I know many of you have been waiting patiently for me to write a post on how I was able to recover from my anxiety disorder. I want to let you know that I have started it and have been plugging away at it for the past month; however, in doing so I realized that I have a lot to share with you concerning this topic! Since it’s going to be much longer than I had originally anticipated, I’m breaking it down into a series that I plan to release in January. I’m praying that this series will help many people find freedom from anxiety.
In the meantime, I wanted to share our plans for Advent this year. For the past few years, I’ve intentionally set aside the month of December in our home as a time to slow down that we may relish the season in honor to the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Growing up in a non-denominational Christian home, I didn’t grow up with a liturgical practice for celebrating the month of December in Advent, the coming of Christ; however, since we are a homeschooling family, I’ve found that by dedicating our studies for the entire month of December to Advent, it’s drawn us closer as a family and has allowed each of us to be filled with true understanding of the beauty and goodness in God’s gracious gift … Jesus.
When the kids were a bit younger, we followed a sweet Advent eBook called, Truth in the Tinsel. It’s a lovely book that is scripted for you which makes it super easy to gather your materials and start. Starting on December 1st, the book gives you a bit of scripture to read with your children, discussion questions to ask, and an ornament for the kids to make and hang on the Christmas tree. The boys really enjoyed it, especially making the ornaments!
As my boys have grown a bit older and we’ve moved further into our Charlotte Mason studies, I’ve started adding more literature to our Advent season. Last year we didn’t do many crafts as honestly, it’s not my forte. Good books, on the other hand, I really enjoy and my boys love being read to. So, last year we read about 10 or so good Christmas books, mostly biblically based. This year we have decided to savor the season with a lot more literature! Yup, we’re going all out here!
I’m very active on Instagram and have been sharing a lot of my book selections there. I’ve had people wanting me to share my plan for our Advent term and the books we’ll be reading. This is for all of my friends on Instagram and if you don’t follow me, you can do so by clicking here.
Savoring the Season with Literature
Our December schedule in Advent is going to look a little like this.
Morning Time
Each day we’ll dedicate about an hour to Morning Time. During this time, I plan on reading to my kids from, The Family Read-Aloud Christmas Treasury book. It’s a beautiful picture book that includes Christmas poems, short stories, and hymns. We’ll then jump right into Bible reading and then a short chapter in Jotham’s Journey, A storybook for Advent.
Afternoon Tea Time
I’ve found some beautiful picture books that are quite long, so what I usually do with longer books is break them down and extend them over a period of time. It makes it super manageable and the kids enjoy it … especially over tea! I’ve found 4 longer Christmas picture books that we’ll read over the 4 weeks in December.
Advent Wrapped Books
I’m wrapping 24 short picture books which my children will unwrap one a day to read as a family with Dad. We’ll most likely read this book right after supper. We’ll light an advent candle and read by candlelight … over hot cocoa or egg nog!
Evening Read-Aloud
Before we go to bed, I spend about a half hour or so reading a chapter book to my kids. For the month of December, our evening read-aloud book will be, A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens.
An Advent Book List for Children
Below is our book list for this coming Advent. Below you’ll find affiliate links to Amazon. I’d like to encourage you to also visit your local library, Half Price Bookstore and thrift shops. Also, you can find great deals on used books and get 15% off right now at thriftbooks.com!
Morning Time:
- The Family Read-Aloud Christmas Treasury by Low and Brown
- Jotham’s Journey: A Storybook for Advent, by Arnold Ytreeide
Afternoon Tea Time:
These picture books are much longer. We’ll read one per week.
