Homeschool burnout happens to everyone at some point – new homeschoolers and veteran homeschoolers alike. It’s that feeling that you just can’t do another day of homeschool. You need a break. For some reason, February is a time when many homeschoolers find themselves feeling deflated, but it can happen at anytime and often without much warning. Even though it’s completely normal, it can be frustrating even for those of us who expect it. Let’s look at some ways to get through homeschool burnout.
Remember Your Why
When we lose our motivation for something, it’s important to think back to WHY we started down this path in the first place. Why are YOU homeschooling? If you’ve never put much thought into it, now is the time! Grab a pencil and paper and start making a list.
Reassess Your Priorities
Revisiting your why for homeschooling will help you remember your priorities. What do you want from this homeschool journey and how are you going to achieve it? Priorities can change. In fact, they SHOULD change over the years.
Does your homeschool routine and commitments reflect your current priorities? If not, it’s time to get back on track. Pruning those activities that no longer fit will help you and your kids refocus energy to those activities that matter most.
Shelve the Curriculum for a Week
When we plan out our school year, we often plan when we’re going to take breaks. Christmas break, spring break, Thanksgiving, birthdays. We know in advance when we’re going to take time off. However, homeschool burnout doesn’t look at our calendar before showing up! Shelve the curriculum and take a break when you need it.
Related Post: When it’s Time to Change Curriculum
Do Something Spontaneous
Turn off the computer. Shelve the books. Surprise your kids with something spontaneous! Perhaps it’s a park day with friends, a family hike, a trip to the mall for a treat, or bowling.
Spend Time in Nature
This is one of our favorite ways to recharge. Fresh air and sunshine can do wonders when dealing with homeschool burnout – or any time bad moods strike! Nature time is one of my favorite spontaneous activities, but it’s also important enough that we have it on our calendar regularly. You don’t have to head out on an all day hike. Just an hour or two can be energizing.
Related Post: Kids in Nature Challenge
Passion Projects
People need passion projects – both you AND your kids. Spending extra time on these projects when you’re experiencing homeschool burnout is a great way to redirect your energy from your homeschool schedule to something you’ve probably been putting off. Once you get back into your homeschool groove, be sure to continue allowing time to explore passion projects.
Related Post: Volunteering as a Family
Games and Movies
Movies and games are often an important part of our homeschool experience, but they can also be great tools to have on hand when tackling homeschool burnout. Take some time to play with your kids or mentally check out for a few hours while putting on a movie for them.
Schedule Down Time
Schedule time for you and your kids to do nothing. Even if you don’t work with a set homeschool schedule, regularly block out a chunk of time that you can claim as down time. Even just one or two hours a week can help you recharge and prevent homeschool burnout from hitting you hard.
When you come to that chunk of time, don’t fill it with tackling your to-do list. Spend that time doing something that fills your cup. Play a game with your kids, read aloud to your kids, enjoy a book for yourself, meditate, yoga, or go for a walk.
Related Post: Find Balance in Your Homeschool Routine
Self Care
In addition to scheduling downtime in your homeschool day, scheduling time for just yourself is also important. Self care isn’t just an occasional bubble bath and a good book. It’s the habit of taking care of ourselves so that we can take care of our families. Perhaps for you it IS a weekly bubble bath or a hike with your friends or time for a hobby. Pick something that recharges you. Reach out to your spouse, a friend, family member, or a neighbor if you need someone to take care of the kids for a few hours. Self care is NOT optional even when you’re not experiencing homeschool burnout.
Put the Phone Down
Social media has put such a strain on people’s lives for so many reasons. For me, it’s the negativity, fear, and nastiness that is spread. It’s also so easy to get sucked into the “keeping up with the Joneses” mentality because most people show only their highlight reel. It’s easy to become deflated when we think that everyone else has it all together when we’re struggling. Just put the phone down and walk away. Focus on your family and yourself.
Homeschool burnout is going to happen at some point. Keeping these tips in mind all year will help lessen the impact of it and also help you get out of your slump so you can start enjoying homeschooling again.
Down time and self care is so important for us moms AND for our kids! They learn how to handle stress and burnout by watching us. It’s always a good idea to guard ourselves and take care of ourselves. Great post, thank you!