Carnival of Homeschooling: Christmas Ornament Edition

Welcome to the Christmas Ornament Edition of the Carnival of Homeschooling. If you are new to ‘blog carnivals’, please read the link at the bottom of this post to find out more. This post has many links that take you off-site to other homeschool blogs where you can read their ’showcased’ article submission. If you would like to submit an article for a future carnival or host the carnival on your site, please see the bottom section to find out how. Each carnival writer has the option to put their compilation to a ‘theme’ if they so choose. I always do the themes. It’s a sickness. In the past I have done an Old West carnival, a Bee carnival (of course), an Autumn carnival, a Pregnancy & Child Development carnival, a Homeschool Memories carnival, and here at the post we did an Old Schoolhouse carnival way back when. We hope you will enjoy this ‘issue’ and click over to read the submissions for this week.

THE CHRISTMAS ORNAMENT EDITION GRAPHIC (Feel free to share if you post about this carnival and link to this post):

Each year the children anxiously await the boxes of Christmas decorations being opened again. They beg daddy to help with the lights and we all make hot chocolate, play Christmas music, and share our memories as we deck the tree with glittering things. In our house, the Tree usually goes up right after Thanksgiving, but this year we were a few days late. Our tree went up this past weekend – much to the delight of my older kids. The younger one isn’t all that impressed… I figure he’ll enjoy the wrapping on his gifts more than the toys this year. At 8 months old, Christmas trees might taste good, but they are just your average ‘STUFF to get in to’.

I thought I would share a few photos of some of our favorite ornaments as we check out everyone’s December submissions to the Carnival of Homeschooling…

This first pic is of my Texas State Capitol Building ornament. This one is of the domed ceiling of the capitol. Each year the Texas Capitol puts out a new ornament that has something to do with the building. This one was given to me by my step-dad on a year that I really wanted it and was going to buy it. It was cool because he had NO idea that I wanted it. We really love to visit the capitol, so we treasure this ornament. We used to have an Alamo one from the same maker, but it disappeared. ~ Sprittibee

Lori Boling presents Christmas time on Read Aloud Thursday posted at Loving Learning at Home, saying, “Christmas time is such a great time to read amazing stories. We love reading aloud together.”

Dave Roller presents My First Tutorial! posted at Home School Dad, saying, “We are not exactly what you call “a crafty” family. I did step out of my comfort zone with this advent calendar and a tutorial of how we did it.”

Mrs. White presents Homeschooling Today at the White House posted at The Legacy of Home. The attitude you have about your daily routine makes all the difference.

Mishelle Lane presents Christmas Song posted at Secret Agent Mama. The feeling of Christmas begins in the heart… and sometimes a song is all it takes to make it grow.

Dianne presents Paper Stars posted at Bunny Trails. Here’s a great craft project to do with the kids. Hang them on the tree, around the house, or pass some on to family and friends.

This is probably the oldest ornament on my tree that has a special meaning to me. My grandma gave me a set of wooden ornaments one year when I was about 9. This is the only (and favorite) ornament from the set that survives. ~ Sprittibee

John Morris presents Nature Study — Black Swallowtail Caterpillars and Butterflies posted at The Mommy Earth.

Rachel Lynette presents Creative Inspirations posted at Minds in Bloom.

Debbie Phillips presents Nutcracker – Tchaikovsky Study posted at Debbie’s Digest.

Susan Anadale presents Why I Homeschool posted at Homeschooling Hearts and Minds, saying, “Ah, is it education or is it family? Sometimes they are one and the same.”

This one is special to me because my mother bought it. My dad gave me all her ornaments when he remarried. ~ Dawn

hall monitor presents Parent complains that school went too far with paddling posted at DetentionSlip.org, saying, “Once again, public schools beat kids up.”

MusingMoms presents The automatic first comment to homeschooling posted at A Tings Thinking Corner.

ChristineMM presents Some of Our Visual-Spatial Learner Spelling Flash Cards posted at The Thinking Mother, saying, “ChrisitneMM of The Thinking Mother shares examples of the spelling flash cards she creates for her visual spatial (right brain) learner son to use.”

Cristina Payne presents Home Spun comic strip #417 posted at Home Spun Juggling, saying, “How others view homeschooling vs. how homeschoolers view it.”

I adore this ornament. It has been a favorite of mine since I first became a Christian. I honestly can’t remember who gave it to me (sadly), but each year it has a special spot on the tree. It is so pretty with the lights behind it and it reminds me of my church family – the family I gained when I became a Christian. ~ Sprittibee

Lara DeHaven presents D-I-Y Spirit posted at Texas Homesteader.

