Themes and plans for January

Nature:

• snow hopefully - some time to see, taste, touch and explore each flake
  
• ice - terrible, treacherous and yet beautiful
• the seed catalogs arrive; time to plan the gardens by the fireside
• try to find or make tracks in the snow
• A winter woods hike
  
• birds at the feeders in droves
• the Full Wolf Moon (10)

Food:

• Clementines
• Lots of beans
• soups and stew
• pot roast
  
• oatmeal

Chumash/Liturgy:

• Parsha (My First Parsha and Torah Tots) - now each morning with Breakfast
• Begin learning V'ay hafta
  
• Introduce Shacarit - very abbreviated (after washing up but before breakfast)
• Rosh Codesh Sh' vat (25)
  
• Prepare for Tu B'Shvat
  

Home

• pack away Hanukkah decorations
• begin a Hanukkah '09 folder
• finish baby quilts for the new arrivals due this month
  
• send thank you notes
• update address book
• Put up new calendars
  • enter all important dates
• purchase greetings cards for birthdays this year
  • tuck in file folders
• purchase seed starting supplies
• stock car with winter emergency supplies
• organize snow day play equipment
• buy valentine making supplies before month's end

Life:

• National Hot Tea Month
• National Soup Month
• National Oatmeal Month
• New Year's Day (1)
• Family birthdays:
• • Grandma (3)
• Benjamin Franklin's birthday (17)
• A.A. Milne's birthday (18)
• National Popcorn Day (19)
• Martin Luther King Day (19)

Stories:

• The Story of the Snow Children
  
• The Mitten
• A Child's Calendar
  
• Fairy Tale Feasts
  
• The House at Pooh Corner in honor of A.A. Milne's birthday
  
• It's Tu B'Shevat
  
• Grandpa and Me on Tu B'Shevat
  

Field Trips:

• sledding
• the nursery (to buy seeds)
• snow tubing/skiing

Crafts/Activities:

• choose a classic to read aloud on long winter nights
• plan out the new year's garden
• make window stars
• string popcorn and cranberries for the birds
• catch snowflakes
• make a snowman!
• family swim nights
• by month's end start felt heart sachets

Well, that's a lot of ideas for just one month! I can only hope to do some of them, but I'm glad to have the list to look back on again next year. Thank you Dawn for the inspiration to become organized like this. So, what makes January special for you? What things are on your "to do-to learn-to enjoy" list this month?

The days are short
The sun a spark
Hung thin between
the dark and dark

Fat snowy footsteps
Track the floor
And parkas pile up
Near the door

Excerpt from "January" by John Updike