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Homeschooling When You're Snowed In

Homeschoolers kinda like snow days.

When icy roads result in cancelled choir practice, swimming lessons, or co-op, we relish the opportunity to focus on important parts of an education that sometimes get brushed off to the side when we're gallivanting all over town, making sure our children are being well socialized (wink).

Snow days are fun days where the kids look forward to long periods of uninterrupted reading out loud on the couch, the opportunity to work on projects that are more time consuming, and the folder of fun things (a.k.a. Pinterest) Mommy reserves for days when it's too cold to play outside.

Our read-aloud list includes:

  • Wisdom and the Millers by Mildred Martin
  • Storytime with the Millers by Mildred Martin
  • Missionary Stories with the Millers by Mildred Martin
  • The Little House Series by Laura Ingalls Wilder
  • The Railway Children by Edith Nesbit
  • The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
  • The Christopher Churchmouse Treasury by Barbara Davoll
  • The Bronze Bow by Elisabeth George Speare
  • The Door In The Wall by Margaret De Angeli
  • The Tanglewood's Secret by Patricia St. John
  • Treasures of the Snow by Patricia St. John
  • Huguenot Garden by Douglas Jones
  • The Minstrel in The Tower by Gloria Skurzynski
  • The Hawk That Dare Not Hunt by Day by Scott O'Dell
  • Ink On His Fingers by Louise Vernon
  • The Answers Books for Kids by Ken Ham
  • The Way of the Master: Teaching Kids to Share Their Faith by Kirk Cameron

Our project list includes:

Crafts. Painting, beading, scrapbooking, card-making: these all take extra time and result in a big mess to clean up, but it's not so bad when you can devote several hours to creating something beautiful that will be appreciated and remembered for years to come.

Baking. The kids love to help me in the kitchen. They often slow the process down, but culinary skills are important and snowy days provide us with lots of time for everyone to take a turn measuring, pouring, stirring, rolling, and of course, licking the spatula.

Writing. One of my goals for our children's education is to instill in them a love for writing. I want them to be able to articulate their thoughts and express themselves in a way that serves others. Perhaps the earliest, most practical way they can do this is by mailing hand-written cards of encouragement.

Our 4-year-old learned how to form her letters using the 1777 New England Manuscript Printable Set and adores being able to write the letters I dictate to send a message to her grandparents. When she's finished writing, she gets to decorate her letter and address the envelope (another necessary skill). Few things are more rewarding than discovering that Grandpa and Grandma received her card and loved it!
Our "FUN" list includes:

January Printables for Kids

The January Printables by Kristy Howard. Our kids love Kristy's printables (She also has a set of Christmas themed printables that are a blast any time of the year)! They are just as educational as they are fun, and for $2.00, they provide many hours of productive enjoyment for kids between the ages of 4 and 6. The January set includes:

  • New Year’s Goals & Chart. Charity's resolution is to clean up more (I practically jumped with delight!) and she loves filling her chart with stickers each time she remembers to put something away.
  • Coloring pages
  • Scripture, Number, & Letter copy work
  • Thinking skills & math pages
  • Matching & recognition
  • Opposites, Number 1, Seasons & Months of the Year
  • Special January Days & People
  • Hot Chocolate Recipe
  • The ABC's For Godly Girls activities and crafts. We're working through Lindsey Stomberg's The ABC's For Godly Children Bible Curriculum this year (you can read my full review here), and snowy days are the perfect opportunity to work on the activities and crafts included with every lesson that we don't always get to otherwise.

    If you need more fun, inspiring, educational ideas, Homeschool Enrichment Magazine always comes chock full of them. Among many other great ideas in the current issue, they suggest making it through the mid-winter "slump" by learning a handcraft, taking art classes with another family, hosting a games day, and operating on an alternative schedule.

    Until the end of January, you can get a 1-year subscription for 58% off the cover price for a total of $14.95. In my completely biased opinion (it's the only homeschool magazine we subscribe to), that's a deal too good to pass up!

    How do you like to spend your snow days? Do you dread or welcome them?

    In the interest of full disclosure, some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products I use personally. Your purchases through these links help support Growing Home. Thank you for your support. If you enjoyed this post, you may wish to follow Growing Home for updates via Google Friend Connect, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google +, or have them emailed directly to your inbox. Linking to: Raising Homemakers, Deep Roots At Home, Raising Arrows, A Wise Woman.,Walking Redeemed,, The Modest Mom, A Mama's Story, We ARE That Family, Raising Mighty Arrows, Hearts For Home, Frugal Homeschool Family Time Warp Wife

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