Tag: hymn study

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Homeschooling Through The Holidays: A Christmas Tree Study For Kids


Enjoy these beautiful, simple and no stress activities as you are homeschooling through the holidays. Our Christmas Tree Study for kids includes not only nature study but a nature craft, Christmas hymn and composer study and an art lesson with Nana too!

This Christmas Tree Study for kids includes art lessons, online resources, craft activities and more. Everything you need for the holidays.

The Reality Of Holiday Homeschooling

When we are homeschooling through the holidays, we can change things up, take our time, incorporate favorite traditions and make lovely memories together as a family. Many families choose to set aside this time for Christmas School. These weeks can lead up to and create a special focus on the birth of Christ.

Just how? You can choose read alouds that point to Jesus and do hands on art lessons to draw your way through the Christmas story. Pick a nature study hunt for red and green and study a traditional hymn about the reason for the season. We always like to make Nana’s Christmas cookies! Have a sweet tea time. Watch Christmas movies!

Another way to homeschool through the holidays is with this special event around a Christmas tree study!

This Christmas Tree Study for kids includes art lessons, online resources, craft activities and more. Everything you need for the holidays.

A Christmas Tree for the Animals Event: Here’s How to Be Ready

  • When: LIVE premiere Wednesday, November 16th at noon ET
  • Where: Right here on this page!
  • How: Sign up to participate via the form, below
  • Can’t attend live? No worries! Sign up and you will have access to the replay of the event

Sign Up To Attend Live or for Replay

Get access to attend live and to enjoy the replay of the event – Plus accompanying resources

    What’s Included in Christmas Tree For the Animals Event?

    When the event is live, you will enjoy (you will also have access to the replay):

    • Decorating an Outdoor Christmas Tree for the Animals with Amy Law of Homeschool Nature Study
    • Christmas Craft for Your Outdoor Tree with Victoria Vels of Homeschool Nature Study
    • Christmas Tree for the Animals Art Lesson with Nana of You ARE an ARTiST

    You will also have access to:

    What Supplies are Needed?

    For your art time with Nana, you will just need a very few suggested supplies, below:

    • a starter set of chalk pastels (Our favorites are here)
    • construction paper (Nana suggests white construction paper for this lesson)
    • baby wipes or damp paper towel for easy clean up

    Details on supplies for the craft portion included with sign up.

    This Christmas Tree Study for kids includes art lessons, online resources, craft activities and more. Everything you need for the holidays.

    Christmas Tree Animals Study

    It is so much fun to decorate an outdoor tree just for the animals! For even more animals studies, you can also enjoy an art lesson on forest animals and birds – here at You ARE an ARTiST and a nature study at Homeschool Nature Study.

    Here are some ideas for your Christmas Tree Animals study with an art and nature focus:

    This Christmas Tree Study for kids includes art lessons, online resources, craft activities and more. Everything you need for the holidays.

    Christmas Tree Nature Study

    Trees are a delight to study any time of year! Enjoy these additional ideas for a tree nature study or for winter nature study you can easily do indoors or outdoors.

    Paint a winter frosty leaf in chalk pastels with Nana!

    Nana’s Frosty Leaf is part of the Winter art lessons series in the You ARE an ARTiST Clubhouse. Suggested supplies: dark blue construction paper, starter set of chalk pastels and slightly damp paper towel or baby wipes for easy clean up.

    Red and Green Outdoor Hour Challenge – this is a fun way to notice red and green in nature. Get started with these ideas.

    This Christmas Tree Study for kids includes art lessons, online resources, craft activities and more. Everything you need for the holidays.

    In Homeschool Nature Study membership, you can also find a study of the Hemlock Tree in the Autumn course and Evergreens in My Yard study and journal page in the Trees course. Each season includes a new tree study.

    FREE Winter Sample of Homeschool Nature Study Membership – with simple ways to study nature this winter, taking a ‘using your senses’ walk, studying animals in winter, taking a first day of winter walk and more!

