This week we've read aloud "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever"--what a fun book! We laughed and cried with it, and said to each other how well written it was. Very good message of how the church has portrayed Christianity, not always in the most clear or welcoming light. I'm glad for the fresh reminder of Christ's unconditional love.
I remembered we have a very old copy of "The Christmas Carol," annotated for school studies way back when, so we're going to read this aloud as a family in the next couple of weeks. Who doesn't know this story by heart--with all the many spin-offs we've seen or heard? But there's just nothing like pure Dickens. I subscribe to The Writer magazine, and in the most recent issue, one article pointed out how excellent Dickens was at characterization. So we'll piggyback some writing study along with our Christmas enjoyment.
(Ever the homeschoolers, right? 
