Hearts for Christmas

Do you have a desire to start family devotions? Are you looking for some ways to turn your childrens' hearts toward the Lord during the upcoming holiday season? Please join me for a time of encouragement and practical tips on implementing family worship during this special time of year.

It's not too early to start planning for a meaningful Christmas season. In this podcast I share about what our family does during our Advent season devotions, with some encouragement for you and lots of practical ideas!

If you want to download this talk to Mp3 or burn it to CD, click "visit my call".  That will take you to the site which hosts the call.  To stream this call from your computer, just click the play button in the red widget box.

Latin in the Christian Trivium

Our oldest son is in his 6th year of Latin this year. He began with Prima Latina in 3rd grade, followed by Latina Christiana 1 and 2. These programs were great for a young Latin student, but it was hard to find a good option that would take him to the next level.

Enter Latin in the Christian Trivium. I can’t remember how we found this program, but I am so thankful that we did. It is systematic and thorough, rigorous but not overwhelming.

To read about the strengths of this excellent program, and information about the online class option, please see my review at The Curriculum Choice.

Educational Games Online

My children really enjoy it when I can find a great game online to supplement our history studies. Here are a few we like:



We learned how to play Senet when we studied Ancient Egypt. This online version teaches the rules of this ancient board game and lets you play against the computer.

Hounds and Jackals is another favorite board game from our Ancient Egypt studies. My boys love this game.

Even though we are long done with the Ancients, we come back to Senet and Hounds and Jackals occasionally just for fun.  

Egyptian Tomb is more involved than the previous two games. Kids get clues to solve a mystery by answering questions, doing simple map work, deciphering hieroglyphs and other exercises. There is some teaching about Egyptian gods and beliefs on this site. This site requires some reading ability. It's not too hard as the answers to most questions are provided somewhere on the site. It's a fun way to reinforce what you may already be learning about Ancient Egypt.

Last year when we studied the Mayans we played this online Mayan Ball game. It was also neat to watch this brief video re-enactment of a Mayan Ball game.


Jacobites the 1745 Rebellion begins with a very brief video, and poses the question, "Could you have done a better job if you were the leader of the Jacobites?" As kids read information and learn more about the people involved they are asked to make decisions. Some responses prompt video clips of battle re-enactments. Definitely click the "funky" button to view this in flash. It's much more interactive than the simple site.

Scottish Wars of Independence is an online board game. Kids spin and move around the board. Every square they land on opens up a fact file about this time period. Kids choose the 6 events they feel to be the most important and add them to a list. At the end of the game they find out whether they chose wisely or not.

Vikings in Scotland gives kids opportunities to answer questions to complete game tasks in "Build a longship" and "Build a longhouse". Some answers are provided on video clips (at least in the Flash site) for kids to watch after they answer. The more kids know, the faster their boat/longhouse is built. There is also another game on the site, where kids try and sail their longboat around a map, accomplishing various tasks along the way.

We really enjoy the viking board game Hnefetafl. This site provides English rules partway down the page, or click here to read the rules I wrote out (which may be easier to understand!) To play this game online, click on one of the boards displayed. Each one yields a slightly different variation of the game. Don't forget to click English on the board game page or you'll be playing in Danish.


BBC Schools has lots of games, including some games for Modern Times.

I like Scotland During the Second World War. My 2nd grader has played this and he enjoyed it. Kids pretend to be a spy, gathering information to help them progress through the game.

My kids have not played their WW1 game Trench Warfare yet, but I suspect they will like it. It does require quite a lot of reading, but you are able to choose which weapons you want to fight with and then see a cartoon video of the chosen weapon in action. Then you are briefed as to how well you did and why. This game doesn't teach much, other than the pros and cons of various battle tactics in WW1, but it will probably be a hit with boys.

I've heard great things about the BBC's Dance Mat Typing but my kids have not used this yet, either. Nevertheless, I wanted to try it out. And it's great! Seeing is believing. We will definitely be using this game.