Christmas Around the World

One of my favorite parts of homeschooling is the freedom we have to explore every subject in ways that public school just doesn't allow.  We have an amazing group of homeschool friends who we play with and go on field trips with, but we don't do a lot of traditional learning experiences together.  Many homeschoolers have co-ops that meet once a week, have lessons, do reports, and share the teaching load.  I love our informal group and that it takes such little prep work from me.  However, each year we do one fairly formal learning experience that is my favorite.  In December each of us moms chooses a country and a day to host and we learn about how Christmas is celebrated all over the world, usually with a craft and a treat.  It is awesome!  This year we did England, Mexico, Japan, Denmark, and Sweden.

Miss K taught us about England because her Grandma immigrated to the US from England.  We learned about Christmas Crackers and Christingles and we had some wassail.  The kids each got their own cracker to open and they sat in a circle to open them together; they were filled with little treats and my kids thought they were so fun!  Then we learned about the Christingle and each kid made one of their own (followed by quickly gobbling them up).  To make a Christingle each child got an orange to represent the world, they wrapped a red ribbon around it to represent the blood of Christ that was spilt for everyone, they stick a candle in the top to represent the light of Christmas and their own light to share with the world, they put in four toothpicks for the cardinal directions, representing that Christ is for all the world, then put candies on the toothpicks.  I just love how Christ centered this craft was and it has been so fun to have E talk about it all week.

Miss A taught us about Christmas in Mexico, because her husband is from Mexico.  We learned that northern Mexico celebrates more like the US, and the south is very different and celebrates more like other parts of the world.  In southern Mexico they don't open presents until January when the Wise men bring them, while in the North they open them on Christmas.  They are also big on parties and have many throughout the month.  We made paper bag pinatas and tried some tamales.

Miss J taught us about Japan.  Since Japan is only about 1% Christian their christmas is mostly about being with family and loved ones and the presents.  We learned a bit about Japan, their culture, and how they like Santa because he is like Buddha.  We made paper lanterns, folded origami samurai hats, painted paper fans, and had some yummy raman and Christmas cake.

I taught about Denmark.  My lesson materials were stolen by the mischievous Nisse (elfs) who led us on a scavenger hunt to find them.  We learned about Denmark, and where it is located, and some fun facts about the country, then we learned that every person (especially kids) gets their own advent calendar with treats, we made paper heart baskets, sang songs and had a dance party around the Christmas tree, then shared some rice pudding with the naughty nisse to convince them to go back to the attic.

Last was Sweden by Miss K and Mr. D.  We learned about St. Lucia's day and how the Roman Catholics used that to convert the people to Christianity.  We learned that they don't really have Santa Claus, but instead a goat brings their presents, and we learned that the Sweeds love their food.  We made cute little tomte gnomes and had a Julesborg (lots of food) that put the rest of our treats to shame (dill salmon, cheese and crackers, saffron rolls, cookies, swedish meatballs, shrimp, and lingonberry jam to top it all off)!

It is so much fun to step out of our usual school work and explore something different for a little while.  The kids all played their little hearts out, and us moms were able to get some adult interaction too.  I just love this time of year and the fun learning experiences it can bring!