Christmas 2011 Blog: Writing Thank You Notes

Writing thank you notes after Christmas was one of those things that my mother forced me to do, and I hated it.

And now I'm so thankful that she did, because it is a habit that she ingrained in me, and that I, in turn, am trying to ingrain upon my son.  I try to get our thank you notes completed and mailed before New Years Eve, and I believe that we've done it this year!

This year I am also doing something new.  While my son draws original pictures for each card, I have copied one of his drawings, called Deep Sea Hats, and used that on the front of my thank you cards:

As much as I love Christmas, I think it is equally important to emphasize the appreciation aspect afterwards.  Several years ago, I read a shocking statistic about how few chilren send Santa thank you cards compared to their letters requesting presents.  I wasn't able to find any statistics, but the ones I remember (but could be wrong), was that one town in Alaska that responds to North Pole letters receives 120,000 letter before Christmas asking for presents, but only 4,000 letter after Christmas thanking Santa for the gifts received.



So while the exact numbers may be off, I don't think the scale is.  The point of the article was that only a handful of children write to thank Santa compared to the numbers who write asking for presents.

Every family has to create their own expectations and traditions around this kind of thing.  But I try, even after the exhaustion typically engendered by the holiday activities and frivolities, to emphasis that gratitude for what we've received is as important as the excitement over what we are expecting.

And, yes, to me, it deserves a written note, not just a verbal thanks or a phone call or even an email.  But I'm old fashioned like that...

Of course, I include it as one of our homeschooling activities for that day.

Christmas 2011 Blog: Happy Boxing Day

When it comes to the day after Christmas, we prefer the English tradition of Boxing Day to the American tradition of going out and spending more money on after-Christmas sales.  We like to lounge around, enjoying our gifts, and then cooking and eating a British Christmas meal of roast beef and Yorkshire Pudding and such.  This year, one of my sister-in-laws gave us a mincemeat pie she made, and we made some English shortbread, so we're set for desserts!

I always thought the name came from the boxes of leftovers that English aristocracy gave their servants for their day off to celebrate Christmas with their own families a day late, but according to this article from Time, there is disagreement about where the term boxing day came from.  But it is a nice description of both the history and present-day permutations of Boxing Day around the world, so click here to read more.

I hope you are enjoying however it is that you spend the day.  Here in the Cary/Raleigh area, it looks like it is going to be a sunny, cool day, perfect for walking off some of those Christmas calories.

Christmas 2011 Blog: Merry Christmas from the Talking Porcupine

Merry Christmas to all!  I hope everyone is getting to spend the day with friends and family with love and peace all around.

And for a little joy--watch this Christmas message from Teddy Bear, the "talking" porcupine from Zooniversity:





Teddy is, as far as I know, the first porcupine whose videos have gone viral on the Internet.  He is most famous for his unwillingness to share his corn in a video released last month that has been viewed by over a million Internet users and aired on numerous national TV shows, such as The Today Show and Good Morning America.

The clip is popular because people watching it insist that Teddy protests the removal of his corn with such human phrases as "It's my corn," "Mine," "Stop," or "Get back."  The funny thing is that people hearing the words speak all sorts of different languages!  The majority speak English, but Zooniversity has also gotten claims of hearing such phrases in German, Dutch, and Russian.

It's a great example of how we hear what we are expecting and see what we are looking for.

Here is the original Teddy video so you can judge for yourself:





I join Teddy in wishing everyone a Merry Christmas!


PS--In the first video, what looks like a gingerbread man is actually a low-sugar dog biscuit decorated for a holiday treat.  So no animal health was endangered so that we could enjoy this cute video.  Also, Teddy apparently liked the Santa hat, because he kept it on for about an hour even after the video was shot.  Teddy has been hand raised from a baby and is one of the animal ambassadors for Zooniversity that goes to visit schools and conduct educational programs.  He seems to be one social porcupine!

Christmas 2011 Blog: Waiting for Santa

It's the night before the big day, so in addition to food and family and holiday cheer, we'll be checking on on Santa's progress on the NORAD Tracks Santa website.  As I write this post, around dinner time in North Carolina, he is working his way through Scandanavia.  We typically go out for Mexican food on Christmas eve, so maybe by the time we get back, Santa will have started on the United States.

Merry Christmas Eve to all!

Christmas 2011 Blog: Google Holiday Doodle Arrives

Google has released its annual Christmas-time doodle.  You begin by clicking on colors beneath each Google letter, which transforms them to an image in lights (maybe they also went to Zoolights this year!).  Each color box also has a note, which you might notice....indicate a favorite song of this time of the year.  Eventually all the images appear and the song plays in full.

You can go to the Google home page to see it yourself, or watch the video below:




Enjoy!

