How do I keep homeschooling?

Homeschooling is a challenging job in many ways. Homeschooling moms are with their children almost all the time. There is never any down time. When they are not teaching, they are driving their kids somewhere, cooking, cleaning, doing laundry or finding new materials for the next school topic. When kids are struggling with a particular subject, or just don't want to do schoolwork, the job becomes even more difficult. That is when burnout sets in.

All homeschooling moms have been there and it can be difficult working through tough periods. When it strikes, it is often a red flag signaling big changes are required because something is not working.

It's always nice to take a break during a burnout if possible, but the most important thing to do is reevaluate what's working during the school day and what's not working. I always find it helpful to talk to other homeschooling parents and read blogs of homeschoolers to find out how they teach subjects that aren't going well.

In our house, we tend to have burnouts each spring as the school year draws to a closes. We are all anxious to begin summer vacation, get outside more and work on our own projects. Last year during our burnout I gave the kids a choice. We have a keyboard that can be used to compose and record music. It had been in the house over a year and nobody had learned to use it. Since I was satisfied with what they had learned, I told them they could spend the last three weeks learning to play the keyboard or completing a list of more traditional school activities. They both chose the keyboard and it was a welcome change for us all. They were happy to be doing something different, liked learning how to make the keyboard record tracks and I was happy to see the keyboard getting some action. It was just what we needed to transition into summer.

Here are some more ideas to transition through a burnout:

1. Give the kids a special and unique project. Maybe work on a project you have been wanting to cover for a long time that you haven't had time for........ learn to knit, build a playhouse, put together that model airplane, see how many different types of boats you can make from recycled materials and bring them to a stream to see how well they float.....

2. Go on field trips every day for a week. Monday - science museum, Tuesday - swimming pool, Wednesday - nature hike, Thursday - living history museum, Friday - relax, go to the library and search for books on anything interesting from excursions, write about the week or research on the internet.

This post is part of the Homeschool Help Series where five other homeschooling mom write about their education experiences. Here's what they have to say about burnout.


What to do when you run out of fuel? - Barefoot Hippie Girl
Homeschool Burnout - Every Bed of Roses
Avoid Homeschool Burnout - One Magnificent Obsession
Overcoming Homeschool Burnout - Navigating by Joy

This post is linked to:
True Aim Education 
Motivation Monday
HBSA