    The Gift of Art: Gifts to Make and Give Video Art Lessons is a wonderful stand alone art curriculum or a perfect complement to your holiday gift-giving fun.

    Christmas Craft Activities For Kids

    Besides your fun homeschool nature craft that Victoria will lead you in this event, you might also enjoy these hands-on activities for Christmas

    • Nature Crafts course – Victoria leads you in a brand new nature craft each month at Homeschool Nature Study. As you head into winter, you might especially love creating an ice craft!
    • Nana’s course, The Gift of Art, is perfect for allowing your kids to make gifts for others on a dime. Nana shares easy ideas for kids of all ages to make a gift to give that they will be proud of. Letting your children handmake a gift for someone is affordable and allows them to express their creativity. Not only that, your kids can gift items that showcase their artistic progress. 
    • Christmas Tree Art Lessons – Nana has several FUN Christmas tree art lessons and so much more!

    Additional Resources For Christmas In Your Homeschool

    Continue your lovely Christmas school with even more resources to create memories this year.

    • Christmas Book to Movie Homeschool Activities Your Kids Will Love! by Erin – Check out this festive list of Christmas books made into movies – with homeschool activities your kids will love! Now your kids can re-create their favorite book characters and movie scenes with chalk pastels! Like Kevin from Home Alone, the Grinch and more!
    • A Merry Christmas Hymns Study for Your Homeschool – Whether you homeschool as normal through December, add in Christmas activities, or trade all your homeschool curriculum for ‘Christmas School,’ a Christmas hymns study can be an enjoyable part of your school day. It is a beautiful opportunity for the family to learn and worship together.

    You might also like these beautiful topics:

    See All That Is Included in You ARE an ARTiST Complete Clubhouse Membership!
    This Christmas Tree Study for kids includes art lessons, online resources, craft activities and more. Everything you need for the holidays.

    Where to Find Nana, Tricia, Victoria, Amy, Dawn and Stef

    We have loved this Christmas Tree Study for kids! We invite you to connect with us and find even more lovely homeschooling through the holidays ideas.

    Share on Social Media!

    We can’t wait to see your art, craft, or your nature or hymn studies! Be sure to tag us on Instagram @chalkpastelart and @outdoorhourchallenge

    As Courtney shared in her Biblical homeschool post, “we hope that this gives you lots of inspiration for your Christmas school plans this year! Remember, you don’t have to do it all this year. Advent is all about preparing our hearts and dwelling in His perfect peace. Christmas school is an opportunity not only for creativity and education but for making lasting memories together.”

    Growing a love of art at You ARE an ARTiST is a multi-generational passion! Tricia is Nana’s daughter and a mama of five children. Nana shared her first chalk pastel art lessons with her grandchildren around Tricia’s kitchen table. Homeschooling since 2000, Tricia has seen the fruits of home education with three homeschool grads so far! She shares the art and heart of homeschooling at Your Best Homeschool and is author of the book, Help! I’m Homeschooling! She and her husband, Steve, are also owners of sister sites Homeschool Nature Study and The Curriculum Choice.

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    A Beautiful Easter Hymn Study For Your Homeschool

    Join us for a beautiful Easter hymn study for your homeschool and video art lessons to match! Music and art help us all to connect learning with a special holiday plus build sweet memories together as a family.

    The Beauty And Tradition Of Easter Hymns

    Whether you call it Easter or Resurrection Day, so many emotions are tied to this special holy day. Good Friday’s deep sadness and pain countered with the immense joy of Easter Sunday.

    While scripture is our primary resource for learning about Easter, we love to add beautiful hymn studies. The music and lyrics often express the emotions of the holiday more beautifully than I could, and the hymns also help children understand and appreciate the importance of that day.

    Our hymn studies include music and art, which allows students the hands-on learning components that help them make connections and internalize their learning.

    Be sure to check out The Art of Hymn Study for more information on using art and hymns in your homeschool.

