Struggling with Homeschool Winter Learning?

Winter time can be a real struggle for many homeschoolers and classroom educators, especially if your in a region where it gets very cold throughout the winter months. This leaves you naturally wanting to be in the house or classroom more than during the warmer months.

This can also lead to cabin fever and the winter blahs. Many struggle to recover the same learning fervor that was had before and through the holiday season.

Are you struggling with the after holiday learning slump?

Winter blues can involve other factors including, since the onset of the digital age, we as a society are more sedentary than ever. This compounds during the winter months. People want to be inside more where it's warm and cozy with our favorite devices. Unfortunately, the human body isn't made to be sedentary as much as many have become and leads to unwanted health issues I won't go into here.

My goal here is to help inspire you to inspire your family or classroom to:

• Revel in learning even through the colder months
• Do winter homeschool activities featuring art
• Read aloud together more
• Go outside and do outdoor winter activities
• Spend time outdoors in nature including nature journaling

Let's get into it and do this thang!

1. Create winter-themed art. Look at winter themed art and paintings to inspire your own winter art projects. Check out Etsy for some winter art ideas and create your own versions as a family or classroom. Whether you're into arts and crafts or not, you can at the very least draw, paint, or color.

This child's artistic imagination runs wild during the winter months, possibly during a winter storm thus cooping her up indoors! Such times afford families the opportunity to spread their artistic wings.

2. Do winter themed read alouds around the fireplace or space heater. Pour the hot chocolate and enjoy reading aloud some short fun winter themed storybooks like Snowflake Bentley. Go the library and check it out, or, read it free from Archive.org here. Be sure to set up a free account on Archive.org.

3. Start a Sit Spot. Have you heard about the "Sit Spot"? It's from the Wilderness Awareness School and developed by Jon Young. Years ago, I taught an online course called Nature Connection. In the course, I had my learners each pick a quiet and preferably secluded spot in their own yard and visit it everyday while observing nature.

Here, my homeschool learner, Ursa, is enjoying the Sit Spot that I presented to them before I moved away from Heathcote Community.

Children and adults alike can do the Sit Spot. Each family member can either pick their own spot, or there may be one location in your backyard or school yard that everyone agrees upon that gets the least distraction.

What do you do at a sit spot? You go and sit there starting at just 5 minutes and increasing it gradually to as much time as a person can observing the natural world through the seasons. It's best to keep the same spot.

Learners can journal about their Sit Spot experience and take photos and videos. If you end up sharing the same Sit Spot, just take turns using it. The idea is to be quiet, sit and watch the seasons and how the landscape changes, how nature interacts, and develop nature sense and awareness. It's a superb activity to do in the winter. Just bundle up! Remeber, there's no such thing as bad weather, just poor clothing!

4. Create a winter nature journal. Get creative and make original nature journals using recycled materials like cereal boxes and staple or sew in the writing paper. My non-binary homeschool learner, Ursa, did this. They took a cereal box, cut it out to the proportions they wanted their journal to be. They used a hole punch on opposite ends of the spine, and tied the paper in using yarn. I was blown away! Learners can create one per season! Bring them outside and use them at their chosen sit spot!

Free style journaling is a great way for children to connect learning with the outdoors. Winter time journaling is fantastic for getting outdoors and closely observing the natural world.

5. Do winter nature photography. Go outdoors and take winter nature photographs. Print them out. Create beautiful collages with the photographs.

I hope that you see now just how simple it can be to be inspired and learn with flying colors throughout the winter months. Just because it's the norm to have the winter blahs, you and your kiddos don't have to settle for this less than desirable mindset during the winter months.

Enjoy all of the creative and fun winter learning possibilities!

Want Some Winter Homeschool or Classroom Learning Help? 

NatureGlo's FREE Patterns in Nature Templates Download

These Patterns in Nature Backyard Scavenger Hunt templates can be used any season. This means they're superb also for a winter backyard patterns in nature treasure hunt. Grab them, bundle up and go on a fun backyard patterns in nature treasure hunt. The templates are great for kids ages 8 and up.

Or, alternatively, sign up here for the Patterns in Nature Templates.

What's Inside:

• 3 beautiful easy to use templates
• Instructions included
• Features 5 main patterns in nature, superb as a winter nature activity

NatureGlo's eScience Geometric Beauty of Snowflakes Online

Unit Study Course

What's Inside:

• Video lessons led by me, NatureGlo
• Snowflake science activities
• Snowflake art projects
• Study guide

Don't want or need the online course?

Get NatureGlo's Geometric Beauty of Snowflakes curriculum download only.

What's Inside?

1. 3 PowerPoint lesson presentations
2. 1 student study guide
3. Internet activities - videos, web resources, projects

Who's the downloadable curriculum for?

1. Great for teachers or home educators that want to direct the child's learning experience themselves.

   
   

   
   

   Or,

   
   

   
   

2. For children who don't prefer online learning.My hope is that you and your learners will enjoy the winter learning opportunities ahead of you. Winter homeschool or classroom learning doesn't have to be something to dread, but, rather, something that you and the children can welcome and look forward to.

   
   

   
   

   Got questions about winter learning?

   
   

   
   

   Leave a comment below and I'd be thrilled to answer your questions!

   
   

Talk soon,

NatureGlo