Dive Into a Book!

I'm not a big winter person. At least, I'm not a big outdoor winter person. My idea of a great winter day is staying inside from morning until night-- no errands and no dashes out to the store.  We use our housebound time to (among other things) dive into books.

A few years ago, when Charlotte's Web came to the theaters, we spent the weeks leading up to its release reading the original story by E. B. White, coloring a picture of a barn, making our own farm animals flash cards...Gavin and Brian even made a cardboard model of the Zuckermans' farm that we found at a discount book store. Finally, we treated ourselves to a matinee showing of the new movie at a local theater.

This year, we plan to read The Mitten a fun and easy picture book by Jan Brett. To go along with it, I ordered the kids this kit . Maddie will make the mittens, Gavin will use the hammer he got for Christmas to punch the tin, and we will all learn about mammals with the lap book. Even Owen can participate with this fun craft from the Jan Brett website.
When we get back to more formal schooling in February, I plan to read Mr. Popper's Penguins and have Maddie work through Going On Eagerly, a fun winter workbook put out by Rod and Staff Publishers.

Winter is such a fun time to immerse ourselves in these pieces of literature.