    Low in the Grave He Lay hymn study at You ARE an ARTiST

    Easter Hymns Lessons For Your Homeschool

    “Up from the grave He arose

    With a mighty triumph o’er His foes

    He arose a Victor from the dark domain

    And He lives forever with His saints to reign”

    Low in the Grave He Lay is one of my favorite Easter hymns, and I love the celebration of Christ’s victory of the grave that we hear in that song. Nana created a gorgeous painting looking out at the tomb and seeing the crosses on the hill with beautiful bright colors.

    In the Garden is another beautiful hymn that is great for the Easter season. This lesson is also included in the hymns course and features Jesus walking in the garden. This song reminds us of the ladies walking in the garden with Jesus on Easter morning and of our relationships with Him.

    Easter Art Lessons That Will Make for a Memorable Time

    You can find the Hymns course in your You ARE An Artist Clubhouse Membership. There are also free hymn studies that have hands-on ideas, background stories, and copy work for each of these hymns included with the lessons.

    Finally, The Old Rugged Cross hymn pairs beautifully with Nana’s Easter Cross lesson in the Easter Course (available for purchase or included with the clubhouse membership). This chalk pastel painting is a stunning rendition of the cross, complete with flowers. It does a beautiful job expressing the pain of the cross contrasted with the joy and hope of the resurrection. You can also enjoy this accompanying hymn study.

    More Resources For Easter Homeschooling

    In addition to all of the Easter hymn studies for homeschool mentioned above, Nana has a plethora of other beautiful art lessons perfect for Easter.

    In the New Testament Bible Course, she has a Garden of Gethsemane painting that is a beautiful accompaniment when discussing the days leading up to Easter Sunday.

    Next, she has started a great new series in that course that covers the disciples.

    Here are a few ideas for using chalk pastel lessons to teach the Resurrection with kids. You could use these ideas in your homeschool, in a Sunday School, or for family devotional time. Perhaps spread them through the Lenten weeks, or use them for a concentrated study during the Holy Week.

    There is also an Easter course included in the membership, or you can purchase it separately. The Easter course has a variety of different lessons, including:

    • Palm Branch
    • Crown of Thorns
    • Easter Lily
    • Stained Glass Window
    • The Stone Rolled Away
    • Lord’s Supper
    • Calvary’s Crosses

    For Clubhouse members, each of the above courses includes an I Drew It Then I Knew It Companion Guide with fast facts, overviews, art planners and more.

    Join us for a beautiful Easter hymn study for your homeschool and video art lessons to match! Music and art help us all to connect learning with a special holiday plus build sweet memories together as a family.

    You will also enjoy these resources for Easter homeschooling:

    • Draw Your Way Through the Resurrection Story with Art – You could use these ideas in your homeschool, in a Sunday School, or for home church or family devotional time. Perhaps spread them through the Lenten weeks, or use them for a concentrated study during the Holy Week.
    • Easter Art Lessons That Will Make For a Memorable Time – Whether you want to experience Easter with your family through Lent, Holy Week, or Easter Sunday, we have something for you. Because studying Easter is not only Biblically rich but history-rich. There is so much to learn! 

    Spring Homeschool Ideas in the You ARE an ARTiST Complete Clubhouse

    You can enjoy all of the hymns art lessons and hymn studies for your homeschool, spring homeschool lessons and more than 800 video art lessons in the You ARE an ARTiST Clubhouse. You will enjoy access to a monthly interactive calendar and lessons for any time of year.

    Join the You ARE an ARTiST Complete Clubhouse Today!

    Dawn is a passionate follower of Jesus, wife to Chris, and homeschool mom of four. In her spare time she loves to read, hike, and write on her blog Schoolin’ Swag. She enjoys reviewing curriculum and helping moms find the right fit for their family.

