Weather & Seasons

What this covers

• Describing today's weather using sunny, cloudy, rainy, snowy, windy, foggy, and pairing it with hot, warm, cool, or cold
• Naming the four seasons in order and describing what happens to trees, daylight, clothing, and outdoor activities in each
• Reading a simple weather chart or picture graph and answering questions like 'how many rainy days were there?' or 'which weather happened most?'
• Identifying rain, snow, sleet, and hail as different forms of water falling from clouds
• Talking about what a thermometer shows and comparing two temperatures as warmer or colder
• Explaining why we check a forecast and how weather affects choices like what to wear or whether to play outside

Where learners get stuck

Thinking a season changes because of a date on the calendar rather than a gradual shift the child can observe

Children hear 'winter starts December 21st' and treat it like a birthday. They then get confused by a warm December day or snow in April, because the calendar 'said' otherwise.

Mixing up weather and climate, or weather and season — saying 'it's summer' as an answer to 'what's the weather today?'

Both words describe outside conditions and adults use them in similar sentences. The distinction between right now and a long stretch of time is genuinely hard before children have a firm grip on time spans.

Believing the sun goes away or gets turned off in winter, or that clouds are made of cotton or smoke

Winter days really are darker and colder, so 'less sun' is a reasonable guess from direct experience. Clouds look solid and fluffy from the ground, and the idea that they are made of water is counterintuitive to a child who thinks of water as something that pours.

What a session looks like

A session runs about 15-20 minutes as a spoken back-and-forth. Evelyn usually starts by asking your child to look out a window or remember what it was like walking out the door that morning, then builds from that description. Expect sorting games (which of these belong in winter?), quick prediction questions, and short recall checks on the order of the seasons. Your child talks more than Evelyn does; the aim is for them to produce the describing words themselves rather than pick from a list.

Helpful to know first

• Able to name colours and use basic size and comparison words like bigger, hotter, more
• Some experience of at least one full year of seasons where they live, or of a wet and dry season
• Can count to about 10 and compare two small groups (needed for weather charts)
• No reading required — everything is spoken

Questions

My child lives somewhere with no snow or no real winter. Will this still make sense?

Yes. Evelyn asks where you are and adjusts to wet and dry seasons, or to milder temperature changes, using local cues like rain patterns, daylight length, and what plants do. Snow is discussed as something that happens in some places, not as the definition of winter.

What is the difference between what a kindergartner and a second grader should know about weather?

A kindergartner should describe daily weather and name the seasons. A first grader starts recording weather over several days and noticing patterns. A second grader can read a simple chart, compare temperatures, and explain that a forecast is a prediction that might be wrong. Evelyn pitches questions to your child's responses rather than a fixed grade script.

Does this cover why seasons happen — the Earth's tilt?

Only lightly, and only if your child asks. At K-2 the goal is recognising the pattern and describing it. The tilt and orbit explanation belongs with Earth and Space topics and typically lands later; introducing it early tends to produce a memorised phrase rather than understanding.

Can we do weather observations at home alongside the sessions?

That works well. Looking out the window each morning for a week and noting sun, cloud, or rain gives your child real data to talk about, and Evelyn can ask them about it and help them find patterns in what they collected.