January Homeschool

Homeschool in January can be tricky. There is an emotional release after the holidays. It's SO cold outside. You're just kind of tired and it's easy to sink into a funk. However, this year we've been adventuring outside more than usual (I did a whole post about our Winter Adventures), and I've been giving us some grace while pushing us forward in our educational pursuits. Lots of jumping on the trampoline while we do language arts by the heater and snuggling on the couch under blankets - and it's been a good homeschool month. Here are a few things I took pictures of: 

Cardboard Town

I took down Christmas while David was working late one night because I got it into my head that I wanted to let the kids create a "Cardboard Town". I wanted a clear space for them to work their magic. Each child got a large box leftover from Christmas and they were able to create their own "house" out of it. It was such a fun project for the kids to work on and I let them leave their houses up for almost two weeks. 

Austin is so good at helping me make pancakes (I have a breakfast rotation and we eat pancakes every Thursday. Aust is my best helper.) This day he decided on his own to start making letters with it and he spelled "dad" for David. 

I've been reading The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe to all of the kids during the day and reading Treasure Island to Lydia and Austin at night. The kids have started playing with my hair as I read and I love it. The smaller ones will brush it, but Lydia has been practicing haristyles. 

We went to the Dinosaur Museum one afternoon. (Lydia was learning about the different measurements of history/time in her science studies and there is a big station regarding that.) It was a lovely afternoon. Soemtimes I think that our Thanksgiving Point passes are a waste because we don't go all the time - but then there are times like this where we spontaneously go (sometimes because of something we learned about) and it's SO nice just to be able to go. 



Monday Coop (SPARK Cooperative) 

We are still enjoying our Monday Coop! 


Lydia made a Sylvion stuffed animal for Camille. There are a lot of people who say how important Handiwork is to homeschool and Lydia is the poster child for that. She got the idea into her head and then watched a YouTube tutorial to figure out, step-by-step, how to make it happen. She sewed the entire thing by hand, created an "egg" out of an old yogurt container, and wrote a "care for your pokemon" guide book. It was amazing. 

A picture of a giant magnent-shape building that Lydia created. 

January Sisters Night

January Sisters Night

We spent the evening at Provo Beach playing arcade games, walking the ropes course, and playing laser tag. It was a good time and made even better when we stopped for some Rockwell Ice Cream afterwards. I love these sisters of mine and I am grateful for them. Also grateful to David for watching the 8 kids back at home so that Jenna and I could meet up with Melissa. 

Snow Adventures

When you have a baby, winter is hard. It's too cold, and you're too tired to do much. It's better to stay home and stay warm. But when your youngest baby is three, things change drastically - especially when the snow is as beautiful and enjoyable as the snow has been this year. We have done more sledding/snow adventuring this year than I think we ever have before (possibly combined). The end of 2022 was filled with snow exploring in the mountains (Roadhouse picnic area was a dreamy winter wonderland). We started off our year playing in the mountains of snow at Grandma and Grandpa Walkers house. The snow has been plentiful and beautiful. Here are some other snow adventures from this month: 

Sledding with the Youngs

David and I even got in on the sledding action. We went down over and over with the kids and then even got to take a ride down together. It was a great family outing. 



Highland Glen

This is one of our favorite summer places, but the lake freezes over and turned into a great winter adventure. The kids asked if they could walk out on the ice and I let them, as long as they stayed pretty close to shore. I mentioned to them that we didn't want to fall through the ice like Jack Frost does in the movie Rise of the Guardians, because we could die. They told me that he doesn't die - he just turns into a guardian and I think that they missed that point of the movie and maybe weren't scared enough of fallign through the ice - so we moved to shore again. We joined a nature coop that meets on Wednesdays and even though we haven't made any friends there, it's been great to get us out and finding neat adventures. 

Tibble Fork

This place was stunningly beautiful and the kids made a big ramp down a ravine and it was incredible.

Hunter Park

We convinced the Haderlies to join us. We tried to get up to Tibble Fork or the Roadhouse Picnic area, but there was too much snow up in the mountains. We settled for a park with a hill and had a great time. One of the things that I love most about all of these snow adventures is that Lucy LOVES them. She slides down on her own little disc sled and then carries it back up the hill to go again. I've never had a three-year-old love sledding so much, but I've also never had a three-year-old without a tiny baby and probably wasn't giving them many opportunities to sled. This winter has been so fun. (we actually did this same park with the Haderlies, twice). 

Backyard Playtime

And we can't forget our own backyard! I love our little sledding hill and love that the kids can go out while I still work on household tasks inside. This has been a beautiful winter, even Rugby has been enjoying the snow!