"The second light of Advent is the light of plants-
Plants that reach up to the sun and in the breezes dance."
We lit the second candle in our Advent wreath, and I read this story:
We also focused on Saint Lucia this week.
Saint Lucia day is December 13, and being that we have some Swedish and Danish heritage, this is one that I really look forward to celebrating. Here is a brief description of it from the awesome,online magazine, Rhythm of the Home:
"Long ago, but not so long that we have forgotten, legend tells of a young maiden dressed in white wearing a wreath of burning candles on her head. Coming from Värmland in Sweden, she crossed Lake Vantern in a boat to bring food to the starving villagers on shore. Sailing in the darkness of December, the villagers could hear her coming by the songs that she and her attendants sang and by the candles on her head.
The original St. Lucia was a young Christian martyr who lived in Sicily, Italy in the 4th century. She was known for her love and kindness.
Every December 13th this procession is played out in homes, schools, and businesses all over Sweden. Though Santa Lucia Day is thought of as a “Swedish” holiday, it must be noted that all of Scandinavia celebrates St. Lucy’s Day as well as many people of Scandinavian descent all over the world. It is a time for us to join together in joyful celebration of song and food during the darkest time of the year.Preparations for the big day start almost a week before when we gather together the whole family to bake lussekatter, the little saffron buns, pronounced “lucy cat-ter.” Along with lussekatter, we eat ginger cookies and drink a spiced juice called glögg."
The oldest girl in each family usually dresses up like Saint Lucia in a white dress, which symbolizes Lucia's choice not to marry and devote her life to Christ, a red sash, which symbolizes her martyrdom, and a crown of candles, which symbolizes the light she brings to the world in this dark time of the year. It is also said that Saint Lucia wore a crown of candles when she was bringing food to the poor in the catacombs so she would have both hands free to serve. Any other girls in the family also wear white gowns and crowns made of ligonberry leaves while the boys wear tall pointed hats and are called "star boys". Once everyone is in "costume" they take the traditional safron buns, and maybe some pepparkakor, or ginger cookies, and coffee to their parent's who are sleeping soundly and dreaming of yummy things to come. Most children will then have ceremonies they are involved in at school, as well as the whole community having a celebration.
We started our "Saint Lucia" activities on Monday, but first, Grant modeled a ball using the fingertips of both hands BEHIND his back, in addition to math review and penny whistle lesson.
I read this great book. It not only described a typical Swedish celebration of Saint Lucia day, it explained the history of Saint Lucia, and how she ended up being such a beloved Saint in Sweden even though she was born in Italy.
Mom's Picture
Grant's Picture
Tuesday was jump roping day for Grant, and I read the kids this book about a little girl named Lucia who went to find the missing sun and rescued it from trolls who had stolen it.
We also made a star boy hat for Grant and a Lucia crown for Johanna. I got the idea for the crown from Rhythm of the Home, but we made it with pink candles instead of the traditional white ones. I thought Johanna would be excited to help me make her crown, but she wanted nothing to do with it. I couldn't even get her to touch the wool! Oh, well. It turned out nice and she liked wearing it.
On Wednesday, Grant and I worked some more on the Jacob's ladder string game. He is pretty good at it now, so we will learn a new one next week.
I read Grant and Johanna this little Saint Lucia story:
http://naturenest.wordpress.com/category/the-festivals-other-holidays/saint-lucia-day/
After I read the story, Grant copied a verse from a traditional Saint Lucia song into his main lesson book.
After he finished the copy work, he did some reading.
On Thursday, we spent the morning making our lussekatter buns and glogg (the non-alcoholic version). Grant helped me make the dough for the buns, then all the kids helped shape them.
While they were baking I read this book about Saint Lucia:
We also watched some videos on YouTube showing some of the traditional songs being performed in Swedish.
These are two of our favorite videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cw5NmXkXjlY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZmv5P0Loes
This is the drawing I did on the chalkboard, and Grant thought he would copy it for fun. Johanna called them the "skinny" and "fat" Lucia.
