A Christmas Carol Homeschool Study: 3-Week Christmas Morning Time Plan
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This 3-week A Christmas Carol homeschool study combines the classic Charles Dickens story with Hillsdale College lectures, Christmas crafts, ESV Scripture copywork, and family discussion questions. It's designed to work for multiple ages, from elementary through high school, and can easily be adapted to fit a busy December homeschool schedule.
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Can I be honest with you? The Christmas season can feel overwhelming when you're trying to juggle homeschooling, holiday preparations, and keeping your kids' hearts focused on the meaning of the season. Last year, I wanted to create something gentle and meaningful for our morning time that would anchor us in the beauty of redemption while still being (very) doable during this busy time of year.
Enter: Our Christmas Carol Morning Time plan. I’m sharing what we did in 2025 so you can take it and make it your own for 2026!
What We Did
This plan is really designed for your whole family (when we did this, I had a 5th grader, a 7th grader, and a 9th grader), but you can easily adapt it for your family. Here's what we used:
The Book
We listened to Hugh Grant read A Christmas Carol on Audible (affiliate link here). This was perfect for us! I could play it while the kids worked on crafts (see more below), or we'd occasionally listen in the car during our busy December schedule. If you prefer a traditional read-aloud, that works beautifully too!
Hillsdale College Course
The free online course from Hillsdale College has been such a treasure! You can register for free here.
The lessons really dig into the text and draw out meaningful historical context that impacted the story. We all learned a lot and I would highly recommend it! This worked well for all of my kids, from elementary through high school.
My kids loved that there's a quiz at the end of each lesson - it kept everyone engaged and accountable.
Crafts and Copywork
I've included optional craft ideas for each week and ESV Scripture copywork. The beauty of this plan is flexibility - want to do a “whole week” in one day? Go for it! Need to stretch it out over three or five days? That works too! The goal is to make this work for your family during this season.
Why Use A Christmas Carol for a Christmas Homeschool Study?
If you've never thought about using A Christmas Carol as part of your homeschool Christmas studies, hear me out! This story is rich with themes of redemption, transformation, and the power of generosity. A Christmas Carol gives us a wonderful opportunity to discuss themes of repentance, generosity, mercy, and transformation, and to contrast Scrooge's changed life with the deeper redemption we have in Christ.
Even when you feel like the conversations with your kids aren't everything you hope they will be, remember it's all the little moments that add up to their understanding later!
The Three-Week Plan
Week 1: Stave 1 & Stave 2 + Light in the Darkness
Watch: Hillsdale Lesson 1 (16:41) before you start reading
Read: Stave 1
Watch: Hillsdale Lesson 2 (40:40) after finishing Stave 1
Read: Stave 2
Craft Option: Paper Snowflakes
This is such a simple one! All you need is white paper squares and scissors. Fold the paper into a triangle, then into thirds, cut shapes along the edges, and unfold to reveal your snowflake. When some of my kids needed more direction, we used these templates from First Palette.
Copywork Options:
"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light." — Isaiah 9:2
"For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light." — Psalm 36:9
"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." — Psalm 51:10
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above." — James 1:17
Week 2: Stave 3 + Generosity and Light
Watch: Hillsdale Lesson 3 (34:55) after finishing Stave 2
Read: Stave 3
Watch: Hillsdale Lesson 4 (34:12) after finishing Stave 3
Craft Option: Simple Christmas Watercoloring
We watched this tutorial first, then did some free painting of Christmas trees and ornaments using the same watercolor technique. After the watercolor dried, we went over them with markers. It was simple but the kids loved it!
Copywork Options:
"It is more blessed to give than to receive." — Acts 20:35
"Let your light shine before others…" — Matthew 5:16
"And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony." — Colossians 3:14
Week 3: Stave 4 & 5 + Redemption and Celebration
Read: Stave 4
Watch: Hillsdale Lesson 5 (32:22) after reading Stave 4
Read: Stave 5
Watch: Hillsdale Lesson 6 (23:39) after reading Stave 5
Craft Option: Muppet Christmas Carol Coloring Pages
We printed our favorite coloring pages from this online coloring book, knowing we were going to watch The Muppet Christmas Carol to celebrate finishing the book! I told you we were keeping this really simple but obviously you could replace this one with any craft you’ve been wanting to do if you have more time, even making some homemade gifts.
Copywork Options:
"Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom." — Psalm 90:12
"Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another…" — Ephesians 4:32
Final Celebration Day
To celebrate, we had:
Hot cocoa and Christmas music playing in the background
Display all our completed crafts around the house
End-of-unit discussion together (see questions below)
Watch The Muppet Christmas Carol as a family
Discussion Questions:
What did you like about the story?
How does the story reflect redemption?
What do you want to remember from the story?
Extra Craft Ideas
If you have extra time or especially crafty kids, here are a few more options:
Pine Cone Bird Feeders
Tie string to a pine cone, cover it in peanut or sunflower butter, roll in birdseed, chill briefly, and hang outdoors. This is a wonderful way to talk about caring for God's creation!
Popcorn & Cranberry Garland
Thread needle and alternate popcorn and cranberries. You can also add dried oranges if you want! Hang as decoration.
Yarn-Wrapped Star Ornaments
Cut stars from cardboard, wrap with yarn in all directions, tie off and add a hanging loop. Optional beads or bells make these extra special!
Making It Work for Your Family
I know what you're thinking, "This sounds wonderful, but I'm already so busy!" I hear you, friend. That's why this plan is designed to be flexible. Listen to the audiobook in the car. Do the crafts over several days instead of all at once. Skip a craft week if you need to. The goal isn't perfection; it's pointing our children to Jesus during this special season.
Or maybe you’re thinking, “That’s way too simple - we can’t just listen to an audiobook and watch a lecture and color Muppets.” Sometimes mom needs a break too - I enjoyed helping with snowflakes and watercoloring WITH my kids this time around. But hey, you can always add MORE! The beauty of this is how simple it is as a base! These weren’t the only things we did to celebrate Christmas - this was just what we did in our morning time we schedule for on average 3 days a week.
If you can't start this today, pin it to your Homeschool or Christmas board so you have it for later!
I hope this plan blesses your family this Christmas season! Let me know in the comments if you try it or if you have any questions!
Looking for more Christmas resources? Check out other Christmas posts or browse my resources for kids page!
