The Weather Center
My friend Rowena (and her almost 6 year old Ella) had a little homeschool Open House this past Sunday (which I happened to think was the coolest idea EVER!) She invited homeschooling families and other friends to just come hang out and see how and where they homeschool, talk with other like minded folks about WHY we homeschool, and let our kids play together while the moms and dads drank pomegranate margaritas. (You can’t get that at your average Open House, now can you??)
I have always been very impressed with my dear friend but she outdid herself Sunday. We were welcomed into their home, their schooling environment and their life to be inspired and encouraged and we were certainly both of those things and more.
She had all kinds of neat things out for us to see – Ella’s “Book Club” impressed Abby tremendously. (Rowena has set up a bookshelf full of Ella’s favorites behind their couch in a cozy little reading nook). I loved looking at their science experiments and loved their art room. I also stole a fabulous idea from her and immediately came home and instituted it here.
They use window markers and window clingies with different weather symbols on them for their weather center. Each day they recall yesterday’s weather, observe today’s weather and predict tomorrow’s weather.
(Bruce may even get in on the action with this activity considering his proclivity for weather interpretation.)
I didn’t have any fancy window markers but by now you know my deep and abiding love for dry erase markers so I pulled them out and used the grid on my dining room window to create our own weather center here at The Clark Academy Of Excellence!
Instead of window clings, we will draw a picture each day to represent the weather and write out the words “sunny, cloudy, rainy” etc. I am also looking for a thermometer to put in the window so we can start observing the temperature!
I love sharing (and swiping!) ideas from other home educators!
August 26th, 2009 at 12:05 am
That is an awesome idea! I’ve heard the window markers are hard to get off and would have never thought to try dry erase markers. Cute!
August 26th, 2009 at 9:11 am
LOVE it! That window is perfect for it.
August 26th, 2009 at 11:05 pm
Love this!!!! We chart weather in our Saxon math book but this is much better.
Thank you!
August 29th, 2009 at 7:13 am
What an incredibly simple and smart idea. We will be putting this into action in the morning. Thank you
September 7th, 2009 at 9:48 am
ah, julie, i’m just now seeing this! thank you for the nice tribute, friend. i was so glad you took time out of your sunday to come share the afternoon with me and my family.
oh, the reason we use the clingies is this: our house is almost 90 years old, and the glass in the windows is original. when ella writes, she presses so hard that i am afraid the glass will break. so instead i have her gently press the clingies onto the window, and then we chart the weather on paper as well. i’ll try to remember to put this on the blog.