February in the month of burnout, isn’t it? The weather here is getting old. It’s cold, we’re pretty sick of snow and ice, and we’re all ready for some warm sunshine.

We’ve hit a wall of homeschool doldrums, so while the basics are getting accomplished, it’s time to shake things up. We’re turning our minds to the garden – warm soil, sunshine, and delightful little green sprouts.

So much learning can come from focusing on everyday tasks. We use the basics of math, handwriting, geometry, and reading without even think about them. Showing kids how the lessons learned in school directly apply to life is not only useful for their everyday living, but can also help them push through the tough book lessons. I know I’m more willing to put forth extra effort when I can see a direct application!

February is the perfect time to implement garden school! Although we can’t get out in to the garden much on these cold, wet days, but we can put pencil to paper and plan it all out.

We ordered seeds yesterday – Math! Together, we calculated how many seeds we’d need for the yield we want, we chatted about budgeting and from where the seed money would come (grocery budget!), and we talked about cost.

Before we ordered, we brainstormed our needs and Avila wrote everything down for us in her little notebook – Handwriting and Spelling, check! The kids thought about what they’d like to grow and everyone made requests.

Soon, we will discuss soil and the importance of rotating crops. Our garden has had certain plants in the same area for two years in a row now, so it’s time to do some heavy rotation. We will have to shift things around quite a bit, to ensure soil health.

We will sketch things out on paper, discussing planter box size and the needs of each plant. Our garden is pretty nicely sized, but this discussion could be done with any size garden. Even potted plants!

As February wears on, we need to cut ourselves some slack and look for learning opportunities outside the books. Now is the perfect time to take the classroom out into the garden (or at least the seed catalogue!)

{We order our seeds from our favorite seed company – Seeds Now! They are reasonably priced, super low frills, but high quality company. We’ve ordered from Seeds Now! for the last four years and are always happy with their non-GMO, heirloom, organic seeds. This post is NOT sponsored, I honestly just love their seeds. Links are affiliate links.}