- Two Brothers by Eugene Schwarz
- One Wintry Night by Ruth Bell Graham
- An Orange for Frankie by Patricia Polacco
- The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski
Advent Wrapped Picture Books
- The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Anderson
- Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett
- The Animals’ Santa by Jan Brett
- The Legend of the Candy Cane by Lori Walburg
- The Cobweb Christmas: The Tradition of Tinsel by Shirley Climo
- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer by Robert L. May
- Song of the Stars, A Christmas Story by Sally Lloyd-Jones
- The Biggest Snowman Ever by Steven Kroll
- The Crippled Lamb by Max Lucado
- Christmas Tapestry by Patricia Polacco
- Great Joy by Kate DiCamillo
- All the Jann Brett books below are included in Jan Brett’s Christmas Treasury
- The Mitten by Jan Brett
- The Wild Christmas Reindeer by Jan Brett
- Trouble with Trolls by Jan Brett
- The Twelve Days of Christmas by Jan Brett
- The Hat by Jan Brett
- Christmas Trolls by Jan Brett
- The Night Before Christmas by Jan Brett
- Christmas Day in the Morning by Pearl S. Buck
- Silver Package, An Applachian Christmas Story by Chynthia Rylant
- The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree by Gloria Houston
- The Carpenter’s Gift by David Rubel
- Animals in Winter by Henrietta Bancroft and Richard G. Van Gelder
- snow music by Lynne Rae Perkins
Evening Read-Aloud Chapter Book
A Christmas Carol, By Charles Dickens
Well, that’s our plan. Will we get to all of our readings each day? Probably not, lol! We’ll do what we can but what’s most important to us is keeping our relationships first and that’s going to mean parties, tea time with friends, movie nights … because, Elf! My hope is that we can savor this season, relish it, so that when Christmas day does come, we’ll know in the deepest of our hearts what an amazing grace-filled God we serve to have sent us his son, Jesus!
Wow, what a great list! We got Ann Voskamp’s beautiful advent devotional book last year and I am excited to read through it again with the kids this year.
Nicole, I’ve been wanting to check out her advent book! Thanks for the reminder. Maybe next year!
Nicole – did you find it hard to read with the kids at all? I was going to buy it this last weekend, but some of the reviews on Amazon left me feeling iffy about it. I was thinking of checking it out in the store first, but I’d love to hear how your kids received it!
Diana, I am so so excited for you to deep dive into Advent this year!! I know you and your family are going to love it, and I think you’ll see the beginning of a new homeschooling tradition here! 😉 Great book choices, by the way. Hugs!
Thanks, Bethany!
I would like to find some advent board books or books for younger readers to do this with the grandbaby
We have a board book/ touch-and-feel book called One Night in Bethlehem that my toddler daughter really enjoys. It’s a simple telling of the story and very sweet.
I thought of one more! Margaret Wise Brown (author of Goodnight Moon), also has a great board book called Christmas in the Barn!
Thank you so much, Diana! I just requested at least ten of these from our library, and it’s such a great resource to have. We will enjoy!
That’s great to hear, Cathy!
Love your list! I lean more towards reading than organized crafts too, though we do our fair share of sewing/painting/drawing, it’s not so much Christmas-crafty. I just checked out about 15 Christmas books from the library yesterday to wrap for our Advent books. We started the tradition last year and my kids loved it. I am excited to introduce my kids to A Christmas Carol this year too. I found a picture book version, a Magic Tree House version, and we are going to listen to it via audiobook as well. I wasn’t sure if they would be up for straight Dickens yet (they are 5 & 3), but I’m excited to introduce it to them. We are also taking them to the Nutcracker for the first time, so I have 4 or 5 Nutcracker picture books to read beforehand. They are familiar with the story, so they will serve to get us even more excited!
I’m going to check out that Family Christmas Treasury. I want more Christmas poetry to read, but for now do not have any.
The Nutcracker! That’s a great idea. I’ll have to see if that’s playing near me 😀
Diana – thank you SO much for this list! For years now I’ve wanted to focus more on Advent and every year I let it slide by as I never remember to prepare for it. THIS year I’m cutting out some school extra curriculars and we’re focusing on Advent.
And while it seems that it’s unheard of in the homeschooling realm…I hate doing crafts, but books are right up my alley! I’ll request what I can from the library and maybe purchase a few each year. Thanks again!
No problem, Donielle!! I so get not liking the craft part, lol! I’d much rather read too. 😀
I’m so excited for Advent this year, too! I prepared a similar list. While we overlap on some (I love the Crippled Lamb), I have some other ones here – http://www.joyfullythriving.com/2015/11/christ-centered-christmas-books/. I’m going to have to check out some of yours! Thanks for sharing your list, and many blessings to you and your family this Advent season!
Thanks for sharing your list, Kristen!
Hi Diana,
Your list of Christmas books is amazing. There are several new ones my family will try. You might also want to look at Closing the Book on Santa Claus by Ron Chandler. It is about a father who tries to save his daughter’s holiday celebration after it is cancelled at her school. He organizes a rally at city hall, but unexpected calamity prevails. Both of our children really enjoyed it.
Thanks for the recommendation, Jessica!