Posts Tagged ‘Christmas’

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Make Easy Holiday Arts, Crafts, & Giftwrap!

December 15th, 2012

Hi!  It’s Saturday, December 15, 2012 and time for Art at ClickSchooling!

Recommended Websites:

See Below

Age Range: Varies (something for everyone with parental supervision)

There’s still time to make artistic holiday decorations and gifts. Here are a few sites to get you started…

Build a Mini Gingerbread House! Sometimes, building a gingerbread house from scratch can seem too daunting. This site offers a simple solution that’s easy and fun for the whole family.

Make a Pomander Ball! Take an orange, stud it with cloves, tie a ribbon around it – and presto! – you’ve made an aromatic decoration or gift. This site has simple instructions illustrated with pictures.

Make Candles! Candles add glow to every holiday party, and some varieties are simple to make. At this website you’ll find instructions for making crayon candles, sand candles, and even make a candle in a coffee or cocoa mug!

Once you’ve made an assortment of holiday gifts, visit this website for some eco-friendly ways to wrap them all:

Environmentally Friendly Alternatives to Gift Wrapping

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History of Holidays!

December 13th, 2012

Hi! It’s Thursday, December 13, 2012 and time for Social Sciences at ClickSchooling!

Recommended Websites: See Below

Age Range: Varies (with parental supervision)

The holidays are here and I thought you might enjoy learning about their origin and history, as well as some of the customs associated with them.

The History of Christmas

History.com offers several videos you can watch on the history of Christmas from the religious story to the traditional icons in popular culture. Discover the origins of Santa Claus, explore Christmas celebrations around the world, and learn about ancient rituals and Winter Solstice celebrations too.

The History of the Christmas Tree

This site provides a lesson plan on the history of the Christmas Tree. Use the discussion questions to stimulate conversation or prompt a writing exercise.

The History of Christmas Carols
This website provides information on the history of Christmas carols! When you get to the site you’ll see a brief introduction and a menu of songs. Click on any one and a new page opens that explains the origin of the song, along with the lyrics. (If you want to hear the music to these songs, click here.

The History of Hanukkah

Get a terrific overview of the history of the Jewish Festival of Lights called Hanukkah. Watch a 4-minute video, explore traditions like lighting the menorah, playing dreidel, and discover why potato pancakes (latkes) are a popular food at Hanukkah celebrations.

The History of the Dreidel

The dreidel is a traditional Hanukah toy. At this website you can get an overview of its history and its various meanings in theology, psychology, philosophy, numerology and more!

The History of Kwanzaa
At this site, you can watch a video that provides a good explanation and overview of Kwanzaa, a non-religious African American holiday that celebrates family, community, and culture for 7 days from December 26 – January 1.

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New Year’s Story & Activities

December 21st, 2011

Hi! It’s Wednesday, December 21, 2011 and time for Language Arts at ClickSchooling!

This is the last ClickSchooling review of 2011. ClickSchooling will take a holiday break from Thursday, December 22, 2011 through Monday, January 2, 2012. 

ClickSchooling messages will resume on Tuesday, January 3, 2012. Happy Holidays!  :)

Recommended Website
Activity Village: New Year for Kids!

Age Range: 5-12 (approximately, with parental supervision)

This ad-supported website offers a selection of fun Language Arts activities and free printables to celebrate the New Year. There are a few “for a fee” activities sprinkled among the freebies. So when you get to the site, to get right to the free Language Arts activities just scroll down the center of the page and look for the links to:

*New Year Worksheets – Includes printable pages of New Year story starters.

*New Year Puzzles & Mazes – Includes New Year themed word search puzzles and word games

*New Year Stories – Make your own booklet of Hans Christian Andersen’s Christmas and New Year story, The Little Match Girl. Includes the printable story and coloring pages.

You’ll also find links to New Year crafts, coloring pages, and jigsaw puzzles.

 

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Free Audio Holiday Stories!

December 14th, 2011

Hi! It’s Wednesday, December 14, 2011 and time for Language Arts at ClickSchooling!

Recommended Website:
(See Below)

Age Range:  All (with parental supervision)

Here is a selection free, audio holiday stories. They are available as audio recordings to listen to on your computer, to burn to a CD, or to download to your portable audio player (mp3). Choose from a great selection of classics including:

*A Visit From St. Nicholas by Clement Moore – This is also known as The Night Before Christmas. Written in 1822, this is the poem that named Santa’s 8 reindeer including, Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder, and Blitzen.

*A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens - ”This is the classic tale of what comes to those whose hearts are hard. In a series of ghostly visits, Scrooge visits his happy past, sees the difficulties of the present, views a bleak future, and in the end amends his mean ways.” (Summary written by Kristen McQuillin)

*Good King Wenceslas – Listen to the Christmas carol Good King Wenceslas and the story behind the song.

*The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry – This short story is about a young couple who are very much in love and also very poor. For Christmas, they each make a sacrifice to purchase a gift for the other, with ironic results.

*The Elves and the Shoemaker – This traditional fairy tale is a short story about a Christmas
gift. A poor shoemaker receives some unexpected help just when he needs it most.

 

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Pascal’s Triangle & The 12 Days of Christmas!

December 12th, 2011

Hi! It’s Monday, December 12, 2011 and time for Math at Clickschooling!

Recommended Website:
DIMACS: 12 Days of Christmas

Age Range: 5-13 (Grades K-8, with parental guidance)

This website, sponsored by Rutgers University, offers an interesting exploration of Pascal’s Triangle (used in algebra and probability) through the lyrics of the song, The Twelve Days of Christmas. (Click here to just listen to the tune and see the printed lyrics of the song.)

When you get to the site, you’ll find the lesson plan and instructions for leading your students through this fun math exercise.

If you like working with triangles, the site offers another interesting lesson plan using The Star of David.

Students can also have fun calculating the cost of purchasing the 12 items mentioned in The 12 Days of Christmas. Click here for the Lesson Plan.

Holiday Bonus! Watch a video of homeschool moms singing a humorous version of this Christmas carol retitled, The 12 Days of Homeschooling.

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Sing Holiday Songs in Foreign Languages!

December 10th, 2011

Hi! It’s Saturday, December 10, 2011 and time for Foreign Languages at ClickSchooling!

Recommended Website:
World Wide Christmas

Singing is a fun way to introduce a foreign language. This website offers dozens of holiday songs and carols in English, Spanish, Latin, French, Italian, and German.

When you get to the site, look for the language you prefer. Below it, you’ll find a menu of songs.  Click on a song and a new screens opens where you’ll see the lyrics to the song. In most cases you’ll be able to watch and listen to a video production of the song as well. 

If you’d like to get the lyrics to holiday carols in a wider variety of foreign languages including Korean and Japanese, CLICK HERE.  When you get to the site, you can listen to the tune and click on the foreign language flag to see the lyrics in that language. You’ll find a variety of holiday classics such as:

  • Silent Night
  • Joy to the World
  • Deck the Halls
  • Jingle
  • And many more!

 

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