If this is your first book club....

Welcome to Christmas Camp!

Let's get started by understanding what an online book club is and how you can navigate the lessons.

For Students:

If this is your first book club, watch the video before starting the first lesson.

For Parents and Teachers:

Important Notes...

We realize there is a lot of information provided. Do not let this overwhelm you. Feel free to skip any rabbit trails or magic dust projects that do not fit into your schedule or do not appeal to you.

We have provided you with enough information for several weeks' worth of study. However, this course is designed to be self-led. Please make it work for you -- whether that be over several weeks or several days.

About What Is Included

Read, Write, Learn - reading assignments, copywork, literary elements
Vocabulary, Spelling, and Grammar - vocabulary, including learning apps and quizzes in Quizlet, spelling games, copywork & dictation, and grammar discussion
Questions to Ponder - thought questions to teach critical thinking and freewriting
Writing Project - a season-long writing assignment
Show What You Know - a wrap-up of all the student has learned for that week.
Rabbit Trails - In every online book club, we will go on rabbit trails of discovery. We will hop off the traditional roads of literature and meander down paths about pop culture, history, biographies, poetry, music, and more. We will take deep dives into some of the subjects touched on in the book and broaden our minds with new adventures.
Magic Dust - We will also bring literature to life by sprinkling a bit of magic dust along the way. These hands-on projects will take us into the book. We will touch, see, feel, and learn on our new adventures.
Party School - The pinnacle of the Family Online Book Club experience is the Party School! At the end of each literature study, we will celebrate the book with a party. Invite friends or family over for food and fun! All the ideas for food, decorations, and activities are included.

About How To Use This Course

We will use this course during our Christmas camp. I'll give you the schedule each week in our community. You can follow the schedule or do your own thing.

The course kickoff will be on December 1st. After that, we will meet on Wednesdays and Fridays for two weeks.

About Copywork and Dictation

Copywork and Dictation are great ways to build spelling and grammar skills. For more information on these techniques, read the following article.

How To Know If You Are Using Copywork And Dictation The Right Way To Teach Language Arts
If you are a Charlotte Mason homeschooler, then chances are the words copywork and dictation have come up repeatedly in homeschool discussions. The late Charlotte Mason, an educator who inspired an entire homeschool philosophy, advocated copywork and dictation as two of the key components to educating children in language arts.

About Freewriting

In this course, we use Freewriting to jumpstart the critical thinking process and get words flowing. Our goal with the writing projects is to help your student find their writing voice. Freewriting is an excellent tool you can learn more about in the article below.

The Freewriting Rules That Will Inspire A Reluctant Writer
'How did you get him to write? He never writes for me at home.' This and a few other questions and comments similar to it were directed at me at our last enrichment classes. At first, I demurred because that's what we Southerners do. Then I realized they were serious.

About The Certificate

Once the student has completed the course, they will receive a certificate. You may print this out for your records.

About Videos and Links

If a link is broken, please email me at [email protected], and I will correct it or find a suitable replacement as soon as possible.

If the video shows an ad, please understand that we do not control this. This is a product of using YouTube. If you feel the ads are inappropriate, you can turn on Restricted Mode.

Complete and Continue