Winter Unschooling: The Seasonal Approach to Homeschooling
Let Go of Lesson Plans: Embrace Winter as Your Unschooling Curriculum
Here we are, in the middle of winter. We’re wrapping up January now, and the sun is slowly returning. But even in these darker days, there’s so many awesome opportunities to learn from this season.
As unschoolers, we can use these seasonal rhythms as al scaffold for learning—a way to anchor curiosity and discovery in the natural flow of life.
If you’re new to the Unschooling Mom2Mom channel, welcome!
I do weekly podcasts and sometimes I convert these to videos. Each week, I try to bring you a 10-minute unschooling pep talks to show you how unschooling really does work.
I’m
Sue Patterson, and my three unschooled kids are all in their 30s now. I’ve circled back to help parents like you, learn more about how unschooling could work for your family too!
I’ve created a ton of resources for you, because
parents all learn differently too! I want you to get the information in a way that will REALLY help you. We talk a lot about how KIDS learn, but we have to look at how Parents learn best too. If you fall asleep as soon as you start to read a
PDF - don’t get that. If you like videos - the
courses are set up for that. If you learn better in conversations with other people, or if you’re feeling lonely in your community, do the
membership. I’ll link everything in the shownotes.
But this week, I want to talk about using Winter as your own personal seasonal curriculum. You really can use the opportunities that come with the seasons when you’re looking for ways to help your kids learn. You don’t have to go out and buy expensive workbooks or stick with rigid schedules, just open the door and greet the Winter. Inside your home, things naturally shift this time of year, and there’s so much learning happening naturally - all around you if you start to notice it.
I created a Seasonal Guide for Winter to spark creativity and confidence as you explore the opportunities this season brings. Winter invites us to slow down, to cozy up, and to lean into a different rhythm. The cold and quiet might initially feel limiting, but really, it’s an opportunity to shift gears into the curriculum nature is providing.
For unschoolers, seasons can offer a beautiful structure for learning, free from the artificial constraints of grade levels or subjects. We can tap into what’s happening in the world around us.
What better way to learn than by observing and participating in the cycles of nature?
I think of these Seasonal Guides as helpful ways for Homeschoolers who are trying to transition over to unschooling. They’re not QUITE ready to jump in. If this is you, I want to reassure you that you don’t have to throw caution to the wind and You can dip your toI’d invite you to continue to keep an open mind - because a lot of our resistance doesn’t have anything to do with facts, it’s just familiarity. You’re stepping into uncharted waters, so to speak. Uncharted for you maybe, not uncharted for me. I can show you.
So I want to show you how to use Winter to help you pivot a little. I know you’re still locked into subjects - so there’s a little deschooling you still need to do. But let me show you how these subjects ARE coming around simply by enjoying Winter.
You can always start with the Holidays. You know that the Lunar New Year starts on January 29th this year - that’s Wednesday!
It goes on for a month and there’s so much to learn from this. I have a lot of resources in my membership group because we’re diving into this in the next 30 days. But you can always google whatever holiday is around the corner.
For example, let’s look at
the Chinese New Year, starting this week. There’s so much to explore!
- Language Arts: Read Zodiac stories, practice calligraphy, or dive into books about life in China or Chinese-American experiences.
- Math: Learn about lunar cycles, dividing red envelopes, or measuring ingredients in traditional recipes.
- Science: Study the moon’s phases, symbolism in plants, or the biology of zodiac animals.
- Social Studies: Explore the history of the holiday, regional traditions, and the migration of people who brought these celebrations to new lands.
- Art: Create decorations inspired by the lucky colors and wood element of 2025’s Year of the Snake.
Immersing yourself in this holiday is just one example of how unschooling connects real life with learning. You don’t need to check boxes—you just need curiosity and a willingness to explore. And this Winter Guide will show you ideas you may have set aside, thinking they didn’t “count.” But they do - even if they’re just little pieces of learning, they all add up!
We have even more Winter holidays to dive into next month:
Black History Month,
Groundhog Day,
Valentine’s Day,
Mardi Gras,
President’s Day—all filled with ways to weave learning into daily life.
The
Winter Guide includes over 70 pages of ideas for activities, games, and discussions that tap into the season’s unique opportunities. From kitchen math to winter sports, daylight hours to freezing temperatures, it’s all there—and it all counts.
But the Winter Guide has 70 pages of fun ideas to tap into - using the cold weather and snowy days.
I have games and stories, podcasts and movies - all to help your kids learn a variety of aspects of language arts and vocabulary development.
And the Math concepts that have to do with winter sports and budgets, temperature tracking and kitchen math.
All of these subjects weave together - they don’t stay in their lane like they do in school.
Real life merges it all together. Because even these also include pieces of science and social studies: The daylight hours and earth rotation, the animals and what they do when it’s colder.
There’s physics and engineering and chemistry associated with freezing temperatures... friction and melting points, insulation and sound travel. I have links for quick online shows to help demonstrate these things - podcasts, videos, whatever you need to make this exciting for your kids!
I keep hearing from parents who say,
“We’ve been homeschooling for a while and it’s not working.
I’m not happy, the kids aren’t happy.
I’ve tried everything - so now it’s time to actually look at unschooling.”
And I’m so glad! It’s not too late! Winter is still here! And I have this easy tool to help you begin to make the leap over to Unschooling.
The Unschooling 101 Course is on sale for the rest of this month - so you might want to save $20 and jump on that!
If you need more hand-holding, you can always join us in the
Membership Group. The Winter Guide - and all the information in Unschooling 101 - is also in our private Member’s portal.
Or you can just hop off here and get that
Winter Guide! I want you to be successful.
Tap into the Seasons to help you see how unschooling really DOES offer so many opportunities to learn - you don’t need to duplicate school at all.
That’s it for me this time! Enjoy the kids. Happy Unschooling
