I'm in the middle of working on a math post, but I couldn't resist sharing the fun moment we had this morning when it was time to find out what Punxsutawney Phil predicted for the remainder of winter. I had reminded the kids that February 2nd was coming right up and we'd have to find out whether or not the groundhog would see his shadow. My kids are a bit beyond the age to really do up a big unit on the little holiday with printables and crafts, but it's still fun to mark the seasonal transitions and to acknowledge the day on the calendar. Besides, I do still have a second grader and Groundhog Day is just a fun time.
R12 has been working on making Zines after reading the book Watcha Mean What's a Zine? She publishes a new edition every other day and it's just plain fabulous. Today a special Groundhog Day edition is due out and to greet us at the breakfast table were Groundhog finger puppets on the napkin holder. We are all waiting with great anticipation the release of the special edition!
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| Photo Credit: accu-weather.com |
In the meantime, what's a homeschooler like me to do when you want to find out what happened to groundhog Phil without all the printed materials and rather on the fly after her kids show some interest? We turn to the internet- of course! I regularly read the CNN homepage along with The Washington Post and I knew both would have some headlines regarding Phil.
The Washington Post had a great article from Accu Weather which is so worth reading aloud to your children. In it, there is a brief historical reference to the origin of the holiday along with some weather facts- it's a humorous and informative article.
Visit the Official website of Punxsutawney Phil and you can read about the history of the day and all about the Inner Circle who are the royal protectors of Phil the groundhog.
For a real kick, click on the Groundhog Day live stream at the top of the page and you'll see video from 7:35 this morning. You would not believe the crowd there today- seriously go and look! You can see the members of the Inner Circle arrive and the handlers take Phil out of his den to make his proclamation.
Among the highlights of these impromptu moments were noticing Jim Cantore of The Weather Channel on stage with the other members of the Inner Circle- wearing a top hat but in place of the black wool overcoat was the tell-tale blue LLBean Weather Channel parka whipping out his iPhone to get a picture of Phil and his handlers. The other was E14 standing in the background saying, "This has to be the craziest little American holiday there is." Indeed!
The point of this blog post? To remind my readers that not everything in the life of a homeschooler has to be formal with printed materials and notebooked items. Sometimes it's ok just to recognize a special day with some fun learning together and following links. Didn't get a chance to make that groundhog puppet? Who cares! Just get to the moment- and follow a little treasure hunt of links on the topic.
I'll be sure to share R's special edition Zine (along with her others) and that math post is coming right up. I just couldn't resist the chance to share a little easy holiday fun today!
Spring's just around the corner!
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