Season Related Learning [Snippets 1-11]

Ever wondered why Australian Open is held in January? 

Because it is Australia’s summer. 

While the Northern Hemisphere is in deep cold during January, the Southern Hemisphere, where Australia is located has summer season. It is amazing to learn that Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere will always have opposite season. Summer vs Winter and Spring vs Fall. The earth’s tilt is making all these possible. Depending on where the country is located within the earth, it dictates the season they are in.

Wherever you are located in the world, season related learning allows your child to be conscious of the occurring season and weather related events around the year. It creates a critical thinking and curiosity that can take them into a continuous learning.

The multi-sensory learning and experiential learning that we have mentioned abounds during these season related learning. What do they see, hear, smell, taste and feel? Being able to use their senses sets them apart into being more conscious with the tiny things happening around them that only few people get to develop.

It’s hard to believe, but apparently, wind has its own unique flavor depending on the season. Who knew? Well, now that we’ve established that, let’s dig into the fascinating world of seasonal learning and see what else we can learn!

1. Unleash the magic of winter by observing wildlife behavior, conducting snow experiments, winter nature hike, exploring winter foods and culture, introducing the concept of winter solstice, or heading to a nearby ecosystem to see what is in there. 
   
   Make it unique: Instead of heading to the mountains during winter to see snow, head to the beach and see what it looks like when it snows. Yes, you need your jackets, but be prepared to be surprised with that is in there. 

2. Aside from tracking the seasons, it would also be interesting to learn about the weather patterns throughout the seasons. Starting a nature notes or journal to record specific information throughout the day would be interesting. It can include date, time, place, season, temperatures, weather, moon phase, and other observations during the day and night. Then compare month after month, then year after year.
   
   Make it unique: Use the power of data analytics to graph weather patterns throughout the history in different part of the world. Head to http://weather.com or http://accuweather.com.com and look for their monthly data.

3. Improve your kids physical coordination, risk management, team work and social skills through season related sports. It can range from skiing, sledding, or simple tubing during winter to kayak, tennis, golf, basketball, soccer, volleyball, badminton during warmer seasons. Some of these sports are played indoor even during colder season, so choose wisely. Who knew, your children might just discover their natural ability as an athlete. At the very least, discover their sports for life.
   
   Make it unique: Pick a sport and look for the current world #1 in the sport, learn about how they got there. When did they start playing the sports? What is their junior career looks like? Who are their coaches? What makes them world #1? What other sports do they play? What is their “why”?    
   
   Check it Out: Thirteen best reasons to enhance your homeschooling with sports.

4. Sun and moon, day and night deserves their own item in the list. They are most ignored but having to observe where they are in certain season and explain why allows them to visualize the importance of these two celestial bodies into their daily lives. You can either keep track where the sun is during specific season. Hint: During winter months, the sun seems to be in south most of the time. Keep track of moon phase throughout the year.
   
   Make it unique: Use the weather channels to keep track of sunrise and sunset in different areas/zone in your country. 

5. Celebrate growth by observing things that grow during spring.  This is the busiest season because this is when the asleep world has awaken. Trees and flowers show their uniqueness, bugs come to life, birds that migrated at back, people and pets swarm the street.
   
   Make it unique: Create a small nursery in your garage or southeast window in your house, and start planting seeds of your choosing. Don’t forget to label and put dates! Watch each seeds grow each day and have kids measure. For easy seeds, start with beans. In Spring, each child creates their own planting spot, then have them plant the seeds from the nursery. 

6. Rainy seasons are not be ignored especially in other parts of the world especially the countries that get wet and dry seasons. In some parts of Asia there is monsoon rains which is both beneficial to farming but also sometime catastrophe for some. There are tons of outside learning activities during this time. Don’t forget to measure up the rain and keep a graph in your journal!
   
   Make it Unique: Play in the rain, make a fort, or a tiny stream and have some paper boats float. Don’t forget to video it.

7. Summer or dry season gives you the longest daylight in entire year, introducing the concept of Summer Solstice. This is the most wonderful time to be out at night to look at the night sky. Flash out those insect app and get yourself some bug hunting. If you’re lucky, you might find some bird eggs nested in your tree yard. Oh what a joy to witness this kind of learning. 
   
   Make it Unique:

8. Visit one ecosystem during each of the season. Choose one ecosystem and plan to visit it once every month or once every season. Remember to keep a journal of your observation, and take a lot of pictures and videos to compare.
   
   Make it Unique: Choose one part of the ecosystem that will not likely to get removed or moved – a tree, a pond, a bush, a lake – and take a picture of it every visit. Create a montage of picture with labels and display.     

9. Harvest Season is the season of abundance.
   
   Make it Unique: Check for the harvest season in the fishing, crustaceans, or pearl industry. You will be amazed to know that each of these type have different harvest season. If you’re feeling adventurous, head to the nearest harvest point and learn.  

10. Watch your sorroundings explode in color when summer ends, days become shorter, and leaves turns into magical combination of different colors. Notice the birds migrating, animals and bugs storing food, pond animals are looking for place to hide, and everyone else busy before the first frost. This is usually the best time to go outside at night. The stars are more visible, the annoying bugs are less or none at all, the cool crisp air makes breathing comfortable, and the air smells different.  Introduce the concept of Autumnal Equinox wherein the day and night are about the same (12 hours each).
    
    Make it Unique: Go to the nearest observatory that has a telescope on clear night and check the parade of planets in the telescope. The Saturn and Jupiter are planets to look forward to. Check the meteor showers calendar  that comes in mostly during this time of the year. Lastly, spot your favorite constellations and stars. 

11. Hit some trails in any season you’re in just because trails are different in different kinds of seasons. Comes rainy days, prepare to get wet. Comes sunny days, prepare to get too hot. Comes winter, bundle up. Find your favorite trail and make way through it monthly and notice the difference.
    
    Make it Unique: Go through your favorite trail in the early part of each season. Trees blooming in spring, thick green in summer,  beautiful colors in fall, see through in winter. Choose one specific spot in the trail and take a picture every visit. Frame and display.