February seems to be the month that every homeschooler is ready to throw in the towel. Why is that? Well, first, we had the holidays, which were all kinds of fun and good feelings. Then came the new year, when we made all sorts of resolutions to “do better” at homeschool. And winter was cozy for a bit.
We likely reset our homes after taking down decorations, maybe even got rid of stuff we didn’t need, and we started back to school with gusto and good intentions.
But now? Well, now winter has hung around a bit too long, and we are ready for spring. We are tired of the same things we’ve been doing since August (or for some of us, since June).
So, what do we do about this? I have some THOUGHTS, friends!
When I get burned out while homeschooling, I like to stop and reevaluate what we are doing that is making us all miserable. Because generally, once I burn out, the kids have burned out long before.
What’s the cause?!?
Usually, what I find is that we’ve sort of stopped doing the fun stuff and been leaning much more heavily on boxed curriculum. And when I realize that, I quickly add back in some of our “extras” that I’ve been slacking on. These include things like audiobooks in the car and at dinner, taking breaks during our school day to dance to fun songs or do Cosmic Kids Yoga, and spending more time outdoors.
Relying only on boxed curriculum burns us out because it doesn’t take into account their unique personalities. All three of my kids have drastically different interests and strengths, and boxed curriculum simply cannot meet these for each unique child.
What’s the Solution?
So, I have to go beyond the curriculum to create lessons, activities, and experiences that appeal to each kid. Building things out of Lego, writing a song to go along with a topic, and doing crafts are easy ways to guarantee my kids start to enjoy learning again. And when they’re happy, it rubs off quickly on me.
I’ve identified several key areas that I can add my kids’ interests to that help us enjoy homeschooling again, and and I’ve created a FREE workbook that walks you through them and helps you brainstorm ways to individualize your homeschool and make it something your whole family loves. I would absolutely love to share it with you! Get yours below!
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