The Santa Scandal

Posted by Lee | 0 comments

“No one would see him. These, and numerous other seductive thoughts flew threw Andrew’s brain like arrows. It was Christmas Eve, and his parents were out doing a little last minute shopping. There was a choice; be a good boy and go to bed, or sneak into his parents’ room and hunt for presents.”   ~The Santa Scandal

In our family, each December we did a version of “homeschool-lite” that we called Christmas School. By my way of thinking, it must have been a homeschool mom who decided the Christmas holiday would be in December. After 3 months of homeschooling, it was time for a break! My favorite Christmas school project was our yearly creative writing assignment based on Norman Rockwell art.

I asked my boys to choose any picture in Norman Rockwell’s Christmas Book. Their assignment was to write the story behind the picture. They came up with some GREAT creative writing ideas, and the pictures really helped to get those creative juices flowing. That was how my son Kevin came to write “The Santa Scandal.”

During December, we would only do subjects that required us to be consistent in order to finish in one year. That usually meant math and foreign language. We did a writing assignment like the one above, but they would also write their Christmas cards and letters to friends. We listened to Handel’s Messiah, and other Christmas music, and talked about the words and the composers. Then the boys would work on making presents for family and friends.

They would finish their schoolwork at about noon. We had strict rules limiting TV and computer time during our “homeschool-lite” season. The kids normally helped me with all the shopping, baking, cleanings, decorating and preparing. Then they spent the rest of the day pursuing their areas of passion.

By the way, Kevin’s story about “The Santa Scandal” ends this way:

“For a moment, the drawer seemed to contain nothing of importance. There was nothing but dusty, red clothes. Andrew dug deeper and uncovered a pointy fur hat. “Now that’s odd. Why would Dad have red clothes and a hat. Unless…

As his thoughts slowly caught up with him, his parents barged in from the living room – early.  Andrew let out a strangled cry and whirled about. In his hands was the incriminating evidence, and on his face was written a mixture of horror, disbelief, and betrayal. Shaking with tears, he finally cried out, “You STOLE Santa’s clothes?!?”

Lee Binz is a veteran homeschooling mom of two and the owner of The HomeScholar, “Helping parents homeschool through high school.” She has a new free minicourse called “The 5 Biggest Mistakes Parents Make When Homeschooling High School”. You can sign up for her free email homeschool newsletter, The HomeScholar Record and get your daily dose of wisdom via e-mail from her homeschool blog, The HomeScholar Helper.