Homeschoolers are uniquely positioned to keep Advent in the way the Church encourages, bringing back traditions to deepen our faith as we prepare for the coming of Our Savior.

Today, Mary Ellen and Ginny bring home the message that, despite what the big-box store says, Christmas does not begin when Halloween ends. Here’s what your family can do.

Show Notes:

In recent years, the practice of observing Advent has grown lukewarm.

Many forget that the Christmas season begins on December 24th with the Vigil of the Solemnity of the Nativity.

Homeschoolers are uniquely positioned to lead the way and keep Advent, one of the richest and most beautiful of liturgical seasons, in the way the Church encourages.

If you are called to bring back traditions that deepen our faith as we prepare for the coming of Our Savior, here’s how:

An easy observance: The Advent wreath

· Three purple and one rose-colored candle

· Light the candles, adding one each week, at dinner time.

· You can find lots of Advent wreath prayers online.

How to Make Observing “Little Lent” Fun

This is a penitential season, often called “Little Lent.”

Children are very visual - explain the meaning of the season's colors.

• Purple for the Penitential season
• Rose colored Gaudete Sunday.
• Christmas is gold and white.

Ask them to notice:

• The Gloria is removed from Mass, just as it is in Lent.
• But the Alleluia is kept because we are anticipating a joyful birth.

Use an Advent calendar or a paper chain to count down the days.

If you make a paper chain:

• Use purple paper
• One pink chain link for Guadete Sunday

Celebrate Catholic New Year’s

• The Saturday night before the first Sunday in Advent
• This year – 12/29/25
• Make a special dinner.
• Have party hats and noisemakers
• Sparkling apple juice to toast the new liturgical year

Put out a Nativity set.

• Leave out the infant Jesus for now.
• Keep a jar or basket of straw nearby.
• When the children make a sacrifice or penance, have them place a straw in the manger to make a soft bed for Baby Jesus.
• Enthrone Baby Jesus after midnight on December 24

Celebrate the Saints

Because Advent contains both penance and joy, we can celebrate the many feast days throughout the season.

• December 4th, the feast of St. Barbara, patroness of architects, you might build a graham cracker house.
• December 9th, for St. Juan Diego’s feast, make a brown paper tilma and serve tacos.
• December 12th, to honor Our Lady of Guadalupe, create paper roses and enjoy Mexican hot cocoa.

Observe Ember Days and O Antiphons. These lesser-known liturgical observances of the Church are beautiful.

2025 Advent Activities for Catholic Homeschoolers has over 200 activities, crafts, and recipes for Advent.

2025 Advent Activities for Catholic Homeschoolers are Available for purchase.

2025 Advent Activities for Catholic Homeschoolers

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Homeschooling Resources

Seton Home Study School

Seton Testing Services

Want to be the hero of your homeschool week? Pull out a game board!

In this episode, Ginny and Mary Ellen share how to “gamify” your homeschooling—turning lessons into fun challenges that build motivation, confidence, and joy in learning. Discover how games activate the brain’s reward system, sneak in skill-building, and bring your family closer together (while making Mom look like a genius).

Show Notes:

• Activating the brain’s reward system releases dopamine—making learning pleasurable.
• A perfect boost for memorizing math facts, Latin declensions, and more.
• Board games and gamified lessons can be your best-kept homeschool secret.

Playing Games vs. Gamifying Lessons

Playing Games = Using an existing board, card, or online game to reinforce skills.
Gamifying Lessons = Adding game-style elements—points, levels, challenges—to regular schoolwork.

Gamification makes learning feel like play by adding:

• Friendly competition
• Small rewards
• Visible achievements

The focus is still on learning, but the experience feels like a game!

How to Gamify Your Homeschool

• Award points or badges for completed tasks.
• Allow badges to be traded for privileges (screen time, outings, desserts).
• Laugh about it—yes, it’s a little like potty-training bribery, but it works!

Examples:

• Each handwriting sheet = 5 minutes of tablet time.
• A near-perfect math lesson = 10 extra minutes before bedtime.
• “Beat the clock” challenges for spelling or Latin drills.
• 100-day streak = family outing or prize.

Learning Through Play

Games aren’t just fun—they teach life lessons:

• Taking turns and waiting patiently
• Losing gracefully and trying again
• Congratulating others on success
• Counting, reading, strategy, and critical thinking

Favorite Educational Games

Try these family favorites for skill-building and fun:

• Scrabble – spelling and vocabulary
• Bird Bingo – nature and observation
• Yahtzee – math and probability
• Count Your Chickens (Peaceable Kingdom) – teamwork for younger kids
• Kerplunk – logic and planning
• Memory games – recall and focus
• Monopoly – money management
• Math Bingo or Flashcard War – fast-paced review

Bottom Line: Whether you’re playing a classic game or creating your own, the goal is joyful learning. Sometimes the lesson is math or spelling—sometimes it’s simply family togetherness.

❤️ Homeschooling Resources

• Seton Home Study School
• Seton Testing Services

So many problems that homeschool moms face can be solved by developing the habit of consistency. Lack of consistency has derailed many a homeschool.

Today, Ginny and Mary Ellen distill their years of experience into ten simple and practical tips to bring harmony of practice, firmness of character, and lasting success to your homeschool.

Show Notes:

Consistency can be hard in every season of homeschool life. It’s hard for everyone. Mostly it’s about developing good habits, and each year presents a new set of circumstances, so new habits and routines must be developed.

These Ten Tips Will Help Get You in the New Groove.

• Have weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly goals.
• Start the day with what is most important and difficult to get done.
• Keep to a daily rhythm: do the same things at around the same time every day. Children, especially small children, do much better with routines.
• Set clear expectations.
• Habit stack. The excellent book Habit Stacking by S.J. Scott recommends linking a new habit to an already existing one. For example, you brush your teeth every morning, so while you are doing that, you can say your morning offering.
• Treat your homeschool hours as sacrosanct. Do not look at your phone, turn on the TV, or answer the door. You are at work, and only emergencies should distract you.
• Be miserly with your time outside of homeschool. Carefully and prayerfully discern outside activities.
• Have a “set in concrete” check-in time for each child to keep them accountable and to make sure they are keeping up with the work.
• Don’t schedule too much work in a day.
• a. Start with too little and gradually increase to the sweet spot.
• b. Do some subjects like history and science every other day.
• c. Make a schedule that works for each child. Overwhelm is death to consistency.
• Once in a while, be inconsistent. Stepping out of the box helps keep you on track when you need to be.

Habit Stacking by S.J. Scott

Homeschooling Resources

Seton Home Study School

Seton Testing Services