Written by Jessica.
With the quiet season of mid-winter comes opportunity in our homeschools to accomplish much, enjoy our children and family time, and make the most of cozy days indoors. But if we're being honest, sometimes these post-Christmas winter days can feel rather bleak and monotonous compared to the delight and extra-ordinary of the holiday hubbub of last month.
Sometimes a slight pivot or minor change in thought or routine can make all the difference and gently point you to the comfort and cozy that winter homeschooling has to offer. Here are six mid-winter ideas to help you find both:
(This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for full details.)
Where we live, it is extremely cold and barren for half the year (often longer!). While we are definitely a family that loves to get outside and play in the snow as often as we can, there are also many days when it is truly too frigid to be outside comfortably and safely. As a result, winter is our most productive time for homeschooling simply because we’re indoors more. With a slight change in perspective, I’ve come to really appreciate these months as a home educator.
Even if you don’t live where it’s cold and frozen this time of year, perhaps you too find that winter is a slower time in your homeschool year for other reasons. The hustle and bustle of starting a fresh school year have passed, the extra-busy holiday season is over, and no one is antsy and distracted by the promise of summer vacation yet. Many co-ops often take a break throughout part of the winter, too. This is an ideal time of the year to find your homeschooling rhythm and get in a lot of really productive, focused learning.
As I mentioned, not everyone loves this time of the school year, though! If you feel down or discouraged while homeschooling during the winter months, here’s some encouragement to give you a boost:
For the same reasons described above, life slows down for our family in the winter. Our days have more margins in them. We cozy up indoors together and pass the time in simple, homey ways. This is a time of year to really savor being together.
In the winter we do more reading, baking, crafting, and playing of board games than at other times of the year. My kids bring out toys they haven’t played with in a while and get extra creative in their efforts. I find that I can enjoy watching them play and have more time to spend one-on-one with them than I do at other times during the school year.
If you need some inspiration to embrace the winter season with joy, here are some ideas:
If you have some quieter months over the winter, it can be a good time to sort through old curriculum and books that you know you aren’t going to use anymore. The end of a school year or summer aren’t the only times that you can successfully sell used homeschool curriculum.
I recently sold lots of materials right before the holidays. One buyer messaged me about her purchase and mentioned that she had just pulled all of her kids out of public school and was starting homeschooling for the first time. As she illustrated, people begin homeschooling at all times of the year. Homeschoolers also change curriculum mid-year as needed to suit the needs and abilities of their children, or they may be planning ahead for the next school year and looking for a good deal.
In addition to the obvious benefit of making some money, there are many other perks to selling your used curriculum. Clearing it out can help you assess what you need for the next school year. If you’ve made any curriculum purchases that turned out to be blunders (as I certainly have), you can recoup some money on your losses and put whatever you earn toward something else. Finally, selling unwanted curriculum can be a real blessing for the buyer who gets a good deal on it.
Here are some tips to get you started clearing out your used curriculum:
(This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for full details.)
Get in Some Really Productive Schooling
Where we live, it is extremely cold and barren for half the year (often longer!). While we are definitely a family that loves to get outside and play in the snow as often as we can, there are also many days when it is truly too frigid to be outside comfortably and safely. As a result, winter is our most productive time for homeschooling simply because we’re indoors more. With a slight change in perspective, I’ve come to really appreciate these months as a home educator.
Even if you don’t live where it’s cold and frozen this time of year, perhaps you too find that winter is a slower time in your homeschool year for other reasons. The hustle and bustle of starting a fresh school year have passed, the extra-busy holiday season is over, and no one is antsy and distracted by the promise of summer vacation yet. Many co-ops often take a break throughout part of the winter, too. This is an ideal time of the year to find your homeschooling rhythm and get in a lot of really productive, focused learning.
As I mentioned, not everyone loves this time of the school year, though! If you feel down or discouraged while homeschooling during the winter months, here’s some encouragement to give you a boost:
Embrace the Season and Make Family Memories
For the same reasons described above, life slows down for our family in the winter. Our days have more margins in them. We cozy up indoors together and pass the time in simple, homey ways. This is a time of year to really savor being together.
In the winter we do more reading, baking, crafting, and playing of board games than at other times of the year. My kids bring out toys they haven’t played with in a while and get extra creative in their efforts. I find that I can enjoy watching them play and have more time to spend one-on-one with them than I do at other times during the school year.
If you need some inspiration to embrace the winter season with joy, here are some ideas:
- Homeschooling After the Holiday (Because Christmas Break Can’t Last Forever) (many fun suggestions here!)
- A Repurposed Christmas Tree for Nature Study (we love doing this in January!)
