10 tips from homeschooling parents on how to spend a snow day

Posted: 02 Feb 2011 11:51 PM PST

As many of us face our seventh (or more) snow day in recent weeks, we may be running low on ideas of how to keep our children's brains from turning into mush. Many working parents are struggling enough with re-arranging schedules and working from home while keeping some semblance of order in the house.

I have to admit all this unscheduled time off of school was awakening my inner slumbering Tiger Mom. (Our kids are falling behind all those kids in fair-weather states!) I decided it was time to consult with the experts, for whom every day is a like a snow day. I called the homeschoolers.

Unlike those parents who have a routine, lesson plan and organized supplies at their disposal, we're more accustomed to helping with homework and reading books with our children -- not trying to make-up for a week's worth of missed instruction. The homeschooling parents I queried have lots of useful suggestions on making the most of a snow day.

Here are ten of their best ideas:

1. Snow days are good opportunity to reinforce ideas that maybe aren't all that solid, says homeschooling mom Kelly Wagner. If your child didn't pick up a certain concepts on the first three worksheets, chances are that they won't get them with a fourth or a fifth. Turn those subjects into a game, she suggested.

For example, to review math facts, take a pair of dice and throw them across the floor. Have the kids scurry after them. Younger kids have to add the two numbers rolled; older kids have to multiply them. You can play similar games with a deck of cards: Draw two cards, and the ones that add up to the larger number wins. Older kids can learn how to count back change from certain dollar amounts. Much older kids can start figuring out how much money they can make if they offer to shovel driveways and sidewalks.

2. Extreme weather also gives you a chance to cover safety with your kids. Depending on their age, you can look up images of frostbitten fingers and share it with them. You can explain why you never, ever, walk across an ice-covered pond, and why cotton is called "the death cloth." Not only is it science, but it's particularly relevant and just might save a limb.

3. Create a wish list of books that your child might want to pick up at the library once the snow clears. Scholastic's website has a Book Wizard that will help you find books either with similar topics of interest or at their reading level.

4. Have your child make up a story that you write down and that the child illustrates. You can publish it in book format by using a print-on-demand service such as lulu.com. For older kids, introduce them to NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), a project encouraging young authors to write and get published. You can also download age-appropriate workbooks from their site.

5. Read something that is magical, challenging or out-of-the-ordinary for them, says Laura Faulkingham. She says she always tries to keep a dictionary handy, so when they run across an unfamiliar word they can look it up immediately.

6. The key to keeping kids engaged and away from digital distraction is by interacting with them, says Karen Loethen. Play games, bring out board games and puzzles. "You're not doing each our own things," Loethen says. "The thing that will keep them from doing that is your interest, your enthusiam and your attention."

7. Pull out the messy projects you don't have time for normally, the ones that involve glue, glitter and papier-mache.

8. Let your children make a movie. Get a video camera or hand them a smartphone. They can write a screenplay, put together costumes and direct the film. Older children can use video-editing software to polish their masterpiece.

9. The Parsons family uses a website, theteacherscorner.net, which gives a writing prompt for every day of the year. Some are related to well known holidays like Martin Luther King day, but others are more obscure like National Cheese Day or Popcorn Day. Barry Parsons, who home schools his two daughters, says they will follow the prompt, then do some craft or activity related to the day.

10. Set up a treasure hunt in the house, in which they have to follow direction to find the clues throughout the house and collect the items.

Experienced home school parents offered these free online resources they rely upon:

Worksheets on a variety of topics and grade levels:

superteacherworksheets.com

Kid-friendly science information:

kids.nationalgeographic.com

Educational games:

Brainpop.com

Beginning readers:

Starfall.com

Practice math facts:

multiplication.com