cakemom Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 What have you found works to keep yourself from burning out during the school year? :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 Taking days off to just BE and not DO. I love the flexibility of homeschooling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peela Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 What have you found works to keep yourself from burning out during the school year? :) Afternoon rests. Holidays (our holiday structure works well for us- same as Aussie schools- 4 ten week terms with 2 weeks of holidays in between, 7 weeks off at Christmas. ) Finish early afternoon, start early in the day. Pace ourselves. Dont stress on what doesnt get done- focus on what gets accomp[lished. Stay caught up on basic housework or take a day off every now and then to catch up. A messy house brings me down. Take time to smell the roses and enjoy the homeschooling process. Sit in the sun, do school in a cafe and drink chocolate, take opportunities you couldnt take if they were in school like field trips, short holidays etc. Make the most of teh homeschooling lifestyle. Make sure you do what you love- what excites you about homeschooling- regularly. FOr me, its the reading aloud to the kids and talking with them- so that is scheduled in every day. Our favourite part of the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redheadeddaughter Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 I agree with alot of what Peela said... especially the part about enjoying what you love best. I love the reading too. I think my kids enjoy it. It brings us together in a way that math does not. So we start our day with that. And I try to end our day that way too. Maybe some poetry to open the day and a good history story to finish it off. But the best advice I ever got (not that I took it right away!), was to refrain from over-scheduling. It's hard if you want to expose your kids to everything all at once, like I did (and most moms). But, for me, it just plain wore me out to be running around all week. I need at least 3 "stay home" days per week, when I can just focus on school and the home. Teaching and doing laundry and cooking and cleaning up after the school stuff keeps me pretty busy those 3 days. It needs to be a sane place for my husband when he gets home too. So that means all other activities, including coop and playdates and karate and swimming and dance and violin, need to fit into those 2 remaining days, or possibly on the weekends if my husband is involved. Errands, too, need to fit into that time slot unless it's an emergency. I didn't always do it that way. I had a season (2 whole exhausting years) where I ran around every afternoon between 3 and 6. Honestly I don't think my kids miss all those classes. And I know they are less tired and more focused on days we don't have something else exciting going on. I may change the plan as they get older. But for now, that is my secret weapon against burnout! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NanceXToo Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 Keeping things as hands-on, fun and creative as possible. (That's what I love about our Oak Meadow curriculum)! Also lots of outings and field trips. Not adhering to a rigid schedule. Sometimes we'll get all of our schoolwork done in a few hours in the morning. Other times we do a bit then go outside and enjoy the weather or go on a field trip, and then get back to school stuff later in the day. Or evening. Whenever we feel like it. We do get everything done in the end. We're having fun. We're not burnt out. I can see my daughter is learning and doing fine. Mainly, I like to "do school stuff" around life, not live life around school stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jld Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 Mainly, I like to "do school stuff" around life, not live life around school stuff. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmacnchs Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 Just ditto to everyone's suggestions...every family is different but we live in the country and do not have a lot of people come by our house (though I wish we had more visitors). So, when someone comes over or we are invited over to someone's house, there is little to no hesitation. I always want to put people first. That being said, we also school year-round so I don't feel stressed. B/c we school year round, I take off for morning sickness (6 weeks and counting :tongue_smilie:), new babies (about a month), vacations, holidays and daddy's days off. We have never been behind (been hsing for 2 whole years - expert here :D) and I don't foresee us getting behind (dd1 is 3-6yrs ahead and dd2 is 3 yrs ahead). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpsings Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 Daily devotions and a daily journal help....and if it's bad, I take a PMS day. The only thing is, I plan it ahead of time with a fun activity/ hike/ sport picnic/ playdate or etc. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
