December 15, 2022
Advent for All - Love Descends
Week 4
“The evening readings should be entertaining, and not of a kind to demand severe mental effort; but the long holidays are too long for mere intellectual dawdling. Every Christmas and summer vacation should be marked by the family reading of some great work of literary renown, whether of history, or purely of belles lettres. The daily reading and discussion of one such work will give meaning and coherence to the history "grind" of the school, will keep up a state of mental activity, and will add zest to the general play and leisure of the holidays."
~Charlotte Mason, Formation of Character p.227
Holidays can be challenging and hectic. So this weekly series of Advent and Christmas inspiration features readings from the Bible, music, poetry, picture books, art, handicrafts, recipes, and more to help us savor the season. Our hope is that every member of the family will find something for them and that the various resources would help families, neighborhoods, classes, and other communities carve out spaces for joy, reverence, wonder, and expectation this season as we focus attention on the birth at Bethlehem and beyond.
Bible Reading
Matthew 1: 1-17 and John 1:1-14
Listen
Hallelujah Chorus and Mary Had a Baby
View
Angels Appearing Before Shepherds by Henry Ossawa Tanner. Notice the colors, the lines, the shapes of the painting. How many characters can you find? Why do you think Tanner chose the colors and textures he did? What would you say is the mood of the painting? Does the painting make you think differently about the story in the Bible?
Read
To Live in the Mercy of God by Denise Levertov and as many of Christina Rosetti’s Christmas poems as you like (she wrote many different Christmas poems!).
Activities
Choose a few activities to enjoy this week:
- Take a morning or evening walk as a family or class. Look for something you haven’t noticed before in your surroundings. Observe the trees especially. Stand under one and look up.
- Learn How to Say Merry Christmas in Multiple Languages
- Read about Christmas traditions in Ghana.
- Try out new Christmas foods. This week’s suggestions: Kahk Cookies, Cheese Cookies, Scandinavian GlØgg, something from this collection of Spanish holiday dishes.
- Extra suggested read-alouds: Christmas Around the Fire, Favorite Poems for Christmas, Dream Soul, The Mitten.
"Let us read [the Gospels], not for our profiting, though that will come, but for love of that knowledge which is better than thousands of gold and silver. By and by we perceive that this knowledge is the chief thing in life; the meaning of Christ's saying, "Behold, I make all things new," dawns upon us; we get new ideas as to the relative worth of things; new vigour, new joy, new hope are ours."
~Charlotte Mason, Towards a Philosophy of Education, p.338
Week 4
