Winter Week

This week is about winter. You’ll feed the birds and the squirrels. You’ll introduce the letter S and the number 3 to your child. You’ll teach the color white, and the circle shape. Your child can learn that:

We Enjoy Playing in the Ice and Snow
• when it is very cold, water freezes (gets hard), making ice, snow, sleet, and icicles.
• A blizzard is when a strong wind blows for a long time during a heavy snowstorm.
• Days are shorter, and nights are longer.
• Most plants stop growing for a while.
• Some plants and trees grow all year round, and are called “evergreens”.
• Some trees lose their leaves in the winter.
• Some animals hibernate.
• Many birds fly south (migrate) for the winter.
• We wear warmer clothing in the winter.
• We enjoy playing in the ice and snow – we build snow forts, throw snow balls, skate on ice, ski on snow.

Feeding the birds can be an exciting and rewarding experience, but if you start to feed the birds in the fall, then you should feel obligated to feed them all through the winter until spring, when they can find other sources of food. To extend your bird-watching experience, consider investing in a small, inexpensive bird bath heater, which will keep the water in the bath from freezing. You’ll have more birds in your yard, and watching them preen, and bicker, and splash is a treat.

In the winter, we dress warmly. It’s better for the environment to put on a layer of long underwear rather than crank up the heat on your thermostat. It may be healthier, too. It’s less of a shock going out to the cold, when you have that extra layer of insulation next to your skin. Thermal (long) underwear comes in so many attractive colors and prints! Get a dozen pair for your child and yourself, as well. Hard-to-find flannel-lined overalls fit nicely over the thermal underwear. A long-sleeved tee-shirt,then a sweatshirt completes the layers. Don’t forget wool socks for the family. Never buy synthetic socks in the winter. Synthetics do nothing to insulate, or wick away moisture. Cotton socks are okay inside, but when you are outside, if you want your feet to stay toasty warm and dry, you must go with pure wool. They can be expensive, but if you take care of your wool socks, they will last a lot longer than cotton. I’ve heard so many people complain that they just don’t like winter – but nearly everyone of them isn’t dressed appropriately for the weather. If you dress warmly, you won’t begrudge the chilly temperatures.

Now is a great time to take up an outdoor sport! Learn to love the seasons, and your child will, as well. Get everyone a pair of ice skates and make weekly outings to the ice rink part of your family fun. Get some sleds and ask your neighbors where the best sledding hills are. Have you ever considered taking up mushing? Mushing isn’t just for Alaskans, and you don’t have to have ten dogs to do it! One dog, 35 pounds or larger, can pull one child. Two dogs can pull one adult. Four dogs will pull you and your child together, and that’s when the fun begins. Dogs can pull you on a wheeled cart in the spring and fall, or cooler days in the summer as well, so this isn’t just a winter sport.

For answers to all your mushing questions, you can either email me, or contact: Sled Dog Central. I’ve been mushing for about ten years, so while I don’t know all the answers, I do know several places I can go to get the answers.

The worksheets for this week were all taken from First_School.
Worksheet 1
Worksheet 2
Worksheet 3
Worksheet 4
Worksheet 5
Alphabet

All of the books that are recommended for this week can be found here, if you don’t find anything suitable at your library. When I select books, they are either ones that I have read and loved, or they have a five-star rating from parents. The music and a few seasonally appropriate toys are also found here .

Lesson Plans for Winter Week

Related Reading:
Beginning Writing
Play Areas for Encouraging Creativity
Working With the Lesson Plans

Photo Credits:
Snowy Day by Mark Evans
Chubby Squirrel by Jeremy Noble
Running Sled Dogs by Lorelei Sieja

Tags: children's books, dog sled, home school, homeschool, lessons, mushing, Preschool, preschool activities, winter, winter activities, winter sports