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    Thanksgiving Hymn Favorites: Learning Activities For Your Homeschool

    A season of thankfulness and gratitude would not be complete without sharing thanks to God for all of our blessings. One of our favorite ways to celebrate during this time of Thanksgiving is with hymn studies. Many songs help us to remember our gifts and sing our gratitude to God. Here, I’ve included Thanksgiving hymn favorites for you to enjoy, along with learning activities for your homeschool.

    These Thanksgiving hymn learning activities are a favorite for celebrating during this time of Thanksgiving. A season of thankfulness and gratitude would not be complete without sharing thanks to God for all of our blessings. One of our favorite ways to celebrate during this time of Thanksgiving is with hymn studies. Many songs help us to remember our gifts and sing our gratitude to God. Here, I've included Thanksgiving hymn favorites for you to enjoy, along with learning activities for your homeschool.

    Our Favorite Thanksgiving Hymns

    A few of our family favorites include:

    We Gather Together

    Count Your Blessings

    Come Ye Thankful People Come

    Doxology

    Give Thanks

    One of our favorite ways to celebrate during this time of Thanksgiving is with hymn studies. Many songs help us to remember our gifts and sing our gratitude to God. Here, I've included Thanksgiving hymn favorites for you to enjoy, along with learning activities for your homeschool.
    Photo by Amy Law

    Thanksgiving Art and Music Activities for Your Homeschool

    This year we are excited to be studying Come Thou Fount as we prepare for Thanksgiving. It is a beautiful, timeless hymn written by Robert Robinson in 1757 and later altered by Martin Madan.

    Robinson was apprenticed to be a barber and did not have a lot of formal education. During his apprenticeship, he was living a rough life and was not on a good path. However, Robinson was touched by preaching that he heard during this time, which changed his life. He eventually became a preacher, even though he had very little formal education. Robert Robinson spent many years preaching and writing books. He also wrote several hymns, but “Come, Thou Fount” is his most famous hymn.

    “Come, thou Fount of every blessing,
    tune my heart to sing thy grace;
    streams of mercy, never ceasing,
    call for songs of loudest praise.
    Teach me some melodious sonnet,
    sung by flaming tongues above.
    Praise the mount I’m fixed upon it
    mount of God’s redeeming love.”

    Hymn study can take many forms. However, we like to look at its origins and the story behind the lyrics and then listen to the hymn sung in various styles. I love how different a song can sound when done by a choir versus a children’s performance. A cappella versions are another great way to listen. We have included a variety of styles in the list below.

    Come Thou Fount hymn lyrics and Thanksgiving hymn art lesson for homeschool at You ARE an ARTiST

    Thanksgiving Hymn Learning Activities: Come Thou Fount

    Next, we love to incorporate art into our hymn study for a hands-on component. Nana has created a beautiful waterfall lesson to accompany “Come Thou Fount.” It is a great visual to help students have that image of a waterfall or fount of blessings. Adding art is helpful for students who are visual learners. This lesson is a beautiful representation of the abundant blessings of God’s love.

    Thanksgiving hymn favorites with art lessons!

    Finally, if you have musical students, they could learn to play it on their instrument of choice or use their voices for singing. My daughter loves to perform the hymns we are studying on her violin. In learning to play it, they often really internalize the song. Keep in mind that it does not need to be complicated or perfect.

    More Thanksgiving Homeschool Resources

    There are so many options and different hymns that you could use. You could focus on one for the month or try a new one each week! If you aren’t familiar with using art in your hymn study or hymn studies with your art, be sure to check out The Art of Hymn Study post for more ideas.

    You can check out this beautiful art lesson to accompany We Gather Together and other great homeschool ideas for Thanksgiving.

    Study more about Thanksgiving with the history of Thanksgiving and the Thanksgiving Day parade in the Thanksgiving course. There is even a lesson to go along with my all-time favorite Thanksgiving book, Cranberry Thanksgiving.

    “How Great Thou Art” is another song that does a great job of helping us to express praise to God for his goodness.

