Homeschooling Through the Winter Blues

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I have another great guest post today as I continue to have a little bit of a break after my baby. This one is perfect timing for me since I am sure to need some of these tips to get me through this winter!  Today’s post: Homeschooling Through the Winter Blues comes from Monique at Living Life and Learning. I have never met her in real life, but she is a kind person who is always willing to lend a hand. I am glad to have “met” her in this blogging world! Take some time to visit her site. 

Remember that feeling of joy and excitement when the holidays were approaching? It doesn’t really feel like that now. However, it’s still just as cold and snowy outside.  Instead of looking forward to family and a vacation, all you have left is wondering when spring will arrive. Yes, my friends, that is called the winter blues. When it seems as though winter will never end, and you’ll be trapped in the house forever.

Instead of letting the cold, gray weather get you down, embrace the weather and get outside!  I don’t mean send your kids to play outside, I mean get out there with them. Go ice skating or on a nature walk, have your family time outside.  Here are some winter nature study ideas. Afterwards, you can warm up with a nice cup of hot chocolate!

Learn about winter. Where are the animals and what animals are out in the winter. Study the snow and winter weather.  Do projects and experiments with the ice and snow. Read fun books about winter together.

Change things up a little. Get out some of the extra curriculum that you’ve been saving for a rainy day. You know those logic puzzles or mad libs. Those can be super fun, and your children may not even know they’re learning.

Do a fun unit study on a topic that your child chooses. Let them help plan it out so that you don’t have to do all the work. And this way, they’ll be super excited about learning the topic.

Incorporate board games into your routine so that you can learn in a more relaxed environment and have fun at the same time, which means less stress for you.

Cook or bake.  That can count as school, and eating great food always lifts my spirits. Counting, measuring, following a recipe, that’s math and life skills all in one. Don’t forget to let them help with the clean up as well.

Get an older child to teach a younger sibling or let your child teach you, change things up and see if they can teach you what they are learning. Give them a wrong answer and let them correct you. My 6 year old thinks it’s hilarious.

When you get into a homeschool rut, you can still learn without your regular school books. The challenge is to let things go and embrace the fact that you have the freedom to change things up, your books will still be there afterwards.

Monique is a homeschooling mother to 3, biology graduate and blog designer. You can find her over at Living Life and Learning, where she blogs about homeschooling, food and books. You can follow her on Pinterest, Facebook or Twitter.