Christmas 2011 Blog: Christmas Quest Game

Well, we're pretty much in full holiday mode now, so we're not doing much on the academic front.  But I try to find some Christmas-related things that still keep your brain working.

I really enjoy those Jewel Quest-type games where you have to arrange matching items to clear the board.  Here is one with a Christmas theme AND that gives you a choice as to whether or not you want to hear Christmas music as you play it (in my case, NOT).

Enjoy!

Santa's Quest

A Christmas-style puzzle game Jewel Quest, based on careful observation but fast. As in the original game, your goal sarcomporre rows (horizontal and vertical) of 3 identical items. Each object puessere exchanged with neighbor, but only if the move porteralla formation of a group of three equal elements. To play use the mouse to click on the object to move and swap with the neighbor.
play

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games by www.flashgameslab.com

The History of Boxing Day

For those who are still seeking some educational aspects to sneak into the holidays...

Here is a short quiz on the English tradition of Boxing Day, which began in the Middle Ages.  After answering all the questions, there is a little bit of material on the history of this day, which is an official holiday in England and some of the British territories.

It fits in well for us, because we had a British-inspired Christmas dinner last night of Prime Rib, Yorkshire Pudding, Baked Potatoes, and Roasted Vegetables (but without the Christmas Pudding, which no one here really likes).  And just like the British upper crust had to fend for themselves as their servants took off Boxing Day to have their own family celebrations, my family is going to have to get along without my cooking services for the day.

Here in Raleigh, we actually had our first White Christmas (during the night, at least) since 1966 (according to WRAL weather).  All the more reason for taking the day off and enjoying the beauty and serenity of the snow after all the build-up to Christmas.

Christmas Blog 2010: Digital Nativity

We have had a lovely holiday, and hope that you all have as well.

Here is a video I plan to use in Sunday School tomorrow (if we don't get snowed out).  My theme is that different cultures have told the Nativity story in their own way, regardless of what the "truth" is about the actual event.  But this video tells the story for our YouTube/Twitter/Google (etc.) generation.

Again, best wishes to all, and I hope you enjoy this new take on an ancient story.

Christmas Blog 2010: Where in the World is Santa?

Google has a couple of neat things to combine geography with the countdown to Christmas.  First, if you go to the Google homepage, it has an international Christmas Doodle that looks like this:

On the actual site, as you scroll over each picture, it enlarges to show you more of an international scene.  Some are actual cities, while others refer to a specific country or region.  There are 16 international pictures (in addition to one undefined Santa by the chimney graphic);  how many can you identify?  List your ideas below, and I'll give the answers in a future blog post.

Then, the US and Canadian air security agency, NORAD, is sponsoring its annual tracking Santa project, where they report where Santa is on his journey delivering presents around the world.  This year, however, it is shown on Google Earth, so you can actually see where he has been and where he is heading.  They also have some short videos of Santa flying over some famous sites across the world, such as Johannesburg, South Africa, Mount Everest, or the Great Wall of China, along with a fact or two about that locale.

So, once again, a chance to squeeze in a little learning in the midst of the Christmas celebration.  That can be important for those of us who homeschool--now, in addition to checking off math (having my son double the cookie dough recipe, which ended up being a refresher in multiplying fractions) and chemistry (for actually baking the cookies), we get to add geography.

Merry Christmas to all my readers around the world--or just generic good wishes if you don't celebrate this holiday.  

Christmas 2010 Blog: The Santa Launch Game

Since it's now two days before Christmas, I'm sure you're all sitting around with nothing to do.  So here is a fun little game by Smilebox to help you waste your time.  Of course, since it involves figuring projectiles, I'm having my son do it and putting it down as "Physics" on our homeschool daily log!

Enjoy!

Customize your own free digital ecard

Christmas 2010 Blog: The Story of Rudolph

Last night my son and I watched the 1964 animated Christmas special, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.  Rudolph is kind of a stickler between my husband and me, because he thinks it is rediculous that after, what?, like 40 years of watching the show, it still brings me to tears every year.  And I'm not just talking moist eyes; every year, after Rudolph's triumph and the scene on the island of misfit toys where they think they've been forgotten once again, I have tears streaming down my cheeks.  But what can I say--especially when that little doll says something like "I don't have any dreams left."  For me--killer.

But the actual story behind Rudolph is fairly uplifting.  Robert L. May wrote the story for the Montgomery Ward store, to be made into a booklet that could be given to the children who were waiting to see Santa.  May tapped into a major middle schooler theme--my (fill in the blank) makes me different from everyone else (a major topic in many of the big contenders for the Newbery Award for this year).  May claimed he got inspiration from the classic tale of the outsider from his own life, where he was teased for being "shy, small, and slight."  He was paid a nominal fee by Montgomery Ward, but he was glad to get it, since his wife had been diagnosed with terminal cancer at the time.  She died, living May with not only a four-year-old daughter to care for, but with multiple medical bills for dealing with his wife's cancer.

