So the crew does a weekly challenge, and this week it’s all about how do we homeschool in the winter. My first thought was duh… the same way we do any other time of the year! But winter brings it’s own delights right? Sledding, nature study, experiments with ice, or new skills like snowflake photography.
As I pondered this challenge I got to thinking about skills we tend to focus on in the winter. I get emails sent to me daily or even weekly on specific topics. In the winter, I’ll take time to read these with my lad. The rest of the year, it’s totally hit or miss. So here’s the learning and reading in the winter that we do.
In the winter there’s reading to do, emails to catch up on, and conferences to attend. Let’s talk shall we?
Read Alouds
There’s nothing better on a snowy winter night than sitting together and reading from a good book. Recently I talked about some of the books I hope to get through this year. Reading is such a great way to spend time together. Talking about what we’re reading and thoughts we’re having. It’s just lovely.
Courses
I also do some learning. Some of this is through video and courses I get through Great Courses and CuriosityStream. On Great Courses, I often listen to history courses. Currently, I’m learning about some of the great voyages of the past.
On CuriosityStream I like doing their science and nature courses. Learning about birds, animals, landmasses, engineering and more.
A couple of times a month I take my courses on Alison. I’ve done understanding wood (that’s not the official title but that’s what it was about), early building construction, electricity, most recently the human body. It’s fun to dabble. 🙂 There are all kinds of things you can learn online.
Emails I Get
Did you know that Encyclopedia Britannica has a daily email they send out? They send out an “on this day” which includes a biography about a person, a world event, as well as links to other events that happened that day in history. Some of them are really interesting, others meh. But I’m not fascinated by ALL aspects of history. 🙂
Science Alert! I’ve been getting emails from these folks probably for about two years now. The things you learn it’s amazing! Makes for some fascinating reading to see what the world around us is teaching us.
WordGenius. Like learning new words? Word Genius will send you a different word every day. They’ll give pronunciation, history, meaning and usage. Words that grab my attention I’ll often share on Facebook which often gets fun conversations going.
Homeschool Conferences
I take part in, and listen to, the Canadian Online Homeschool Conference. I am AMAZED this year at how much this conference has grown. We used to barely cover three days, and look here. This year it run from Feb 3-9 how amazing is that eh?
Now listen… it doesn’t matter if you are Canadian or not. It doesn’t matter where in the world you live. You’ll still learn more about homeschooling then you did before. Will some content be specifically Canadian? Yup. But a lot of the homeschooling material I get is specifically other country centric and you know what… we still learn. 🙂
So come on, join won’t? You can listen free … but only for that specific day. If you want to be able to listen ANY TIME you want… you’ll want to the pass. It’s only $17, which is way less than ordering in a meal and this will benefit you far longer.
So what about you? What learning and reading in the winter do you do? Are you attending any conferences this winter online?  Which ones?Â
Lori says
I have a hard time writing about this topic but you did a nice job with it. Lots of reading and online learning is a good thing.
Annette1 says
thank you, winter’s the time to learn more eh? 🙂
Dawn says
I totally agree on cold nights being a great time for read alouds!
Annette1 says
aren’t they though?