Sort Through and Sell Your Old Curriculum
If you have some quieter months over the winter, it can be a good time to sort through old curriculum and books that you know you aren’t going to use anymore. The end of a school year or summer aren’t the only times that you can successfully sell used homeschool curriculum.
I recently sold lots of materials right before the holidays. One buyer messaged me about her purchase and mentioned that she had just pulled all of her kids out of public school and was starting homeschooling for the first time. As she illustrated, people begin homeschooling at all times of the year. Homeschoolers also change curriculum mid-year as needed to suit the needs and abilities of their children, or they may be planning ahead for the next school year and looking for a good deal.
In addition to the obvious benefit of making some money, there are many other perks to selling your used curriculum. Clearing it out can help you assess what you need for the next school year. If you’ve made any curriculum purchases that turned out to be blunders (as I certainly have), you can recoup some money on your losses and put whatever you earn toward something else. Finally, selling unwanted curriculum can be a real blessing for the buyer who gets a good deal on it.
Here are some tips to get you started clearing out your used curriculum:
- How to Buy and Sell Used Curriculum
- The Quick-Start Guide to Clearing Out Unwanted Curriculum (Since writing this post, I've discovered that weighing the items I’m selling on a kitchen scale works best, and I’d highly recommend using one – it’s such a great time-saver!).
- Reorganizing My Homeschool Spaces
Declutter and Reorganize
Unwanted curriculum isn’t the only thing you can clear out in the quieter winter months. This is the ideal time of year to tackle any decluttering or reorganizing that you need to do indoors, anywhere in your house! (After all, who wants to spend the fleeting spring and summer months doing projects like that when you can be outside soaking in the sunshine?).
Last winter, over many late afternoons after we were done with school, I sorted through crates upon crates of baby/toddler clothes and bedding. We had already donated or sold all of our baby/toddler gear and toys over the years, setting aside just the extra-special things that we wanted to save for memories. But those crates of clothes and bedding had stayed closed, and I had put off going through them since I knew it would be an emotional process. When I finally decided to tackle that project, I got my kids involved helping me to decide what to save, toss, and donate. It ended up being a really fun and special time with them. Not to mention, it was so freeing to finally get that job done. Best of all, we were able to bless a lot of people by donating tons of good quality items to a local thrift store.
Whether it’s one room, an area of your house, or crates of stuff, the quiet of winter is the perfect time to tackle a clearing out project. It can help you better utilize the space you already have, prepare for a move or other change, or just get more organized.
Need some inspiration? Try these:
- How to Organize a Home Library
- Small Space Homeschooling
- Organized Simplicity--This book includes handy checklists for ensuring that your organizing goes smoothly and that no area gets forgotten.
Assess and Make Changes
While not everyone homeschools on the same schedule as that of the local school district, for the majority of us, winter marks the rough halfway point in the school year. Halfway through the school year is a good time to reflect and ask what’s working and what’s not. After all, there’s still a whole half of the school year left to implement changes and make things better if needed!
Are all the curricula working? Should I change something?
Are we overscheduled? Should we cut back on some things to allow more margins into our days?
Do we have a good flow to our school day? Are we fitting everything in? Where can I improve the way our day works?
Do we have a good flow to our school day? Are we fitting everything in? Where can I improve the way our day works?
Refocus on Your Homeschool “Whys”
Finally, the mid-way point in the homeschooling year is a perfect time to step back and refocus on WHY we are homeschooling in the first place. Maybe you are one who feels down and discouraged in the winter. Maybe you are having a tough homeschooling year. Maybe you’re new to homeschooling and feel like you’re floundering. Maybe you’ve been doing this a long time and just feel burnt out.
Take some time to reflect on why you began homeschooling in the first place. What are the “whys” behind your choice? What fruits of homeschooling do you see in your children and in your family? What do you love about homeschooling?
Write these things down or talk about them with someone who supports you, like your husband. Or, have your kids make a cooperative list with you about what they love about homeschooling. Their answers will make you smile and encourage you – and be a sweet memory to save, too!
Here are some big lists to get you started:
75 Reasons to Love Homeschooling in Winter (And Any Time of the Year)
Why I Like Homeschooling: 100+ Kids Weigh In
And when all else fails, grab a copy of Homeschool Bravely, it will help you grab hold of the courage you need to keep going even on the dismal days.
Great read, just what I needed right now. Hygge post fits right in also. As we approach summer, good time to evaluate what we may need to do differently next year!
ReplyDeleteYes, summer is always a good time to evaluate and make tweaks. Glad this post was encouraging to you.
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