Update
After the kids came back from Thanksgiving Break, they had 3 more weeks of school and programs before going back on another break for Christmas. This alone would likely normally have the kids bouncing off the walls for the duration, but for the first two weeks of that time, they were getting out of school an hour early because they had parent teacher conferences. And we opened up an hour early during that time to let them in. Instead of coming up with a modified, longer program day schedule, we used that time to have the kids work on Christmas crafts and watch Christmas movies or listen as someone read them Christmas books (i.e. "How the Grinch Stole Christmas", "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", etc.). They also went through an Advent Calendar, reading a verse or two a day that, at the end of the three weeks, told them the Christmas Story. They put the verses on a small Rosemary bush, shaped like a tree, as ornaments.
Some of the crafts they did included handprint wreaths, Christmas chains, and letters to Santa which, when turned into the red mailbox at Macy's, would count toward Macy's giving $1 donations for each of them to the Make-A-Wish foundation. Some of our older kids were reluctant to write letters to Santa, but once they heard what it was for, they were all over it. Didn't even have to read the age-old article, "Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus" to them! My kids are pretty great!
The Annual Christmas party was a HUGE success! 2 different churches participated in the festivities and there were about a million gifts for our kids to choose from to buy for their families. And pretty much all of them were donated! We almost definitely had more volunteers than students. (I could probably give a more exact number, but I didn't plan that day! Thanks Emily!!!) Everyone was wonderful, and while it probably looked crazy, all the reports I got back were about how organized it was.
Of course, I forgot to take pictures, so have some I found on our server!
