Those Dreary Days of Winter
February seems to me like Hump Day in the homeschooling calendar: the rush of winter holidays is past, thank heavens. Spring break is out there, but it’s still a fairly small speck on the horizon. With the exception of President’s Day weekend, there’s nary a break in sight.
This is the time when you start feeling Homeschool Burnout.
It happens to the best of us – you wake up one morning and think, “Man, I just don’t feel like doing school today.” The problem is compounded by the guilty knowledge that, as the Responsible Person Around Here, you’re not supposed to say (or think) that. Are you? After all, you’re the leader, the head cheerleader, the primary administrator of this bunch of learners.
Worst of all, a little voice deep down is whispering, “I bet Really Great Teachers don’t ever feel like this.”
Squash that little voice right now. That’s the same voice that told you buying five math curriculums for one kid – all on the same day – was a good idea.
What’s making you feel this way? Whatever it is, you need to shove aside the accompanying guilt before it fogs your head. Try any or all of the following:
* Take a break. If your local regulations allow, take the day off. Heck, if it’s bad enough, take a couple of days. You may have turned that litany of Am I Doing This Right? Did We Do Enough? Is My Kid Learning? down to a dull roar in the background, but I bet you still hear it *all the time.* That’s almost as wearing as hearing your kid whine about something repeatedly. Give yourself a break. Have a fun day with the kids, read a magazine out of that pile you labelled “Later When I Have Time”, take an hour to do a hobby you enjoy. And that’s a hobby you enjoy yourself, not something you do with the kids to keep them company. Take an afternoon to say ME for once.
Besides, I bet you still had school on all those snow days when the public schools closed. You’re still ahead of the calendar!
* Re-examine your homeschooling. Maybe the reason school feels so wearing is that it really is… boring. When the kids were babies, you didn’t leave all the toys out at once because that inevitably resulted in Toy Overload. No, you had a nice big hamper where you stuffed most of the toys, but only took out a handful to keep the kids interested. When their interest waned, you stuffed them back in the hamper and rotated something else into circulation.
Teaching materials can be like that. Shake up the routine a little to reawaken your student’s interest. Get the science under the fingernails instead of out of a workbook. Put down the historical fiction and take a virtual field trip for social studies. Let musical instrument practice go for one afternoon and, in conjunction with not pushing about the writing assignment, let the kids write (and perform!) their own musical theater.
* Leave the house. Get a group of homeschoolers together for a day off – or a day out. Meet at a local pool or park, find a venue that would welcome a group during their slowest hours of business. (You may even score a discount for bringing a pile of people with you.) Look for a homeschool conference to reinvigorate your own interest in schooling, and pick up new ideas to apply in your classroom.
*…and maybe don’t leave the house so much. Look long and hard at your schedule. Are you trying to be Super Homeschooler? It’s possible that your burnout is coming from burning that candle at both ends. The temptation to let your kids try everything can be huge – but somewhere along the line reality is going to kick in, and probably in the form of mild insanity (When am I supposed to run a household if I spend all my time shuttling the kids back and forth to activities?) and – don’t be surprised – a little resentment. (But for a pretty sure-fire cure, see 1.) Are there places where you could cut something out, consolidate activities, maybe sneak in a babysitter once so you can be more efficient with your own time? Balance is good. And admitting you might need to take a break – or even a wee bit of assistance – isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of recognizing your limits.
I’ve tried a little of everything above when I start getting a case of the blahs. A fractions unit went over a lot better when we turned it into Measure That Out While You Bake Cookies (plus, we had cookies at the end of the lesson.), geography turned into a multi-grade affair when we bagged the Trail Guide for a day and instead played Travel Mania and Travel the Great States. One grey day resulted in all schoolwork cut in half, and the afternoon devoted to A Craft Of Our Choice. Hey – who said a pick-me-up couldn’t last all afternoon?
This article originally appeared in Helping to Homeschool, my column at communities.washingtontimes.com
