Wilson Alwyn Bentley died December 23, 1931.

Today a very important gentleman passed away.

https://liberatedtolearn.com/january-homeschool-learning-ideas-checklist/

January Homeschool Learning Ideas (By Subject)

Winter

Creative ideas:

• Write a story or poem about a snowy winter adventure.
• Write a winter play and act it out.
• Create a winter scrapbook with photos, drawings and things you find outside.
• Paint a winter landscape inspired by a famous artist.
• Make a winter collage.
• Make a snowglobe. 
• Watch a winter-themed movie or read a winter-themed book.
• Create a winter journal.
•  Write a persuasive essay on “Why winter is the best (or worst) season.”
• Make winter-themed candles.
• Study and listen to classical winter-themed music like Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite.
• Make your own winter instruments.
• Write lyrics to a winter-inspired song.
• Create your own crossword puzzle using winter vocabulary.

Science ideas:

• Learn about winter weather and how snow and ice form.
• Learn about winter animals’ adaptations.
• Learn about hibernation, migration and animal insulation. 
• Grow crystals.
• Make fake snow.
• Do an insulation experiment.
• Learn about constellations visible in January.
• Track the phases of the moon and learn how the earth’s tilt creates seasons. 
• Create a mini glacier with layers of sand and ice.

Maths ideas:

• Learn about symmetry by creating paper snowflakes.
• Solve winter maths problems about snow and ice, e.g “if five snowballs melt at the rate of . . . “
• Graph temperature changes throughout January.
• Bake a winter treat and learn about fractions and measurements.
• Calculate the volume of snow to build different-sized igloos.

Geography & History ideas:

• Indigenous culture and how indigenous people thrive in cold climates.
• Learn about the Arctic and the Antarctic. What are their differences?
• Learn about winter festivals and winter solstice traditions around the world.
• Research historical winter events.
• Create a map of places experiencing winter versus summer in January.
• Learn about winter trees and plants.
• Learn about winter inventions, like snow plows.
• Use Google Earth to “visit” famous snowy locations, like the Alps or Antarctica.

Life skill ideas:

• Make hot chocolate or a hearty winter soup.
• Learn how to make a campfire and toast marshmallows.
• Learn how to set up a tent in the garden.
• Make a January budget and track spending throughout the month.
• Learn how to sew, knit or crochet and make a winter item of clothing.
• Cook a winter recipe from another culture.
• Learn about food preservation techniques.
• Create a winter emergency kit and practise packing it.

Outdoor activities:

• Observe winter wildlife and make observations.
• Build a snow fort.
• Create a bird feeder and learn about winter birds.
• Measure icicles.
• Go ice-skating or sledding.

Physical education ideas:

• Try yoga poses inspired by hibernating animals.
• Create an indoor obstacle course leading to a ‘bear’s den’, using pillows and blankets.
• Create your own winter olympics.
• Practice mindfulness with a “snowy forest” guided meditation.
• Try out a winter-themed dance.

The New Year & Goal-Setting

Creative ideas:

• Write your New Year’s or homeschool resolutions.
• List your goals for the month of January.
• Create a dream journal.
• Make a New Year’s vision board.
• Create a resolution jar.
• Decide on a ‘word of the year’ and create a piece of art for it.
• Design a January calendar full of goals.
• Make a time capsule filled with goals, photos and letters, and plan to open it at the end of the year.
• Create firework art.
• Write a New Year’s story.
• Design a New Year’s mask.
• Create a colour wheel of goals for each month.
• Create a goal roadmap.
• Write goals on pieces of paper and fold them into origami.
• Make a New Year’s garland.
• Start a New Year’s scrapbook.

Science ideas:

• Explore the science behind fireworks.
• Do a countdown chemistry experiment. 
• Study the mental impact of forming habits and setting goals.
• Make a vision board that lights up by learning how to make a circuit.
• Learn how to track and collect data using scientific methods.
• Design and test paper aeroplanes. Track progress as they improve their designs.
• Learn about the nervous system by measuring reaction times and setting improvement goals.
• Make ice lanterns to study freezing and melting.

Cultural study ideas:

• Host a multicultural New Year’s party.
• Learn about New Year traditions around the world. 
• Write your own cultural resolutions.
• Learn about the Chinese Zodiac and create your own.
• Create a cultural ‘good luck’ collage.
• Learn how to say “Happy New Year” in different languages.
• Set goals inspired by other cultures.
• Explore mythology from other countries.

Maths ideas:

• Create a countdown and calculate days, hours and minutes to New Year’s and other big events in January.
• Use fractions and percentages to calculate reaching goals.
• Introduce budgeting for goals throughout January.
• Create a New Year’s resolution pie chart.
• Explore how different countries celebrate New Year’s at different times.

Life skill ideas:

• Design a weekly planner to help with time management.
• Learn to declutter and organise regularly.
• Plan, buy and prepare a meal once a week.
• Write thank you notes to people and learn about the value of gratitude.
• Practise mindfulness and focusing on goals.
• Learn emergency skills like first aid.
• Create problem-solving scenarios and brainstorm solutions.
• Practise role-play scenarios to improve communication.
• Write a family mission statement.

Outdoor ideas:

• Go on a nature walk and reflect on the past year.
• Have a New Year’s picnic and discuss goals together.
• Light a campfire and make wishes for the year.
• Plant a ‘goal tree.’
• Collect smooth stones and paint them with images or words representing goals.
• Go on a walk and photograph things that symbolise your hopes and dreams for the New Year.
• Write positive affirmations on a kite and fly it.

Physical education ideas:

• Set fitness goals for the New Year and track them throughout January.
• Have a New Year’s dance party and practise different styles of dance.
• Create a New Year’s obstacle course with winter-themed obstacles.
• Try out physical activities related to New Year traditions around the world.
• Try a walking challenge and set a goal for steps.
• Blow up balloons and create movement challenges.
• Create a jar of fitness resolutions.
• Do family fitness bingo.
• Journal about mindful movement and achievements made throughout January.

• Winter monsoons
• Taiga biome
• Ice caves
• Frostbite and hypothermia
• Melting glaciers

History 

• Ancient civilisations in winter
• Civil rights movement
• Arctic explorers
• Historical events in January
• Immigration stories
• The Great Blizzard of 1888
• Inuit culture
• Russia’s winter palace
• Journey to the south pole
• The Ice Age
• Vikings and winter survival
• Famous winter wars
• The origin of the name January (Roman roots)
• Famous people who were born in January:
• Isaac Newton (4, January, 1643)
• Joan of Arc (6, January, 1412)
• Paul Revere (1, January, 1735)
• Martin Luther King Jr. (15, January, 1929)
• Stephen Hawking (8, January, 1942)
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27, January, 1756)
• Medieval winter life
• Industrial Revolution in winter
• History of inventions made in January

Around the World

• Chinese New Year
• Orthodox Christmas
• Australia Day (26 January)
• Scottish history for Burns Night (25 January)
• World Braille Day (4 January)

Maths

• Winter geometry (snowflakes)
• Winter estimation games
• Winter maths equations
• Learn about temperature
• Graph winter weather
• Ratios of hot chocolate
• Winter board games and brain teasers
• Calculating winter daylight hours
• Winter patterns and sequences
• Volumes of snow