Once Montgomery Ward had printed 6 million copies of the booklet, they were contacted by a major publisher about printing the story in a book.  Now comes the best part of the story....since Montgomery Ward had paid May for the work, the rights belonged to the company.  But Montgomery Ward generously decided to give the copyright back to May.  The success of the book enabled  Ray to settle his debts, take care of his child, remarry, and establish a more stable life.

His lifestyle was enhanced, though, when it turned out that a brother-in-law,  Johnny Marks, turned the story into a song that was eventually sung by Gene Autry.  It became a best-selling song, and also inspired one of America's favorite television specials.

So it turns out to be an inspirational story of overcoming one's personal issues and problems from the past and of corporate generosity rather than greed.

Christmas 2010 Blog: Make Your Own Sugarplums

My earlier blog post today that mentioned s'mores made me think of another Christmas confection--sugarplums.  A couple of weeks ago, we had our traditional Christmas visit by our homeschool group to an assisted living facility where the children read Christmas stories to the elderly, and my son helped read the classic "The Night Before Christmas" by Clement Moore.  But on the way home, my son asked, "What IS a sugarplum?"

Thank goodness there is a Google--how did parents survive before it?  Anyway, Wikipedia (another parental blessing) says that in olden days, "plums" referred to any dried fruit, not just plums (of course, we know dried plums as prunes).  So sugarplums were candied fruit, sometimes finely minced and combined with nuts or seeds, and molded into a round or oval shape.  However, apparently the traditional approach to do that produced a very sweet and intensely-flavored candy.  And, of course, until the last century or so, sugar was so expensive that making such a confection would have been limited to the wealthy and/or as a VERY special treat.

If you are interested in making your own sugarplums, here is a traditional recipe.  Or if you are looking for a more contemporary approach, here is one by Alton Brown.

Christmas 2010 Blog: Win a Free Curriculum Package!

While, of course, I always try to emphasize the spiritual qualities of Hanukkah and Christmas, I have to admit that I like the presents as well.  And now I have the opportunity to pass on a present to one lucky reader to this blog, thanks to a blogging giveaway program being offered by In the Hands of a Child, a renowned lapbook curriculum developer.  HOAC will give a free bundle pack* (which includes a printed project pack, kit pack, and answer key if available, and is valued at $40) to a randomly-selected person who enters their HOAC wish list below.


In the Hands of a Child is a partnership between a few homeschooling families who have turned unit studies they developed for their own children or homeschooling communities into complete lapbook curriculum packages.  If you are not familiar with lapbooks, they are a hands-on way to record information on any topic.  Students complete "mini-books" on various aspects of that topic and paste them all into a framework made by pasting two or more file folders together.  It usually depicts information in a visual way, with space for students to write relevant information, in small chunks on papers that fold or flap or open up or are enclosed in a small envelope, etc.  This makes it a great tool for visual and/or kinesthetic learners, as well as for students who get overwhelmed by a large topic and prefer working on manageable bits within the larger subject matter.


I have used a number of their packages, and can attest to their high quality.  To be honest, we usually don't do the entire lapbook, but I often use some of their mini-books for a hands-on activity to accompany a topic we are studying.  So while they are designed to be stand-alone studies, they can also be useful for supplemental materials to accompany another curriculum you might be using.  And, particularly for older students, they also offer much of their curriculum in a notebooking (that is, doing a lot of guided writing on designated notebook pages for specific items within the topic) format as well as for creating a lapbook.  Finally, their prices are reasonable, their customer service is good, and they are generous to the educational community.  They are often giving things away (like this promotion), and always have at least one unit on their site available for free download (right now it is "Study Any Great Painter") at: http://dev.handsofachild.com/index.phpoption=com_jdownloads&Itemid=3&task=viewcategory&catid=3  Finally, their materials cover the gamut of disciplines and age ranges.  While they have hundreds of units at the elementary level, they have 250 items that are suitable for middle schoolers, 128 for early high school, and 80 for upper high school.


So for a chance to win a free printed lapbook/notebook package* (NOT just a downloadable ebook, which is what I usually get), what you have to do is to visit the website of In the Hands of a Child and/or to download their 2010 catalog at  http://dev.handsofachild.com/index.php?option=com_jdownloads&Itemid=3&task=view.download&cid=2  .  


Then chose five HOAC units for your wishlist and enter them using the link below by December 31, 2010.  I will randomly select one name and forward it to HOAC, who will mail that person their bundle pack* the first week of January.


