Read the Christmas traditions from a few of our staff to hear directly from the people behind The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine.

Hey Mama, Be careful. It’s the time of year when the wonder of the season is lost in the chaos of the moment. Hold on to the wonder. . . hold it fast . . . and hold on to the One this season is all about—JESUS! It’s His day. It’s His time. It’s His moment, if you’ll let it be.

It might come as a bit of a shock to some people (especially non-homeschoolers) that we take the entire month of December off from school every year.

Psst . . . {in a whisper voice} How much quiet time do you get? I’m going to share a bit on the power of silence to raise strong and resilient children. However, as with teaching life skills in general, our kids ‘pick up’ most of what they learn in this area by what they see us, and others they regularly spend time with, do.

The Bible resource we use is . . . the Bible. As soon as our kids can read Genesis 1:1, they get their own large print Bible and off we go! This is the most important textbook in our homeschool. Here are just seven reasons why:

Did you know? The definition of resiliency is “[the] ability to recover quickly from disruptive change, or misfortune without being overwhelmed or acting in dysfunctional or harmful ways.”1 I’ll just start by saying that building resilience in children, especially your own, can be very difficult emotionally, frustrating at times, but very rewarding in the end whether it be allowing your child to fail versus doing it yourself to ensure protection. But how can you build resiliency through reading? What is the connection?

I never wanted to be a hockey mom. Your kids can bring so many different situations into your life to be transformed by the renewing of your mind. I have been transformed into a hockey mom, drinking coffee at the arena watching my youngest glide, maneuver and race on the ice.

I have been far from thankful—have you ever felt that way? Hard things come our way and we lose focus. Hard people come our way and we lose courage. Hard times come our way and we lose faith. We are so far from thankful that we’ve gone to the other extreme of actually being ungrateful.