• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Become a Friend of the River Houses today!

The River Houses

A National Network of Local Homeschool Societies

  • Subscribe!
  • Home
  • Topics ▾
    • Arts & Music
    • Astronomy
    • Books & Libraries
    • Collections & Collecting
    • Friday Bird Families
    • Great Stars
    • Holidays & History
    • Language & Literature
    • Lunar Society Bulletins
    • Maps & Geography
    • Museums & Monuments
    • Natural History
    • Poems-of-the-Week
    • Quick Freshes
    • Research & News
    • States & Countries
    • Terms & Calendars
    • Weekly World Heritage
  • Calendars
  • Six Books
  • TWOC ▾
    • The Lunar Society of the River Houses
  • About Us ▾
    • Our Mascots
  • Friends
  • Shop!
You are here: Home > Homeschool Arts & Music > Holiday Music Month > This Post

🎵 🎄 HOLIDAY MUSIC MONTH: All Those Christmas Clichés

3 December 2022 by Bob O'Hara

Small children love family traditions, and grownups love family traditions, but sometimes in between there’s a teen-age and young-adult wandering phase where such things don’t seem to matter. If someone in your family is passing through that phase, don’t despair. They’ll come back to all your family traditions and be grateful for them, just like the great American singer Nancy LaMott (1951–1995):

December is Homeschool Holiday Music Month in the River Houses, and throughout the month we’ll be sharing an assortment of seasonal favorites in a great variety of styles and genres — classical and modern, sacred and secular, serious and silly — along with a collection of easy educational notes that will let you teach little musical lessons all along the way.

“All Those Christmas Clichés” was written by the award-winning duo of Stephen Flaherty (music) and Lynn Ahrens (lyrics), and this recording by Nancy LaMott is the best I’ve heard.

All Those Christmas Clichés

I’ve spent Christmas in Peoria, Christmas in Schenectady,
Christmas in Las Vegas and L.A.
And I always thought it couldn’t matter less.
But lately, come December, I confess
I want the tree full of toys and tinsel,
I want the wreath on the red front door,
I want the elves in the yard and each sentimental card
Dripping glitter on the floor,
I want a roof full of plywood reindeer,
I want a road full of horse-drawn sleighs:
All those Christmas clichés.

I want the turkey with all the trimmings,
The turkey mom hardly ever made;
I want the gulp and the tear at the moment that I hear
Johnny Mathis being played;
I want a lake full of perfect skaters,
I want that fruit cake with sugar glaze:
All those Christmas clichés.

Not to mention the snow, not to mention the choir,
Not to mention the candles in the window,
And chestnuts roasting on the fire
Inside a house filled with noise and laughter
Along a street bathed in twinkling light;
I want the bells and the drums, mistletoe
And sugar plums, and kids to tuck in tight.
And as for that guy in the bright red outfit,
Instead of flying off he stays;
All those Christmas clichés.

I want those overblown, corny, heartwarming,
Hallmark, Christmas clichés.

You may have run across Lynn Ahrens’ name before: she wrote many of the songs and lyrics for the popular Schoolhouse Rock! educational programs on TV. And that points us to a whole range of little homeschool lessons you can teach this season whenever you’re listening to holiday musical favorites.

If your students take delight in some particular piece of music, just drop in a question: “I wonder who wrote that?” For many pieces of traditional music (as we noted with “Past Three O’Clock”), the answer may be, “lots of different people over many generations.” But for more modern pieces, the answer is usually simpler. You’ll want to make sure your students understand the three basic roles of performer, composer (writer of the music), and lyricist (writer of the words). Sometimes these roles are combined into a single person, as with “singer-songwriters.” In other cases, such as the recording above, each role may be held by a different person: LaMott is the performer (along with pianist Christopher Marlowe), Flaherty is the composer, and Ahrens is the lyricist. Knowing the names behind a favorite piece of music will increase your students’ artistic understanding and encourage them to investigate and learn more.

