Our Canadian winters can be a wonderful time to enjoy the outdoors, but they can also make for a tough and long January/February for homeschoolers!

Getting back into a routine after Christmas and New Years can sometimes be really difficult—then pile on the long winter, shorter days and cold weather, and you can start to feel like you are going crazy by the end of January! Anyone else feeling that way right now? Here are a few of my tips on how to overcome the winter blues.

1. Bundle up and get outside! If you feel motivated enough, you can even plan some learning activities to do outside. I try really hard to make sure that we get outside for even just a few minutes each day, unless it is severely cold! It is amazing how a few minutes outside can help to rejuvenate your day/week! Sometimes it can make the rest of your day go smoother and be more productive.
2. Try a new curriculum or change up your schedule. Sometimes starting something new can give you just enough incentive to want to get back into the swing of things again. Ask your children if there is something that they would really like to learn more about.
3. Pull out the board games. This is one of my favourite ways to encourage family fun, and it can work wonders when you are needing some motivation.
4. Plan some field trips to local attractions. A trip to the wildlife park or local museum can help to spark a new unit study or learning topic and provide time away from home.
5. Turn on the music! Music can do wonders with setting the mood. Turn on some music and dance and sing as a family when you are having a tough day.
6. If you have older children, ask them to help you make a healthy eating menu for a month! Work together on finding recipes while learning about food and nutrition. Healthy eating can help to change your mindset!

The long winters in Canada can be fun if you take a positive perspective and enjoy the season. There may be bumps along the way, but do your best to motivate yourself and your children to enjoy winter activities, time in the house to curl up on the couch together, and remember that spring is just around the corner.

Kari Lynn Dundass is a cattle rancher and homeschool mom to three boys, in British Columbia, Canada. She works with her parents on their family ranch while her husband has employment off the ranch and assists on his days off. The ranch has been operating for 50 years, and her three boys are the fourth generation. Kari Lynn has a bachelor of Nature Resource Science and loves writing about her lifestyle of ranching and homeschooling. You can find her blog about life on the ranch while homeschooling at www.ranchingwithkids.com .