How To Use Christmas Unit Studies For Holiday Homeschooling

Overwhelm can strike hard in December. Family visits, church productions, choir practice, shopping, wrapping, baking, cookies, parties. Oh, I almost forgot family traditions, so our children enjoy happy memories in the future.

All that and still homeschool the kids? Impossible? No, but exhausting.

Maybe it’s time to think outside the box. Imagine something different.

“This is delicious. New recipe.” Dad hurries to take another bite.

“German potato salad,” Sister Sarah pipes up. “It’s part of our Christmas in Germany unit study.

“What did you do in homeschool today?” Dad changes the subject, not wanting to admit he doesn’t know what or who a unit study is.

“We colored in Germany on a map of Europe and made a German flag ornament.” Brother Bill replies.

Sister Stella leans forward in her chair. “We listened to Mom read Hansel and Gretel—the real one from Brothers Grimm, and we decorated a gingerbread house.”

“I helped Mom tweak the Christmas card list, and everyone addressed envelopes.” Brother Bob crossed his arms over his chest. “I addressed the most.”

“Tomorrow we’re decorating the house while we listen to German composers.” Stella smiled. “I already have a plan for the fireplace.”

Mom smiled. She’d have to explain Christmas unit studies later to Dad, but she loved counting getting ready for Christmas as “school time.”

What is a Unit Study?

Unit studies explore all school subjects through a single central topic or theme, like a holiday, foreign country, period in history, sport—let your imagination go!. This integrated learning approach includes living books, hands-on learning, and projects, along with traditional learning like mapping, timelines, experiments, writing, and math. All ages can work together in a unit study. Because every subject fits together logically, children often retain more than with traditional learning.

Christmas unit studies are a great way to prepare for Christmas and learn at the same time.

They can be simple.

How Do Christmas Unit Studies Help?

Christmas unit studies include Christmas things like making presents, baking, decorating the house, planning parties, and serving others as school. You do everything during school hours rather than try to fit Christmas busyness around school.  

Count Everything as School Christmas Unit Study

The easiest unit study is simply “Christmas Unit Study.” You list everything you do at Christmas and count it all as school.

·         Study Passages on Jesus’ Birth (Bible)

·         Make Gift Lists, Budget, Shop for Presents (Math, Economics, Life Skills)

·         Bake Cookies & Sweet Treats, Cook Favorite Holiday Dishes, Decorate House & Yard, Plan Menus, Make Shopping Lists, (Home Ec., Life Skills)

·         Wrap, Pack, & Mail Presents (Home Ec. Life Skills)

·         Christmas Choir Practice & Performance, Sing Christmas Carols, Christmas Caroling (Music)

·         Write Christmas Letters, Christmas Stories, Poems, Greetings; Create Cards (Writing)

·         Read Christmas Classics Aloud (Literature)

·         Address Christmas Cards, Copy Bible Verses (Handwriting)

·         Make Ornaments, Decorations, Gift – for home and giving (Arts, Crafts)

·         Soup Kitchens, Shoe Box, Adopt-a-Family, Hospitality (Service, Life Skills)

·         Pine Trees, Poinsettias, Cranberries, Stars, Holiday Safety, Chemistry of Baking, Care of Christmas Trees (Science, Life Skills)

·         Christmas Traditions around the World, Israel & Rome at the time of Jesus, Map Joseph, Mary, & Jesus’ Travels, Life of Jesus, Legends of Christmas (History, Geography)

·         Double Recipes, Divide Candy, Personal Budgeting Family Budgeting, Shop for Bargains (Math)

·         Handel’s Messiah Concert, Nutcracker Ballet (Fine Arts Appreciation)

·         Christmas Tree Lot, Christmas Lights Drive, Living Nativity, Christmas Plays & Productions (Field Trips)

Choose a Christmas Topic & Create Your Own

Pretend your topic is light.

·         Bible: Passages about light, Star that led the Wise Men

·         Science: Light waves, energy, sources, therapy, sun, stars, experiments with light

·         History: Creation Day 1 & 4, history of lighting (torches, oil lamps, candles, light bulbs), Navigation using stars and constellations

·         Handwriting:  Copy Bible verses about light

·         Creative Writing: Write poems about Christmas lights. Write a story about the star that led the Wise Men

·         Literature: The Christmas Light by Claudia Cangilla McAdam (picture book)

·         Music: “This Little Light of Mine” “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”

·         Arts & Crafts:  Make homemade candles, “make” a star like the one that led the wise men. Make star-shaped Christmas cards or gift tags

·         Decorate: Lights, candles, twinkle lights

·         Field Trips: Star gaze, drive around to see Christmas lights in your city, visit a Planetarium, watch a light show

These are just ideas to get you started.

Let me give you some examples of Christmas unit studies in our home.

Anne of Green Gables Unit Study

This was our family’s favorite. We read Anne of Green Gables aloud two chapters a day. Tea in fancy teacups, paper snowflakes, Victorian photographs, and poetry filled our days. We made raspberry cordial and maple candy treats, and baked pound cake and ginger pudding. Our creativity flowed when we made an ornament with Anne’s straw hat and famous red braids. We set up a dry goods store, wrote poems, and acted out scenes from the story.

On the academic side, we created a timeline, mapped Prince Edward Island, explored Victorian fashion, and discovered the history of hair dye. Croup and the respiratory system were part of our studies, as well as first aid for breaks and sprains. Farming and fishing on PEI were other interesting topics. Needless to say, our Christmas décor had a decidedly Victoria touch that year.

To end our unit study, the girls planned and hosted a Victorian tea for their friends, complete with china teacups and popular recipes from long ago. They also set up a showcase of their crafts, poems, and paintings for everyone to enjoy.

Christmas Cookie Unit Study

Simpler, we focused entirely on picture books and cookies one year. (I’m going to do this unit study with my grandchildren this year.) I read a different picture book every day, including A Fruitcake Christmas by Max Lucado, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Jeffe Numeroff, and Legend of the Candy Cane by Lori Wlenburg.

Daily, we tried a different cookie recipe, freezing many of our cookies to be ready for gift giving to neighbors and friends at Christmas. Some days we created cookie ingredient jars to give as gifts. We layered the ingredients in a mason jar and attached directions to bake the cookies.

We wrote limericks and sense poems, sang Christmas carols, decorated a gingerbread house, created mouse puppets, made ornaments, built a log cabin out of cinnamon sticks, and learned the science behind cookie baking.

It was a perfect unit study for including toddlers and preschoolers.

For more unit study ideas, read my blog post Create Treasured Memories with a Christmas Unit Study. 

Where Do I Start?

You might be saying, “That sounds lovely, but too much.”

If you feel overwhelmed about a complicated unit study, then start with a simple one, the “Count Everything as School Unit Study.” Just list the things you do and attach a school subject to them for record keeping.

Or start with a prepacked one. I have several at PowerlineProd.com. And remember when you use someone else’s unit study, you don’t have to do everything. Pick and choose what works best for your family.

Christmas is a birthday celebration so make time to celebrate the greatest birthday in history. Build memories and do things this year you’ve always wanted to do but never had time to do—that’s the beauty of Christmas unit studies.

Happy holiday homeschooling, friend! 🎄

Want More Holiday Learning Tips?

Be sure to check out these great holiday learning posts filled with encouragement and help for your holiday homeschool!

• An Easy {and Techie} Christmas Traditions Unit Study
• How To Incorporate Christmas Traditions Into Your Holiday Homeschool
• Autumn Learning Made Simple: Why Fall Is the Best Time for a Unit Study

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