Winter Fun

Introduce These Words:

It is fun to live in Vermont in the winter. The children have lots of outside adventures. Meg and Ben ice skate, ski, and sled in the winter while Chip runs around barking at them.

Today they are ice skating at the pond and yes, Chip is with them. Meg has never skated before and Mother told Meg she would hold her hand until she felt safe on the ice. Meg is excited.

Mother says she will test the ice before Meg and Ben skate because she wants to make sure it is safe. Chip did not seem to want to go on the ice. Do you think maybe the ice was too cold for his paws?

Ben had skated before so he put his skates on and went right onto the ice after Mother said it was safe. He went around and around and only fell one time, and picked himself up and kept skating. He learned how to turn around and how to stop. It was fun to learn something new.

Meg and Mother skated very slowly at first, but Meg thought it was lots of fun. She learned how to skate on her own without holding Mother’s hand. She felt good because she learned something new.

After an hour Meg and Ben both said they were cold. Mother told them to take off their skates and they would go home. She said, “You have both learned a lot today. It has been a good day. Come on Chip, get in the car.” Even Chip had a good day. He didn’t get into any trouble today!

Mother told them about ice fishing and promised to drive home along the river so they could see the fishermen. Mother explained how the fishermen cut a hole in the ice and put their fishing line down in the hole to catch fish. Most of the fishermen have little cabins above their fishing hole so they can sit inside and keep warm. Many people in Vermont need the fish for food. Others fish for fun.

Soon they were driving along the river and Ben and Meg saw all the little fishing cabins out on the ice. Some people had barrels with fires in them to keep warm. Ben asked Mother how the fishermen got the cabins onto the ice. Mother told him they drove their trucks out onto the ice after it was very thick.

Ben didn’t think he would like ice fishing because he didn’t like being cold. Meg wanted to try it someday. Mother said she would ask Daddy to take Meg ice fishing someday.

Tomorrow Ben will have lots to write about in his main lesson book. But today, Ben said he would like to write about his trip to the Beek’s Outdoor Education Center. Every week Ben and Meg visit the center and learn about nature and how to survive in the wild. This week they learned how to tie a square knot. A square knot is used to tie two pieces of rope together. Ben had fun tying ropes together.

Today he told Mother what he wanted to write and she wrote it down. Then he copied it into his main lesson book. Meg thought about what to draw for her picture. It was nice to be home in front of a warm wood stove drinking hot cocoa.

Mother brought out the crocheting so she and Ben could finish crocheting their scarves. Ben wanted to wear his scarf. It was a pretty blue, his favorite color. Meg said she wanted Ben to crochet a red scarf for her. Mother was crocheting a green scarf for Daddy. They crocheted until 4:00, when it got dark. It gets dark earlier in the winter in Vermont than in many other places.

Mother asked Ben and Meg to help her make dinner. Chip sat by the window waiting for Daddy. He always seems to know when it is time for Daddy to come home.

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