Knowledge “Caught”

Could I get a show of hands…who is tired of winter? Just what I figured, 99.9% of us. Those of you in that .1%…bless your heart.

I am amazed by the weather and all the variables that go into it. I blog about it a lot it seems. I guess I could have been a weather person, but I do not like math and science, so it probably wouldn’t have worked.

Our children have many likes and dislikes and interests. As parents, it is up to us to allow them to pursue those interests. We never know how those things might play out in their future. My youngest always liked numbers and loved sports and now he has a career that include both areas. My eldest was always the artist and again, he was fortunate to have a career in design.

Studying the weather at times like this is just one of many ways to engage our children in learning. It is tough being inside all the winter months, but good can indeed come from it! And a child’s natural curiosity is wonderful soil for planting the seeds of knowledge!

We use to call these “unit studies” in the homeschooling world. Study a particular subject matter on all academic areas.

Science-Weather patterns, symbols, jet streams….
Social Studies-How weather affects tourism, industry, career choices….
Geography-map weather patterns, USA weather as opposed to other countries….
Language Arts– Vocabulary words, stories about weather related incidents, creative writing about favorite seasons and the weather in those seasons…
Math-measuring snow and creating graphs, keeping average temperatures, the history of weather in the area and comparison graphs…..
Art-snow pictures, photos, paintings, cotton balls snowmen on construction paper….
Home Economics-snow ice cream, conversion of snow into actual water (Math)….
Bible-scriptures on weather and creation

Psalm 148:7-8 “Praise the LORD from the earth, Sea monsters and all deeps; Fire and hail, snow and clouds; Stormy wind, fulfilling His word…”

As a public school teacher I always felt the need to have a book and teach from it, and it took some time for me to realize that indeed knowledge is not necessarily “taught, but caught.”

With primary children it can be as simple as identifying words while watching it snow. In the past as that public school teacher I came in contact with so many children that had limited vocabulary. Parents did not understand the importance of that “teaching” in their early years.

So don’t sweat it…and you won’t with these temperatures. Make your learning fun and use the very situation that you are in at the moment. Enjoy your babies….as I said before, you will blink and they will have those careers….

Maybe even be a weatherperson!!

~Be Blessed

In Christ Alone~