An American Christmas
Four weeks through Advent to Christmas Eve
Four American Christmas stories that families have told for generations: a poet's hope in wartime, a newspaper's answer to a little girl, a gift given in love, and a message read from the Moon.
The four weeks
- Week 1
I Heard the Bells
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow writes a poem of hope during the Civil War.
- Week 2
Yes, Virginia
A girl writes to the New York Sun in 1897, and the paper answers.
- Week 3
The Gift of the Magi
O. Henry's story of a young couple and two loving gifts.
- Week 4
Christmas Eve at the Moon
The crew of Apollo 8 speaks to Earth from orbit around the Moon.
Memory work for the unit: “Christmas Bells,” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Three levels, one story
Every week tells the same story at three reading levels, so brothers and sisters study the same topic and talk it over together. Buy the level you need, or the Family Edition for all three.
- PrimerAges 6 to 8Read together with a parent
- LedgerAges 9 to 11Read and work alone
- JournalAges 12 to 14Longer reading, deeper questions
Each week includes
- A short reading written for the level
- A person to meet, with an odd-but-true fact
- A Quote of the Week that teaches a virtue
- A real primary source, explained in plain words
- Vocabulary, questions, and memory work with a QR code to hear it
- A parent key with answers and a dinner-table question