(“All Those Christmas Clichés” is also full of musical quotations — did you catch them? That’s a topic we’ll be taking up again at the end of the month with a special version of “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”)

What marvelous musical discoveries will you be making in your homeschool during this magnificent Holiday Music Month? 🤶 🎅 😊

❡ Musical memories: If you’d like to fill your homeschool with some beautiful background sounds during the holidays, why not tune in to the 24-hour Holiday Channel from WQXR, the famous classical music radio station in New York City. “Enjoy the sounds of orchestras, choirs, brass ensembles and more as we celebrate the sacred and secular sounds of the season.” I have it on as background music almost all day at this time of year. Won’t you join me? 📻

❡ Olden times and ancient rhymes: What did the Christmas season sound like a hundred years ago and more? Find out from this wonderful collection of historic recordings of American Christmas music, brought together by the Library of Congress. 🎄

❡ Lift every voice: This is one of our occasional posts on Homeschool Arts & Music. Add your name to our weekly mailing list and get great homeschool teaching ideas delivered right to your mailbox all through the year. 🗞

❡ Become a Friend! If you enjoy the educational materials we distribute each week, please support our work and the noble cause of homeschooling by becoming a Friend of the River Houses! Your support keeps us going and growing! 😊

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Related Posts:

  • 🎵 🎄 HOLIDAY MUSIC MONTH: What Sweeter Music🎵 🎄 HOLIDAY MUSIC MONTH: What Sweeter Music
  • 🎵 🎄 HOLIDAY MUSIC MONTH: O Little Town of Bethlehem🎵 🎄 HOLIDAY MUSIC MONTH: O Little Town of Bethlehem
  • 🎵 🎄 HOLIDAY MUSIC MONTH: Introducing John Rutter and His Carols🎵 🎄 HOLIDAY MUSIC MONTH: Introducing John Rutter and His Carols
  • 🐦 MAY is Bird Migration Month!🐦 MAY is Bird Migration Month!

Filed Under: Holiday Music Month, Homeschool Arts & Music

Reader Interactions

Primary Sidebar

Subscribe to Our Newsletter!

It’s free! Your name and email address are never shared with any third parties.

CHECK YOUR INBOX (or spam folder) to confirm your subscription. Thank you! 😊

Search the River Houses

Recent Posts

  • 🎵 HOMESCHOOL MUSIC: Happy Birthday Mozart!
  • 🦉 FRIDAY BIRD FAMILIES: Barn Owls and Typical Owls
  • 🌎 🇯🇲 WEEKLY WORLD HERITAGE: Blue and John Crow Mountains in Jamaica
  • 🌊 HOMESCHOOL HISTORY & LITERATURE: Remembering Challenger
  • 🗓 QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families – Week of 22 January 2023
  • 🌎 🇺🇸 SUNDAY STATES: Illinois, Ireland, Jamaica, and More
  • 🦅 FRIDAY BIRD FAMILIES: Vultures, Ospreys, Hawks, Kites, and Eagles
  • 🌍 🇮🇶 WEEKLY WORLD HERITAGE: Ancient Babylon in Iraq
  • 🔎 HOMESCHOOL RESEARCH & NEWS – January 2023
  • 🖋 🇺🇸 WONDERFUL WORDS (and Music!): Lift Every Voice and Sing
  • 🗓 QUICK FRESHES for Homeschool Families – Week of 15 January 2023
  • 🌎 🇺🇸 SUNDAY STATES: Mississippi, India, Iraq, and More
  • 🌟 STAR BRIGHT: Capella for January
  • 🗓 🗡 HAPPY CROSS-QUARTER DAY of Orion Term 2022–2023
  • 🦅 FRIDAY BIRD FAMILIES: Herons, Bitterns, Ibises, and Spoonbills

Post Calendar

January 2023
S M T W T F S
« Dec    
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031  

Post Categories

  • 🎵 Homeschool Arts & Music
  • 🔭 Homeschool Astronomy
  • 📚 Homeschool Books & Libraries
  • 💰 Homeschool Collections & Collecting
  • 📅 Homeschool Holidays & History
  • 📖 Homeschool Language & Literature
  • 🌕 Lunar Society Bulletins
  • 🗺 Homeschool Maps & Geography
  • 🏛 Homeschool Museums & Monuments
  • 🏞 Homeschool Natural History
  • 🗓 Quick Freshes for Homeschool Families
  • 🔎 Homeschool Research & News
  • 🌎 🇺🇸 Homeschool States & Countries
  • 🗓 Homeschool Terms & Calendars

