Forget the Snow Days

Forget the Snow Days.  We close down school when it's nice outside!  It's the opposite of public schools, where they have school when the weather is decent and close when it's nasty outside.  I only knew of one other homeschooling family that did this until I read The Juggling Payne's Blog about the same thing.  Surely there must be more. 

We snuggle up inside when the weather is bad.  We read, do school work, we do unschool work, make crafts, cook food, and draw.   

When it's warm and beautiful outside, we drop school and enjoy the day outside.  Of course, learning is still happening.  The girls don't always know it's happening, but it does.  We've been known to take a good book and have read-aloud time together in swing set fort (it's big enough for the three of us, the pug and various cats).  They make crafts with natural elements, they run, they pretend, and swing, and they explore. 

The bonus is that it helps Sami's OCD.  She does better when she is outside in nice weather, and the outside germs just don't bother her as much when she is outside playing (as opposed to being inside and worrying about the outside germs that we carry inside). 

Last Friday, the weather was gorgeous and we were going to meet some friends for a park play date.  After getting a late start because of an OCD meltdown, we finally got on the way.  Sami was worried the whole drive over and was having OCD moments the whole trip.  After we got there, it was if OCD had never been there.  After a couple of hours of play, Sami didn't want to leave.  As Sami put it, "I had two glorious OCD free hours!"