Do you want Christmas to be different this year? If you’re looking for ways to slow the season down and enjoy its true meaning with your children, then tune in to this week’s edition of Home School Heartbeat, with HSLDA President Mike Smith.
Mike Smith:
As homeschooling parents, we want to pass on a heritage of faith to our children—and what holiday is more central to our faith than Christmas? This week, I want to encourage you to take advantage of your opportunity as homeschooling parents to place your educational focus on one of the most important events in history—the birth of Jesus Christ. You can do this by celebrating Advent.
Advent is a traditional religious season that was instituted in the sixth century to help people prepare their hearts for Christmas. It begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas and lasts all the way to Christmas Day. During Advent, we look back to Christ’s first coming, look inward to His work in our hearts, and look forward to His return.
If your family has never celebrated Advent before, why not make this year the first? The four weeks of Advent can provide a natural framework for school and for daily living during the month of December. Your family’s celebration of Advent can be as simple as doing one special activity a week leading up to Christmas. Or, you might like to turn December into a mini-unit, weaving Christmas activities into your various school subjects.
For now, I suggest you take a moment before all the busyness starts to prayerfully consider what you want this Christmas season to look like for your family. And until next time, I’m Mike Smith.