Stephanie presents Giveaway – I Used to Know That posted at Adventures in the 100 Acre Wood.

Alasandra presents Time to Vote For The Best Homeschool Blog posted at Alasandra’s Homeschool Blog Awards.

Deana presents Etsy Christmas Giveaway Celebration, posted at The Frugal Homeschooling Mom. The Frugal Homeschooling Mom, is having a wonderful “Etsy Christmas Giveaway Celebration” throughout the month of December. At least 6 Etsy shop owners will be giving away lots of fun items from their stores. Go check out what all there is to win this month!

We put more than ornaments on our tree. Often we put little stuffed animals and trinkets that don’t have loops and hooks on them. This is a Starbucks finger puppet of the scary snowmonster from one of those classic Christmas shows. He hides inside the tree. Most of our ornaments are religious in nature – but every now and then you’ll find some strange item – like the scary snowmonster or the glass Kangaroo (because my son had an imaginary ‘mama kangaroo’ when he was little). ~ Sprittibee

Melanie Young presents The Ornament of the Year: Preserving God’s Working in our Lives posted at Name of Blog Raising Real Men. How Christmas ornaments preserve family memories and remind our children of God’s providence, provision and protection in our lives.

Elizabeth presents The School System and Literacy Crisis in Canada! Does it Share the same Causes as in the States? posted at What Happy Is. In this post I begin the discussion of literacy in Canada and what has caused about 42% of adults to lack the necessary literacy skills in reading, writing, and mathematics.

Jenny presents My local bookstore is my homeschool-secret-weapon posted at Home is Where You Start From. Tips on how to use the local bookstore to encourage a natural love of reading.

We buy one ornament each year for the tree – and when we take the tree down we always write the year on it somewhere with a permanent marker. The little lady above was one I picked out from a Russian shop at the Texas Scarecrow Festival when my big kids weren’t so big. I love Russian ornaments and Matryoshka dolls. ~ Sprittibee

Barbara Frank presents Christmas is Coming, and We Can’t Concentrate! posted at Barbara Frank Online. A long-time homeschool mom reflects on trying to homeschool during the Christmas.

Katherine presents Keeping the Boys Out of My Hair, posted at No fighting, no biting! saying “as we take stock of our options: homeschooling at home, a co-op, or Catholic school we hired a mother’s helper to keep Mommy more sane in the meantime.”

Melanie presents The Euclidian Algorithm posted at Four Squares. A Homeschool Mom springs a nifty math concept on her long-suffering children first thing on a Saturday morning.

Amber presents Nature Study — Black Swallowtail Caterpillars and Butterflies posted at The Mommy Earth, saying “We were blessed to be able to observe and learn about these insects this fall.”

This was my mama’s musical ornament. ~ Dawn

Jill Miles presents Jacques Cousteau – The Oceans’ Ambassador posted at History for Children – a review of the book, The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Cousteau, with a link to a National Geographic sponsored design an ocean flag contest.

Henry and Janine present We’re Back posted at Why Homeschool, saying “homeschooling allows us to be flexible about our vacations and trips!”

Beverly Hernandez presents Show off your Christmas Projects posted at Beverly’s Homeschooling Blog (About.com), saying “Christmas time is a busy time for homeschoolers, but a fun time to do projects and baking with our children. Show off your recipes and projects from the Advent Calendar or any Christmas projects you do together.”

Dale and Lisa Rielage presents Amazon Wishlists Aren’t Just for Santa’s Eyes posted at Percival Blakeney Academy. Who’s viewing your wish list?

We got this ornament when I was pregnant with David in 2006. We couldn’t decide on his name. The big kids said we should just call him “Dude”, and so we did. It’s one of our favorite ornaments! ~ Mishelle

Dana Sorrell presents My Christmas Shopping Timeline posted at Home*School*Home saying “The way I seem to Christmas shop every year, despite the fact that I should know better.”

Amanda Dixon presents A Date That Will Live In Infamy posted at The Daily Planet.

Lori McMath presents “Christmas it seems means a little bit more.” posted at All You Have to Give. A story about friendship and Christmas. Because friends are a treasured gift.

The HSBA Post presents A Christmas Carol, Special Edition Give-Away – an awesome book that provides the full classic Dickens story along with questions to discuss, scriptures, and references to Old English. A Great holiday devotional for the family!