Waiting. Expecting. Anticipating.

 

The coming of our Lord Jesus Christ to the earth was a profound, transcendent event. His birth changed everything and marked the beginning of hope for all mankind. This time of breathless anticipation for children is a wonderful opportunity to teach them about Jesus Christ, and turn their hearts towards Him.

 

The Advent Studies was created to assist families in simplifying their Christmas season while also providing spiritual depth and meaning. With Bible lessons, crafts, book suggestions, and homey recipes, we hope that this guide will help center your family's celebration, while you center your focus on Him.

 

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Providing Meaning

 

Many of us desperately want a rich, spiritually-deep Christmas experience for our children. But with all of the other things tugging at our attention during this season, that spiritual depth can sometimes be the thing that we just don’t have the bandwidth for. The Advent Studies was created to provide the meaning and depth that many families crave, without any extra effort from you. This guide goes slowly through the Christmas story in the Bible, and provides open-and-go lessons and questions that will help your family go deeper than ever before into what the account of Christ’s birth can teach us each personally. The Advent Studies is not a simple narration through the Christmas story, but a spiritual feast that we hope will change hearts.

 

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Christmas Symbolism

 

Traditional Christmas celebrations include many symbols that are meant to point our minds to Jesus Christ. Woven throughout this guide are small lessons about the symbolism we see all around us at this time of year. The Advent Studies will help you teach your children why red and green are traditional Christmas colors, as well as the spiritual significance of stars, light, gifts, caroling, candy canes, and Christmas trees.

  

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Foundational Christmas Traditions

 

The Advent Studies was created to provide a bountiful Christmas family experience year after year. It is not intended to be a one-and-done guide. We hope that it will be something that provides the foundation for your family’s Christmas season every year, and that you will want to keep coming back to it.

 

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For the Whole Family

 

Christmas is the time for family, and so The Advent Studies was written to bring you together. It is intended to be done with all the children in your family at one time, to help foster lasting family bonds. We hope this invitation to gather contributes to the closeness of your family unit. 

 

 

Low-stress

 

It can be difficult to feel the Spirit of God when we are overwhelmed and overloaded. Many of us hope for profound spiritual experiences around Christmastime, and yet that desire often seems to lead us to do too much. It is the paradox of this time of year: we desire to feel something, and to help our children feel something, so we load our schedules with the things that we think will help us feel close to Jesus Christ. And in the process we often end up simply tired, disappointed, or feeling like failures.

 

The Advent Studies was written to do away with this Christmastime conundrum. It will provide you with a low-stress framework that will help you create the Christmas season you dream of, but without the overwhelm. We did the leg work, and it is all laid out for you!

 

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Cozy, Crafty, and Kitchen-y

 

In a desire to hit all of the cozy, Christmassy notes, The Advent Studies includes crafts, Christmas picture book suggestions, and recipes. We all feel nostalgia for the home-based Christmas memories of our childhood, and this guide will provide you with the comprehensive Christmas experience: Bible reading, spiritual depth and discussion, yummy treats, Christmas carols, and crafts that become keepsakes.

 

This course was also carefully constructed to provide you with all the Christmas décor in your house (if desired). Simple, homemade decorations are always the most meaningful, and The Advent Studies crafts will supply your home with tree ornaments, garlands galore, and paper stars everywhere. We hope your children find joy in being instrumental in the creation of the Christmas decorations in their home, and that it becomes a core childhood memory for them. And we hope you treasure their creations for years to come.

 

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Created for Everyone

 

Although Idlewild and Company is a homeschool curricula-based company, The Advent Studies was created for everyone! It is not considered “school curricula” and you do not need to homeschool to use this guide to add meaning to your Christmas season. It is our prayer that this guide will help bring Christ to the forefront of the holiday for families in all circumstances.

 

The Biblical lessons within The Advent Studies are written for children ages 5 to 12. But you know your children, and if you would like to start using this guide with younger children, or savor it with older children, feel free to do so! Know that lessons may need to be simplified for younger children, but it will be an easy adaptation. If you intend to use this guide with younger children, please look over the sample days provided to ensure that it will be a good fit for your family.

 

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Customizable

 

You are always in control of your family and your home, and this course is no different! You can successfully use this guide in any way you see fit. You can leave out the craft ideas, and simply use the spiritual lessons to guide family scripture study during Christmastime. Or you can skip regular lessons and use this as the backbone of your homeschool during the Christmas season. It is flexible and made to provide you with all the tools you need to create what your family desires most in this season.

 

There are picture book suggestions included with each lesson to enhance the coziness of the season, and help your family dive into lovely, seasonal literature. But these book suggestions are optional and other books can be substituted, or you can skip this portion entirely. The booklist is meant to give you ideas and tools, but is not a booklist you need to stress about purchasing or finding.

 

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Includes a Winter Solstice Celebration

 

In addition to the 12 days of Christmas lessons, crafts, and experiences, The Advent Studies includes a Winter Solstice celebration. This standalone celebration is complete with a lesson centered on Jesus Christ being the Light of the World, a recipe, simple craft, and other suggestions to help you celebrate the solstice in a meaningful, Christ-centered way. This guide stands apart from the Advent lessons, so that you can use it every year on the winter solstice, no matter where the solstice happens to fall in the week. We hope this add-on helps you create meaningful traditions that will become beautiful memories for your children.