Our family has always felt that Christmas music is an important tradition at 
Christmastime. We dig out the old albums and cassette tapes, and the newer 
CD's, and play them when we are decorating the house, making cookies, or just 
whenever we feel like it.
When I taught school, I brought that same feeling into the classroom. I 
played Christmas music whenever we were working quietly, and tried whenever I 
could to incorporate it into the curriculum.
Some of those same ideas can be incorporated into a homeschoolers' 
curriculum. Since my children's school curriculum is devoid of a music 
specialist until 5th grade (and they only get one then if they choose to 
learn an instrument), I have used these ideas for my own children after 
school, as supplemental material, so I know they work.
For younger children, there are lots of books out with the lyrics of songs: 
"The Friendly Beasts", "The Night Before Christmas" (a poem turned song), 
"Must Be Santa", "The Twelve Days of Christmas" (beautifully illustrated by 
artist Jan Brett), "The Little Drummer Boy" (wonderful art by Ezra Jack 
Keats). I usually have read the book aloud, then sang it out loud to my 
student/s, then found a good audio version and played it for them. "The 
Little Drummer Boy" also has a nice video available. These songs can lead 
into good discussions about giving and other issues. They can also lead into 
writing assignments if you think about each individual piece, and if your 
student is ready enough for that.
For older students (5th grade and up), I use "Amahl and the Night Visitors" 
to teach them about opera. Most kids have the preconceived notion that all 
opera is horrible because they can't understand the words and "all that 
singing!" "Amahl" is short enough (50 minutes), a little lighter, and it is 
also a story that seems very familiar (a little bit of Tiny Tim and a little 
bit of The Little Drummer Boy). To introduce it, I tell the students that I 
am going to read them a story, then I'm going to play the music that goes 
along with it. I have a book with the story in it. I stop it here and there 
to play the music *afterwards* that goes with that section. The book tells 
the words, and then they pick out exactly what has happened on the recording. 
If you are lucky enough to be able to borrow the videotape somewhere, this is 
even better - or one can do all three (book, audio, and video). The kids are 
usually intrigued that this is a little boy singing with such a "nice voice". 
The kids also giggle at the woman's voice at first, til you tell them that 
she is trained and most people *can't* sing like that without lots of 
training. (They are laughing because they don't understand.)  BTW, you don't 
have to do the whole thing in one lesson - matter of fact, it's better if you 
don't. I've done it in 2 lessons and I've done it in 6.
One can do similar with yet older students, using Handel's "Messiah", by 
reading the Bible verses that go with each aria (solo) or chorus, then 
playing the audio or video.
                                 -donna
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