A misconception about the seasons

I've been marking some work and astute students know that the Earth moves in an elliptical orbit, thus being closer to the Sun at some times of the year than at other times. The suggestion is that it is summer when we are closest to the Sun. I've always known that this explanation doesn't hold water but never really bothered to look it up. Here's the stark reality - we are closest to the Sun (perihelion) in early January when us northern hemisphere people are in mid-winter. This year it was on 3 January https://earthsky.org/tonight/earth-comes-closest-to-sun-every-year-in-early-january This other site explains the analemma shape well - saying that when the Earth is closer to the Sun it is moving faster and moving slower when it is further away from the Sun. https://www.space.com/3304-earth-closest-sun-dead-winter.html I do need to do some more thinking about it.