Seasonal Schooling In The Winter!

Winter brings magical snow covered landscapes as well as blustery, cold, gray weather. The days are shorter, but the season seems long–especially if you struggle with SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) otherwise known as the all too real Winter Blues. However, planning can help you make the most of this season. Rather than dreading these days, you can enjoy them with your family.

Winter hits right before Christmas on or around December 21st and lasts until about March 19th. As Winter comes in, we’re usually celebrating the holiday season until after the beginning of January. Enjoy this time. Let it refresh you as you head into the rest of Winter.

So How Do We Plan For Winter?
Winter tends to be a quick planning session for me. The reason being is because the beginning of Winter is planned as part of my Fall Session. I have to plan Christmas ahead of time since it’s our biggest celebration, and we usually have lots of company. This covers the beginning of Winter through the beginning of January. Because of this, I have a shorter schooling session–closer to 11 weeks.

Once again, I look ahead to the holidays, and figure out how and what we want to celebrate or learn about. This session is a perfect time to add in a few more oddball “days” such as Hat Day, or perhaps a wonderful Winnie the Pooh Day, both in January. Then there is Be humble Day in February and Peanut Butter Lover’s Day at the beginning of March. I’ve only shared ideas from one site in this series, but you can do a google search for more sites.

Before You Move Forward
There shouldn’t be more than a quick evaluation this session. For the most part, you’ll be continuing where you left off before the holidays. Do a quick check on progress, celebrate finished work, and add in what you will continue with this round.

Winter Activities
The holidays are over, but there is still much of winter left. Keep in mind that often times flu season is in full swing. We’ve found that we can limit sickness in our house with preventive care such as building our immune systems, catching things as soon as they start to hit, and staying home more. However, you will still want to plan time to get out and about to keep spirits raised. Hopefully, some of these activities will help:

Enjoy snuggles in front of the fire.
Warm up after being outside with hot cocoa or teas.
Play in the snow with your kids.
Find different and fun ways to feed the birds.
Go sledding.
Play games.
Tell or read aloud lots of stories.
Break out seed catalogs and plan your garden.
Go for a winter walk, bundled up of course.
Watch funny movies.
Listen to lively music, and dance together.

Back To Academics
There probably won’t be a lot to add this session since it’s mostly a continuation of Fall resources, but you may find room for some additional fun studies. Don’t forget the extras like music, art, foreign languages, etc. But also keep in mind that this session will seem shorter because of the holidays. In fact, planning out the shorter amount of weeks will help make winter seem faster than normal. A nice side benefit.

I hope this series has given you an idea of what Seasonal Schooling is about, and how it might work in your own home. As I wrote it, I thought of more I wanted to add, so maybe sometime in the future, I can flesh out the details even more.

In this series:
The What, Why, And How Of Seasonal Schooling
Seasonal Schooling In The Spring!
Seasonal Schooling In The Summer!
Seasonal Schooling In The Fall!
Seasonal Schooling In The Winter! This post.

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