Homeschooling in the winter – Yukon style
We live in the Yukon, which means that in any given year winter can go from mid September until mid May… That’s 8 months or 8/12ths of the year or 66% of the year – ACK!
Last year we dealt with homeschooling during the winter by intentionally running away and it was GREAT. We travelled for 8 months and had a life of adventure that did not involve snow, other than a few incidental days. The ability to be outside most days is definitely a positive influencer on homeschooling options and our state of mind…
This year Hunter claimed that winter is his favourite season and he absolutely had to stay home to hang out with friends and snowboard. We, the silly parents, agreed (never again does he get a trump vote!).
While we have sprinkled our winter with intermittent adventures like heading to Tofino for Thanksgiving, Mexico and Houston for American Thanksgiving, Ecuador for New Years and California for spring break, we still find ourselves spending a decent amount of time here during a Yukon winter, which is challenging…
The saviour of our sanity is the local homeschool association – the Yukon Home Educators Society. Thanks to the efforts of these passionate parents, we have a broad array of programming, with something going on every week. This allows us to build a strong community and create connections – both for the kids and the parents.
Through out the winter we have group skating, dance, gymnastics and various arts programs. This year a small group of kids have started a first nations carving class that will run all winter long.
We have also bought season passes to Mount Sima (our local ski hill) to help ensure that we get out and play as much as possible, even when it does feel cold and yucky. Hunter is taking part in a snowboarding program for kids each Saturday and this again forces us to ensure we engage with winter, whether we want to or not.