Astronomy

  • American Meteor Society
    • – Fireball Reporting System
  • Astronomy Picture of the Day
  • Evening Sky Maps
  • Homeschool Astronomy (Sky & Telescope)
  • Hubble Space Telescope
    • – Learning Resources
  • NASA
    • – Asteroid Watch
    • – Educator Resources
    • – Our Solar System
    • – Spot the Station
    • – Webb Space Telescope
  • The Planets Today
    • – Light-Distance to the Planets
  • The Sky This Week (USNO)
  • Space Weather
  • Stellarium Night Sky Charts
  • Time and Date
    • – Eclipses
    • – Meteor Showers
    • – Moon Phases
    • – Seasons
  • Tonight’s Sky (hubblesite.com)
  • Virtual Planisphere

Books & Libraries

  • Baldwin Library of Children’s Literature
  • Biodiversity Heritage Library
  • Classic Children’s Books (read.gov)
  • Folger Shakespeare Library
    • – Educator Resources
    • – Shakespeare’s Plays Online
  • HathiTrust Digital Library
  • In Our Time (BBC Podcasts)
  • New York Public Library Digital Collections
  • Project Gutenberg
  • US Library of Congress
    • – Children’s Book Selections
    • – Educator Resources
    • – LC Blogs
    • – LC Digital Collections
    • – Minerva’s Kaleidoscope
  • US National Archives
    • – Educator Resources
    • – Founders Online
    • – K–5 Resources
    • – Teaching With Documents
  • Vatican Library Digital Collections
  • WorldCat Library Catalog
    • – WorldCat Library Finder
  • World Digital Library

Museums, Parks, & Monuments

  • Art Collections Online
  • British Museum Collections Online
  • Google Arts & Culture Collections
  • Smithsonian Institution
    • – Educator Resources
    • – Smithsonian Museums
    • – Smithsonian Open Access
  • Timeline of Art History
  • US National Park Service
    • – Educator Resources
    • – National Memorials
    • – National Monuments
    • – National Parks
    • – Wild & Scenic Rivers Program
  • US National Wildlife Refuges
  • US State Parks
  • Watercolour World

Natural History

  • All About Birds (Cornell University)
    • – Bird Identification Guide
    • – eBird Online
  • Biodiversity Heritage Library
  • BirdCast Daily Migration Maps
  • Time and Date
    • – Seasons
  • UC Museum of Paleontology
    • – Educator Resources
  • US Fish & Wildlife Service
    • – Education Programs
  • US Geological Survey
    • – Educator Resources
    • – Latest Earthquakes
  • US National Weather Service
    • – Educator Resources
    • – Nationwide Air Quality
    • – Nationwide River Conditions
    • – Wildfire and Smoke Map
  • Wild & Scenic Rivers Program

Maps & Geography

  • Antipodes Map
  • FlightAware (Planes in the Air)
  • Mapquest World Maps
  • MarineTraffic (Ships at Sea)
  • OpenStreetMap World Maps
  • Printable Blank Maps & Flags
  • Printable Outline Maps (d-maps.com)
  • River Runner
  • USGS Topographic Maps
  • World Factbook (cia.gov)
  • World Heritage Sites (UNESCO)
    • – Educator Resources
  • Zoom Earth

Civics & Social Science

  • Bill of Rights Institute
  • Constitution Center
  • C-Span Classroom
  • Free Speech Curriculum from FIRE
  • Foundation for Economic Education
  • History of the Western World (I)
    • – Western World (II)
  • iCivics.org
  • Learn Liberty
  • Mises Institute Economics
  • MyMoney.gov
    • – Educator Resources
  • Online Library of Liberty
  • US Founding Documents
  • US Government Portal
    • – The Congress
    • – The Supreme Court
    • – The White House
  • US Mint
    • – Coin Activities for Kids
    • – Educator Resources
  • US Postal Museum
    • – Explore the Collections
    • – Activities for Kids
    • – Stamps Teach (from APS)
  • Visual Capitalist

Post Archives

  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • April 2017
Sign up for our free newsletter and get great homeschool teaching ideas delivered right to your mailbox every week!

All original content © 2017–2023 by The River Houses · The River Houses and the River Houses emblem are Reg. U.S. Pat. & Tm. Off.