Written by Jamie Martin, editor of Simple Homeschool and founder of Steady Mom

Homeschooling isn’t really on my mind this week. I’m guessing that for the most part, it’s not on yours either.

So let’s just admit it and move on to what is filling much of our thoughts:

Food. (Among other things like family time, giving, and unity, of course!)

I spent part of the weekend writing lists and shopping for ingredients. We don’t travel over the holidays, so the preparations for our family’s Christmas dinner rests on our own shoulders. As the children get older and can help out, I find that I enjoy this time more and more each year.

Here’s what we’ll be serving up in a few days.

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Written by contributor Jessica Fisher of Life as Mom

When I was studying for my teaching credential, I took a class on Culture. I remember that it was really important to the professor one day that we share our cultural background. Back in the 90′s the focus was on ethnic culture.

Well, my family tree was a hodge-podge of European nationalities that had lived in the US for about 100 years. There was no language, dress, or habits that tied me to my ancestors. I felt bereft of “culture” for a moment.

But then I thought about the concept we were studying. While it has many definitions, culture can be defined as the unifying characteristics of a certain people group. Well, I had that. I belonged to my family.

My parents may not have passed down the language or habits of their forefathers, but we most definitely had a family culture.
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