    If you want to mix your art projects up a bit, you can try the fun mixed media collage that accompanies the Count Your Many Blessings hymn. Guest artist Rebecca Parsons created this fun sunflower lesson.

    More ways to celebrate the holidays in your homeschool with hymn studies.

    Year-Round Holiday Activities For Your Homeschool

    The fun of combining art, music, and holidays does not have to end at Thanksgiving hymn favorites! There are many great lessons for Christmas, Easter, even Independence Day.

    Christmas hymns have to be my favorite, and there are so many great lessons! We love the “Away in a Manger” art lesson and like to pair it with a hymn study. The video accompanying “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” makes a beautiful painting perfect for gifting.

    In addition to hymns, there are many fun Christmas art lessons, including a great one for the Charlie Brown fans in your home!

    As we move into springtime and Easter, the Easter course is full of great Easter lessons, and there are a variety of appropriate hymn-themed paintings in the Hymns course. The “Low in the Grave He Lay” lesson is a powerful hymn paired with a beautiful image.

    When summertime and Independence Day roll around, you can do a lesson on America the Beautiful or My Country Tis of Thee.

    That is just scratching the surface of all the fun lessons to combine art, hymns, and your favorite holidays!

    Dawn is a passionate follower of Jesus, wife to Chris, and homeschool mom of four. In her spare time she loves to read, hike, and write on her blog Schoolin’ Swag. She enjoys reviewing curriculum and helping moms find the right fit for their family.

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    The Art of Hymn Study

    In the same way that a certain smell can stir up powerful memories, music has a way of going deep and reaching the soul, catching in that place where words blend with feelings to create, or evoke the strongest of emotions. Today, I share with you the art of hymn study.

    “Music is the art of thinking with sounds.”

    Jules Combarieu

    Words to familiar songs often bring me back to when I first heard them or they bring up feelings related to the words of the song and events that are tied in my mind to the music The hymn sung at my grandfather’s funeral. The cheery tunes sung by the choir at the Christmas cantata, or the doxology after the Lord ’s Supper. These songs reach into my soul and remind us that thou we are but mortals we can glimpse the eternal.

    Worshiping God through music that just draws me in and brings peace and joy to my soul. In our home we enjoy a variety of music; ranging from traditional hymns, to bluegrass worship, to contemporary praise.

    In addition to listening and singing along, we like to study various hymns. In taking the time to look closer at the lyrics, the scripture behind the songs, and the stories of how or why they were written, one can more profoundly understand, and relate, to the powerful messages that are included in these works.

    Does that mean that your hymns shouldn’t be fun? Inspiring? Or that your worship should be full of work? Of course not! Don’t get overwhelmed, and don’t fret that you struggled with high school poetry.

    “Where words fail, music speaks.”

    Hans Christian Andersen

    Making Hymn Study Fun

    What can make a hymn study even more fun and powerful? Adding art to that study! Nana, here at You are an Artist, has done an entire course of art lessons that connect especially to hymns. This allows students to experience the songs in new ways and engages students that might not otherwise be interested in music. It’s the art of hymn study!

    Nana has a knack for taking inspiration from the music, and helping artists of any level recreate her vision. A masterpiece created by your children also allows the opportunity to discuss the image, meaning, and inspiration with others. “Here Grandma! I made this for you. It’s a picture of the three Kings…”

    To add more art to your hymn studies (or hymn studies to your art), you can check out this selection of hymns that already have lessons and hymn studies. Check the hymns course in your “You Are An Artist Clubhouse Membership” each month for new hymns.

    Add art to your hymn studies by checking out this selection matching up hymns and art. The art of hymn study! Experience songs in new ways.

    Hymn Study and Art Pairings

    You might also like:

    Dawn is a passionate follower of Jesus, wife to Chris, and homeschool mom of four. In her spare time she loves to read, hike, and write on her blog Schoolin’ Swag. She enjoys reviewing curriculum and helping moms find the right fit for their family.