:: The Ballard Bunch ::: Snow Days

Monday, March 5, 2018

Snow Days

We're quickly learning that a Kentucky snow day is nothing like any other snow day we've experienced before. So far, the kids have had 7 snow days since the beginning of January! No, we haven't had some terrible, horrible winter, it just doesn't take much to cancel school here. First there was a dusting of snow, followed by a day with wind chills a few degrees below zero (which killed us because that's like every morning in January and February in Iowa hahah!). Next there was a snow storm that dropped about 5-6 inches of snow. They had three days off plus a late start for that storm! The other two days were for an ice storm.

While it's a bit rediculous, the kids have LOVED it! Our backyard is amazing in the snow. They've spent hours sledding down our hill and exploring the frozen creek at the bottom. I even did a few runs down the hill on the sled. It is awesome! (When I was a kid everyone drove to "monster hill" for the best sledding. Our backyard is as great as Monster Hill!)

This is our backyard!

Part of why Kentucky is able to have so many snow days is that most of the days are actually "nontraditional instruction days" meaning the kids have to log 3-4 hours of school work during the day. They each have a packet with some worksheets, but those didn't take long so we were also able to do several fun learning activities. One day we did Lego STEM challenge cards. Another we did a science experiment with melting snow. I love teaching my kids at home! It makes me wish they could do school three to four days a week for the socialization, structure, fundamentals, etc then we could spend one a day week learning all the fun stuff together. If only it worked that way!

There was also lots of jammy wearing, drinking hot chocolate, playing dress up, playing with Christmas toys, and cuddling baby Conrad. It was nice to have some down time since our whole winter break was busy with our trip to Utah.