I don’t know about you, but I need all the tips I can get for how to avoid homeschool burnout. By the end of December, and again around the beginning of May, you can stick me with a fork because I’m done.
I’m tired.
I’m worn out from all the curricular AND extracurricular activities. I’m barely hanging on, and the words you’ll hear most often from my mouth those days are, “just skip it!” My homeschooling mojo has left the building. My inspiration lies wet and soggy somewhere underneath a pile of once shiny-new ideas.
I need a pick-me-up, and a Starbucks Mocha Frappuccino with almond milk just won’t do. I’m experiencing homeschool burnout.
I’ve been through this before. Many times. And I can help you get through your own version of homeschool burnout
Here are three things that have helped me most: (in order)
Stop Feeling Guilty
I know you feel it. You can’t deny it. We homeschool moms are the ones who begin each year with our polished new ideas, mission statements, clean schedules, new resolutions and high hopes. When we get to May and are reminded of all the ways in which our ideas didn’t pan out, we feel awful. It’s to be expected. But guilt (or remorse or regret) just don’t serve us. Throw those feelings away and replace them with a mind open to learning why those ideas didn’t pan out. For me, it’s usually because of one of these three things:
- I lost my momentum and didn’t hold myself and my kids accountable
- I over scheduled. My eyes for curriculum and activities were bigger than my clock and calendar
- Some of the plan just wasn’t right for my kids
It’s all okay. We learn as we go. Isn’t that what we tell our children? We do, too. And it’s all good. It is!
Talk to Everyone
Talk to your spouse, your partner, or a trusted friend. Reach out to your homeschool evaluator. (I LOVE my job as a homeschool consultant and evaluator, because I am fortunate enough to be able to tell my families over and over again, “It’s okay. We all go through it” and that helps me. Talk to your kids. Talk to everyone!
Go over your plan for the past year with your kids and get their input. This is invaluable for making a new plan for the next year. Examine what did and didn’t work. Make two lists: One for what DID work well and one for what didn’t go as planned. Revamp the old and let this examination bring forth a new, improved plan.
Do Something New
Leave the books behind and find an adventure. Do something fun as a family. It doesn’t have to cost a lot. Here are some fun family activities that don’t cost a cent. Maybe you only have a half a day to do something, it’s okay. Go outside and built a snow fort with your kids, take a long drive, hop on the city bus and ride it around. Think outside the box and create an adventure: the type of adventure that will bring memories for years to come. Sometimes that’s all you need for a reset.
Attend a Conference
I’ll be honest. In the first years of my homeschooling, I didn’t attend any conferences. I thought I had so many years of experience in the classroom, and so many inservice hours attending educational conferences, that I didn’t really need anything to help me get started. And that may have been true at the beginning. But once my girls got into the upper elementary years, I began attending every conference I could. I love to learn and gather ideas from any/every one and there is nothing better to reinsure you than to come away from a conference with fresh new ideas.
I consider conferences my new inservice hours. Online conferences, for me, are best, although I do enjoy the hustle and bustle of our giant local conference. Online conferences have more benefits for me though. I can review videos again and again (and I have, many times), and I can take notes at my own pace while listening. In fact, just yesterday, I watched videos from a conference I attended last fall about homeschooling high school. I can never learn enough, and I like to learn at my own pace, when I have a few quiet, uninterrupted moments.
Plan Well
Plans help! Don’t be a slave to your plan book, but keep an overall general idea about where you’d like to go, and where you’d like to be by each week, sememster, year, or whatever feels best to you. Sometimes having a rhythm is more helpful than a specific routine or plan, so use whatever method works best for you. Just don’t abandon your plans completely! Take a break if you need to, but shift your plans so that you can get back on track without feeling guilty. We’ve created a flexible homeschool planner that you can use to fit your lifestyle. You can download it for free here.
Thanks for the great reminder as we prepare for a new school year to not over schedule. I love listening to online conferences for encouragement throughout the year too.
Thanks for these wonderful tips. Definitely some things a mom should keep in mind when homeschooling.
Thanks, Tal!
Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and that free planner!
My pleasure, Michelle! And thanks for starting this awesome blog loop. I’m heading over to grab some wisdom and your freebie right now. 🙂
I do not homeschool, but I am dance mom, theatre mom, chorus mom and girl scout mom. Not to mention school is at home as well with projects and homework. So I feel the burnout as well. Wonder if they have a conference for someone like me!!
Kristi Ann, you’re floating in the same boat we are! 🙂
Thank you for this! I am JUST starting on the homeschooling journey with my 3 year old. These are good things to keep in mind as we get moving.
We’re glad it was helpful, Ginger!
I can’t imagine home schooling, but I can believe that burnout is common! This is a great support to other home schooling families!
Thanks, Carrie!
this is great, i really needed it right now. I would love to attend the conference just sucks that this is the worst month on our budget.
Rae, I will share some of the best tips here on my blog for you. 🙂
Great tips! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Heidi!
I love how passionate you are about homeschooling. I wish i can make up my mind to do this. Such an helpful insight for homeschoolers.
Thanks so much, Bola!
I can see why you are a homeschool consultant — so much insight and intelligence. It never occurred to me that homeschoolers would go through all those emotions. I see now that it is like any project that you love. There are ups and downs. We learn from experience. Together.
If I were a homeschooler, I would sign up for the conference and go straight to your presentation Terri.
Thanks so much, Verla! <3
It is clear that you know what you’re talking about when it comes to homeschooling. I’m sure your presentation at the Moms Conference will be awesome!
Thanks so much, Candi! <3
I have a few friends that homeschool – I give them and you so much credit for committing to it and your children!
Thanks! Please pass along the info to your friends, too.
I’ll have to tell my friend about this posts, she homeschools her teenage children.
Please do!
These are great tips! I am homeschooled, so I can definitely use these tips!
Thanks, Ashley! I’m glad they were helpful. 🙂
I don’t home school my kids, but this is great resource for parent who home school their kids, just like parenting, they all need support too for this matter.
Right! I think everyone needs breaks like this.
May is such a brutal month, and I think there can be a lot of guilt when it comes to how we envision the learning to go. The kids are often “checked out” too. Knowing when to take that break is important!
You said it! It is brutal! lol