athena1277 Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 When I'm starting to feel burnt out, I plan a fun, easy field trip. It helps a lot to get out of the house and see/do something different. Even a day spent at the park, playing and having a picnic lunch can do a lot to help against burnout. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tess in the Burbs Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 Being flexible. Ok, so you already feel behind, but knowing that you all need a break, being willing to only do a few subjects or take a field trip day instead of a full school day. Being willing to change things up in the school day or add in something different and drop something mundane for awhile if you don't want to take days off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m4given Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 (edited) Afternoon rests. Holidays (our holiday structure works well for us- same as Aussie schools- 4 ten week terms with 2 weeks of holidays in between, 7 weeks off at Christmas. ) Finish early afternoon, start early in the day. Pace ourselves. Dont stress on what doesnt get done- focus on what gets accomp[lished. Stay caught up on basic housework or take a day off every now and then to catch up. A messy house brings me down. Take time to smell the roses and enjoy the homeschooling process. Sit in the sun, do school in a cafe and drink chocolate, take opportunities you couldnt take if they were in school like field trips, short holidays etc. Make the most of teh homeschooling lifestyle. Make sure you do what you love- what excites you about homeschooling- regularly. FOr me, its the reading aloud to the kids and talking with them- so that is scheduled in every day. Our favourite part of the day. :iagree: I love this advice! It's right along what I've been working on. ETA: What I've posted here is an accumulation of advice given to me. I've really needed to work on burn-out & even depression. So what I say here is very much in the works, but when I follow what I wrote here we all do so much better. The way I like to think about preventing burn-out is : Action ~ *Change in pace. (Breaks, rest, slow down, speed up . . .) *Change in content. (Example: We'll put aside the CLE LightUnit & do something else for Math.) *Routine. (Most days we work at having certain routine with things that need to be done - includes laundry, cleaning & so on. There are daily, weekly & monthly routine.) *Sun. (Getting outside is a must for me.) *Exercise. *Support. (I need support of different kinds from others.) Attitude/Thought process ~ *Fun. (Fun as we study, fun with work that I dread. For example: I set the timer for so long & see what I can do -- or what the child can do.) *Focus. (When my mind is divided on all that needs to be done, I'm so discouraged. So I do what is set before me and concentrate on what needs to be done. I break it down into smaller & manageable portions. I do the same for the children.) *Foundation - early years - & Framework - upper grades. (I assist the children in laying solid foundation & framework from which they continue to build their lives. I don't have to teach them everything now, but hopefully inspire them to learn. Teaching them "how to fish". I also need good foundation & framework -- such as in how I process life.) *Flexibility. (For me this means allowing natural learning to occur -- such as in watching nature when something exciting is happening. I tend to be "to the book" type of person. Seeing the big picture allows me to enjoy & learn from the moments.) Thanks to this board & others, I'm learning what the big picture can look like & how to flesh out these principles in a healthy manner. Have I totally arrived? Nope! But I'm further along then I was. I hope this can be of some encouragement to you. :001_smile: Edited June 10, 2010 by m4given Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 I was going to say "beer," but this week it doesn't feel like a joke. We go year round, and I've planned to go down to three days a week for a few weeks until the stress around here is relieved. We were going to cut back for half the summer anyway, but we'll start a couple weeks early. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzanne in ABQ Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 What have you found works to keep yourself from burning out during the school year? :) My best prevention is only planning 4 days of school per week. We use Friday as "catch-up" day for finishing up what we didn't get done during the week. On a good week, we get Friday off. This simple trick has taken SO much stress off! I got a bit bored around March, but I never got burned out, all year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 My best prevention is only planning 4 days of school per week. We use Friday as "catch-up" day for finishing up what we didn't get done during the week. On a good week, we get Friday off. During the summer, we school 3 days/week and take 2 off. During the regular school year, I'm going to do what Suzanne (quote above) said! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phathui5 Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 Going to the YMCA. They have free babysitting as long as you're in the building. After an hour at the Y, I'm a nicer person and I can go home and homeschool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4them Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 Don't have time to add much to this, but thanks for this thread! I will definitely be coming back to it. I try to get out once a week with my best homeschooling friend. We get a coffee, walk if the weather permits, & talk our heads off. Good, cheap, & very effective! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TammyinTN Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 For me..time off to travel each month and schooling year round. This keeps me sane. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heart'sjoy Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 I need at least 3 "stay home" days per week, when I can just focus on school and the home. Teaching and doing laundry and cooking and cleaning up after the school stuff keeps me pretty busy those 3 days. It needs to be a sane place for my husband when he gets home too. Same experience here. Our stress level was high last year with a death in the family. The best decision I ever made was to cut out all regularly scheduled afternoon and evening activities. We still got out errands, library, weekends but it was six months before we added in one weekly activity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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