From a (former) long-time member with children ages two to twenty.
Last time I wrote about THREE CON’S I’ve experienced with Read Aloud Revival’s Christmas School. Here are THREE PRO’S!
ONE: IT’S WELL WRITTEN AND ORGANIZED. I get a dopamine hit just watching my Christmas School Guide buzzing out of the Epson Eco Tank printer! It makes me GIDDY. It’s absolutely beautiful ~ a work of art. I typically also download a digital copy to my tablet so that I can easily access the video links during school lessons. The links are right there in the Guide, and work seamlessly. After the Guide is printed, I go through and put stars next to my favorite ideas, and I write SKIP across things that are repeats from previous years or not the best fit for my crew. I also take a pen to the weekly at-a-glance plans, noting what we are adding or deleting. With that rough plan in place, I start digging into each activity- noting what supplies we’ll need, what pages I’ll need to print extra copies of for each child, etc. Last year the art study pages that were included and the printable hymns and Scripture readings were gorgeous! I ended up printing them for display. I will humbly admit that I printed WAY more than we actually ended up using – this is a personality flaw of mine. I get carried away with lofty goals. We ended up never getting to the art study (sob) or the pretty science unit with evergreen flashcards. I’m still learning how to predict what we will accomplish during the busy month of December!
TWO: THE LOVELY COMMUNITY. The strongest asset of RaR, in my opinion, is its community. The $47 Christmas School fee does NOT include access to Premium and therefore does not truly include the community I am referring to… (see CONS post for one idea on how to potentially get community + Christmas School for less than $47). I realize not every buyer will be doing Christmas School with Premium access – but this is the only way I’ve ever personally experienced this product and I’m not sure I’d want to do Christmas School without it. (I was a member of RaR Premium for almost ten years, and Christmas School has always been included in membership fees.) RaR usually hosts some kind of member Christmas party (virtually) for mommas, and the forum is full of families sharing their ideas and photos of their weeks. When a recipe flopped – the forum was the first place to warn others. If a craft needed slight modification, the forum community gave ideas. Additional coordinating crafts and book titles were passed back and forth, along with a general sense of holiday cheer. There’s something about seeing other families, worldwide, participating in the same activities and reading the same books, that always motivated me.
Full disclosure regarding RAR COMMUNITY: This is my first year being “outside” of the Premium walls and part of me has longed to hop back in, simply for the community! I joined Premium in Nov of 2016 and was a faithfully paying member through my cancellation in Feb of 2025. Not a single month skipped. I had paid over $1K in membership fees and had been an active participant from the start, spending almost ten years inside. In fact, I had devoted quite a bit of energy to spreading the word about Premium and encouraging other mothers to join – leaving high reviews everywhere and buying every WaxWing book published, always gleefully gobbling up RaR merchandise. I had been in Premium almost from its inception.
Imagine my heartbreak when I reached out to RaR’s customer service in early Oct of 2025, asking if they would take me back at my former grandfathered pricing rate (the one still active as of 7 months prior when I’d cancelled) …only to find my request denied. I suddenly saw myself through the eyes of the RaR leadership: I was a number in a list. Not a faithful piece of the community. If I didn’t pay the (now more than double) price hike, they had no qualms about letting me go for good, keeping the drawbridge closed. My history didn’t matter. It was quite eye opening. But: those are the rules and I will respect that.
I add this here because as I list “community” as a PRO, I do feel led to equally disclose that there are major flaws within RaR Premium that caused me to cancel after a very long tenure. I do plan to write about those experiences at some point. For the purpose of a Christmas School product review – just note that there are some potholes within Premium if you opt to add it, and the good community comes with a bit of poor internal leadership.
That’s all I’ll write for now on that score. Here’s my all-time-favorite mug to end PRO #2 on a cheerful note!
THREE: INTERESTING CONTENT. Sarah Mackenzie has an eye for quality books. It’s been very fun to follow her and she has introduced my family to a plethora of excellent literature and talented illustrators. Christmas School is no exception. Every year I learn something new, even as an adult. Whether an illustrator interview, an art lesson, or a Looking Closely video (focused on the picture book of the week), the presentation is excellent. There are no corners cut. The RaR team excels at gathering up a variety of topics and linking them under one theme. There were years that we enjoyed several of the chosen books and years that we didn’t enjoy any of them – but we always enjoyed the process of discovery and exploration that RaR invites. Buyers never quite know what trails will be taken within the Guide, and the topics remain mysterious until purchase – but admittedly this can add to the allure. Especially when curated by the trusted and gifted writers within RaR.
One week a family may be studying the history of St. Nicholas, and the next week learning how brooms are made. I have no idea how RaR does it, but they pull it all together and make it seamless! Those looking to replace their current curriculum with something entirely full and fresh in December will not be disappointed. Each year there is a balanced mix of hands-on, seatwork, and books. There was never a year that I looked through the Guide and felt it had nothing to offer us. In fact, my problem was always trying to choose what to cut!
That’s a wrap! I hope these two (rather lengthy) posts have helped other mommas discern if RaR is the right fit for their holiday season. As always, feel free to leave a comment and I will do my best to answer any questions!
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This blog does NOT participate in ads, affiliate links, or sponsorships. I am not affiliated with RaR in any way. Any products/memberships that I take time to review were purchased with my own money and used extensively. This blog is a gift I give to myself each year – a space where I can write freely, without censorship. My hope is that this is a refreshing space for those who stumble upon it. I am grateful to my readers – thank you for honoring me with your time!
In case you missed it: check out PART I: Three CON’S of RaR’s Christmas School!
Saltbox Colonial 