HOAC is having this giveway in honor of the fast-approaching release of their 400th curriculum package in early 2011.   There will be even more prizes during that event, so you might want to get on their email list to catch all the buzz at that time.


Enter your wishlist and contact information below by December 31, 2010, and good luck to all contestants!


*Fine print--Due to the high postage costs, if my randomly-selected winner lives outside the United States, HOAC will instead give them a free download of one of their ebook packages (which is still a good deal, because that is what I usually buy).  But I love my many international readers, so please enter as well, and I'm sure you will enjoy the ebook if you win.


Also, entering your contact information is only for the purpose of contacting the winner.  I will not be giving the other email addresses to HOAC, nor will I be using them.  So entering the contest will not get you on any email list or anything else that will be generating even more spam for you to deal with.

Christmas 2010 Blog: Angels

So even with my belief about lighting up the darkness...It's now Christmas week, so maybe it is time to do some seasonal blog posts.  So today's topic is Angels.

When I was working on a lesson plan this past week for our World Religions class, I did some research on the topic of Angels.  I was amazed to find that numerous polls by different organizations (news, university research, and religious organizations) over the past two decades reported that the majority of Americans believe in angels, particularly guardian angels.  The data shows that this majority (generally ranging from 55% to 72%) is consistent within different Christian or Jewish religions or political persuasions.  Actually, studies among adult Americans in the past few years say that more people believe in angels (55%) than believe in evolution (39%), human-created global warming (36%), or either ghosts of UFOs (each had 34% believing in them).

The believe in angels among adolescents is even stronger.  It has grown steadily from 1978, when only 64% of the 13-17 year olds polled said they believed in angels, to 76% angelic believers in 1994.  Belief in angles outstrips those among teenagers who reported believing in other supernatural people or activities, beating belief in astrology, ESP, mind reading, witchcraft, ghosts, Bigfoot, or vampires.

So it seems that for the majority among us, no longer do we need to sing only about "Angels We Have Heard on High."  Most of us, particularly among perhaps not middle schoolers, but certainly high schoolers, believe that angels play a role in our personal lives, protecting us from harm or conveying important spiritual messages to us.

A Plethora of Carols

Tonight I guess we officially welcomed the Christmas season by attending the Christmas Open House at Cameron Village shopping center.  While I believe that Cameron Village is the oldest shopping mall in Raleigh, having been founded 50 years ago, it is also the hippest.  It is an open air mall, consisting of over 100 stores or buildings (including a county library, a major grocery store and specialty gourmet market, a drug store, and old-fashioned cafeteria among the trendy boutiques, specialty shops, and restaurants) that are spread over a large six-block area.  So their opening of the season includes roaming entertainment, many different musical groups, a North Pole Express kiddie's train ride, magicians and clowns, a slide of man-made snow, a peripatetic Nutcracker, and, of course, Santa, along with some free cookies and cider and special deals at many of the shops.  Some of the store also get into the spirit by offering additional food and drink or special attractions or such.  Some even have life mannequins in their street windows, wearing fancy clothes and waving to the participants outside.  I particularly liked those because they reminded me of how, when I was a child growing up outside Washington DC, we would come downtown and see the novel Christmas windows that the big department stores of that time and place, Woodward and Lothrup or Garfinkles, had designed for that year.  It's a MAJOR disappointment for me each year when the shopping malls pull out the same old decorations to deck their malls in Christmas cheer.

The particular draw for us was to listen to the highly-acclaimed Raleigh Boychoir, in which a couple of my son's good friends participate.  It is a classic all-boys choir for male singers aged 8 until middle school...that is, until their voice drops.  While most of the musical or performance entertainers stay put, the choir wanders around the entire shopping center, stopping at various points to sing a few carols and then moving on to the next.  So we followed them around, listening to their various songs, sometimes in combination with other musicians.

Of course, the Raleigh Boychoir was fabulous.  But what was also really great was the great variety of Christmas carols sung or played by all the other musicians there.  There were carols done by Dixieland bands, rock bands, and community orchestras.   There were jazz musicians, Victorian carolers, a drum line, and the most unique rendition of carols I've ever heard with a tuba, banjo, and saxophone--the last being played by the musical director of our spiritual community, the incredibly talented Tim Smith.

It was a wonderful place for musical education, because if you wandered around enough, you could hear the same song done from a choir perspective, rock treatment, jazz rendition, country/blues style, and classical orchestra performance.  If those six blocks didn't quite encompass a world of musical interpretations, it certainly presently a nice variety of ways to approach the same song.

It was also a glorious night weather-wise.  We were with friends, we were serenaded, and we were seeing sparkle and tinsel and holiday decorations (novel ones) everywhere we looked.  What a great way to greet the holiday season!