🎁 Simple + Screen-Free Advent and Gift Ideas

As our family embarks on an exciting new chapter (I can’t wait to share more soon!), I wanted to share some of our favorite Advent and Christmas gift ideas.

We love creating a simple, screen-free holiday atmosphere (with the exception of classic movies like Christmas Vacation and Home Alone), so you won’t find tech gadgets or gizmos on this list. 

Advent Ideas for your homeschool:

Hallelujah: Cultivating Advent Traditions with Handel's Messiah by Cindy Rollins - One of my all-time favorite guides.

All Creation Waits by Gayle Boss - We did this one when the kids were younger and it’s one of the sweetest books. We enjoyed Jennifer Pepito’s printable guide for this book.

My personal adult Advent daily reading I enjoy the most each year - super simple daily bits to read and reflect on: Joy to the World: Daily Readings for Advent by Charles H. Spurgeon

We plan to use Let Heaven and Nature Sing: Advent Art and Poetry Lesson Plans for All Ages from the Circe Institute this year with the family if we can get to it.

And just for fun because our family loves Escape rooms, puzzles and solving riddles together: EXIT: Advent Calendar - The Hunt for The Golden Book

Crack the crate

Crack the Crate - Both my kids (14 & 10) worked together to crack this case - and it’s really well done. Digging dragon eggs and solving crypto clues and it was the perfect difficulty level - not to difficult and not to easy! 

Screen-Free Gift Ideas:

Fahlo - Our kids LOVE animals, so we track about 10 animals with these unique bracelets that to help saving endangered species around the globe! Get 20% OFF Using code SIMPLE20 

Little Christmas Carol - If you enjoyed Little Pilgrim’s Progress, you might love this book too!

Book Lovers Gift Set (Okay, this one might be more for me!) haha

The Harry Potter Mystery Box – If your kids love receiving mail or subscription boxes, this would be the perfect gift that keeps on giving! Each box is filled with exclusive items from the Potterverse including memorabilia, artwork, accessories and more… cancel anytime!

More than a Puzzle! Our family adores putting these puzzles together and then taking it a step further and solving the clues to find the answer to each mystery! Some do say 14+ but our 10yo helped us solve multiple clues! Here are our favorites so far:

Jungle Escape Puzzle
The Art Studio Escape Puzzle
Midnight Garden Escape Puzzle

Zero Waste Gifts by Me Mother Earth – for the eco-conscious friends and family in your life

The Mythmakers: The Remarkable Fellowship of C.S. Lewis & J.R.R. Tolkien (A Graphic Novel) - I’m snagging this for both kids!

Coffee Produced in Bird-Friendly Habitats (Another gift I’m asking for!)

FREEBIE!

Before you go, don’t forget to download my FREE 5-Day Gratitude Journal for you and your family! way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

As we prepare for the holiday season, I hope these Advent and Christmas gift ideas inspire you to create meaningful, tech-free traditions with your loved ones. Whether you're savoring quiet moments, enjoying classic holiday films, or diving into festive activities, may this season be filled with joy, connection, and cherished memories. 

Teaching Citizenship with Purpose to All Ages

I received this email recently from a homeschooler: ”Hello!!! I would LOVE and even pay for a beginners guide to teaching citizenship and Plutarch. It feels so overwhelming to me for some reason I don’t even know where to begin, and I saw you mention in one of your videos it’s one of your favorite subjects to teach.” Warm wishes! - KM

I DO love teaching citizenship! But sometimes it sounds intimidating and I can understand why. Public school approaches these topics through subjects like “social studies” and “civics” and when homeschoolers talk about things like Rome and Plutarch and your child is 5 years old… it can feel confusing and overwhelming.

My initial response is to suggest checking out Heroes & Hope and Exploring Political Ideologies for older students, but these are launching pads to dive even deeper and appreciate this subject area.

That’s why today, I’m diving into how we can teach citizenship with purpose to all ages.

Reading through our Heroes & Hope book with my kids in April 2020!

Charlotte Mason viewed citizenship as an essential part of education, helping individuals understand their role and responsibility within society. Her approach was rooted in character formation, moral integrity, and a deep understanding of history, government, and social order.

We also don’t structure our homeschool like a traditional school, with social studies workbooks and tests.

Still, I firmly believe that citizenship encompasses the whole person—their values, beliefs, internal moral compass, and leadership development.

One key aspect I should mention is that I approach citizenship differently with my son and daughter, based on their God-given strengths, skills, and interests. In other words, our son is wired differently than his little sister. Nevertheless, they both deserve exposure to Plutarch, for example. While they may not both be naturally inclined to pursue studies in battle leadership, they are both inclined toward character development and ethics.

Here’s a brief overview of how we’ve approached teaching citizenship over the past 10 years:

1. Starting in Form 2B (Grade 4): We begin by gradually reading Stories from the History of Rome by Ms. Beesly. The children give an oral or a drawing narration.

2. Moving to Citizenship Primers: After completing Stories from the History of Rome, we introduce a citizenship primer like The Young Citizen Reader by Paul Reinsch. Alongside this, we start reading through a Plutarch Primer to familiarize the children with the lives and teachings of Plutarch, the Greek historian and biographer. Plutarch's Lives (or Parallel Lives)—biographies of notable Greeks and Romans—are considered foundational in classical education, including in Charlotte Mason's method.

3. Incorporating Other Stories, Current Events and Guides: While working through the primers, we also explore other historical stories and biographies, using resources like Heroes & Hope, Courage and Exploring Political Ideologies to discuss the ideas and values tied to citizenship. We enjoy poetry like Lyra Heroica, and books like Ourselves and the Socratic Dialogues. There are a plethora of great books depending on what you think your child might enjoy reading and discussing! I offer more ideas in my form guides which you can find here and here.
   
   We also incorporate daily Current Events (as Charlotte Mason recommends). We’ve been using WORLDWATCH for a couple years and the kids BEG to watch it daily.
   
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4. Diving Deeper into Plutarch: As we progress, we read Plutarch’s Lives together and discuss the various lives. Initially, my son and I read together, using guides from communities like The CMEC, The Alveary, and Ambleside Online. However, as our schedule became busier and I was reading aloud for most of the day, my son transitioned to online Plutarch classes with a community of students. For the past two years, his favorite has been classes with Thomas Banks from House of Humane Letters.

5. Engaging in In-Person Discussions on GREAT books: Finally, our kids participate in in-person groups where they get to discuss good books and citizenship values with their peers, focusing on the good, the true, and the beautiful. These can include things like sci-fi or fantasy fiction novels, historical fiction and more.

The key is to not box yourself in! Sure, we can enjoy a path with what others have studied for history AND we can include exciting books and dialogue with others based on modern society and the world we live in and the ideas and challenges we battle today.

In the end, as homeschool parents, our role isn’t to teach everything. It's about exposing our children to a rich feast of ideas and allowing them to explore these topics at their own pace.

I hope this is helpful!