Is There a MOST DIFFICULT Month in Which to Homeschool?

[MariannNOVA]

Last winter, some of the moms in our co-op spent a bit of time discussing that we were finding January to be particularly difficult. Then, February seemed to take the place of January, and finally, March seemed to take the place of February. All of us agreeing, however, that we found Jan, Feb and March to be incredibly difficult months in which to homeschool. We discussed when each of us considered curric changes and wondered if there was a correlation between those months and decisions to switch to something else.

 

I posted in another thread that a couple of moms and I have discussed the possibility of renting a home in NC or SC for the month of January and trying to homeschool in a different place with perhaps an indoor recreation center. We were curious as to whether or not a change of scenery would make a difference.

 

I mean, let's be honest, for all intent and purpose, this is a 24/7 endeavor -- homeschooling, that is.

 

What is your experience? And, please comment (not to clog up the board) b/c I would love to hear what you have to say --TIA

 

Poll to follow

 

I voted March - I find Jan and February so difficult, that when I get to March, it feels like I am carrying the burden of Jan and Feb along with March. When I taught in the classroom, Feb and March were ENDLESS.

Edited October 8, 2011 by MariannNOVA

[AuntieM]

Oh yeah... February is infamous...

[Farrar]

When I was teaching, February was always the worst slog, but homeschooling, I find it to be a nice bonding time. I have strangely fond memories of the huge snowstorm that kept us inside for two straight weeks year before last. We got SO much done. For us, it's usually May, but I think that has to do with brain development and half birthdays, not the weather. Also, maybe being toward the end of "the school year."

[LuvingLife]

November and December because there are a lot of holidays and birthdays during those two months, so lots of baking, celebrating and traveling while school is kind of left in the dark.

[Jeannie in NJ]

Dec and Jan are both difficult for us since dh is off work from around Dec 20th to Jan 20 and it is always difficult to homeschool when he is home

[MariannNOVA]

Oh yeah... February is infamous...

 

AuntiM: Last year I thought January.....until I got to February. :glare:

 

And, not to hijack my own thread, but we are thinking of taking the house off the market, re-financing, and putting it back on as soon as the re-fi is finished. The rates are so low, we are kind of dumb if we don't take advantage of this. The market here is SO DEAD it is unreal. The realtors are totally disgusted with the way it is. There is NO motivation on behalf of anyone looking -- the Fed did the stupidest thing by saying that rates would stay low through 2012. They totally removed any motivation on the part of a large market of prospective buyers to buy. And, the lack of consumer confidence here is, well, almost frightening. NoVa is a place where one expects NEVER to be able to find a parking spot at a mall, or the ability to get seated in a hurry at a restaurant. THAT is SO not the case here lately.:glare:

Edited October 7, 2011 by MariannNOVA

[Avila]

I get discouraged every February, and I don't know why until I look at a calendar and remember that it IS February. ;). I don't like winter much, we always seem to get sick then, and we are all just plain tired of our curriculum and of school, period.

 

The last two years, I have started to schedule a quarter of school and then a week break after. It helps to have that time off looming instead of just more school. And if we do somehow get behind because of illness or just HAVE to take time off because of the winter crazies, I have built-in time scheduled to catch up and still finish school. It helps my sanity.

[MariannNOVA]

When I was teaching, February was always the worst slog, but homeschooling, I find it to be a nice bonding time. I have strangely fond memories of the huge snowstorm that kept us inside for two straight weeks year before last. We got SO much done. For us, it's usually May, but I think that has to do with brain development and half birthdays, not the weather. Also, maybe being toward the end of "the school year."

 

 

I am in Fairfax County and our family LOVED those snowstorms.;) We did such fun things and we loved the anticipation of waiting for the snow.

[Mimm]

Well, I've only had one full year to judge by so far, but February did seem a little miserable. Cooped up in the house, cold and bored.

 

Then we fizzled in the last months of the school year and had a very hard time pushing through to the end. So I voted for those months too.

 

I need to think of some fun winter time activities to get us through and some way to keep going strong till the end of the year.

[FaithManor]

We do very well, except for Thanksgiving through Christmas. I would LOVE to boycott that time. If I didn't have a high schooler who really needed to stay on track, I would consider taking a lot of that off.

 

It's hard. The church feels it should have a LOT of special music through the holiday season and as the primary pianist, that means the worship minister thinks he should add a host of evening practices to an already insane holiday schedule for most families. It completely disrupts our family evenings, bedtime schedule, etc. and makes me cranky.

 

Ds, dh, dd, and I have always been heavily involved in the music. Dh and ds are tenors and ds (the 14 year old) has a three octave range and it's allllllll good, so they really like him to be involved since he's been learning to sing parts. But, we are considering pulling back and the menfolk not being involved. Dh is also putting his foot down. Last year they decided to have three end-of-year board meetings, dh is the treasurer, and he works 75 hrs. per week. Grrrrr.....he told them he will not attend more than one meeting the entire month of December. I think we are going to be viewed as difficult this year. But, I am determined to have a slower holiday season this year.

 

Faith

[AuntieM]

I was wondering about how your selling process was going, but I know you've had a lot of other stuff on your plate, too.

 

DH and I saw the news, rates for 30 year conventional loans are 3.9%!!! If we hadn't just started a newmloan this summer, we would be refinancing in a heartbeat. But I do believe loans are harder to get, the lenders are lots more stringent these days. I don't think it's a bad idea for you at all, in fact, will taking it off the market a while let you start your DOM fresh when you re-list? A nice benefit.

 

And so I'm not entirely off topic..... yeah, February. The month I annually called every private school in town to check tuition rates.

 

 

bit

Last year I thought January.....until I got to February. :glare:

 

And, not to hijack my own thread, but we are thinking of taking the house off the market, re-financing, and putting it back on as soon as the re-fi is finished. The rates are so low, we are kind of dumb if we don't take advantage of this. The market here is SO DEAD it is unreal. The realtors are totally disgusted with the way it is. There is NO motivation on behalf of anyone looking -- the Fed did the stupidest thing by saying that rates would stay low through 2012. They totally removed any motivation on the part of a large market of prospective buyers to buy. And, the lack of consumer confidence here is, well, almost frightening. NoVa is a place where one expects NEVER to be able to find a parking spot at a mall, or the ability to get seated in a hurry at a restaurant. THAT is SO not the case here lately.:glare:

[Joules]

We have pretty mild winters so February is no problem. I voted Nov/Dec because of the holidays. There are just so many things going on that it's hard to keep up with school.

 

This year it might be better. I have insisted a year off of family holiday gatherings. And I am teaching classes this year, but we have time off in Nov and Dec. So any business will be offset by not having classes!

[Ewe Mama]

I voted for March and October because the dc ALWAYS get sick and throw off the routine for about a week and a half and then it's difficult to get back on track.

 

I cling to school around the holidays because it's the only bit of sanity I have then.

[Lily_Grace]

February. It's hard for us to be cooped up that long. We usually take our vacation around the beginning of March so we have something to look forward to. It's sooooo much easier to school when we aren't crabby!

[sassenach]

April and May, but especially May. I have no problem with the winter months. I find them really productive. It rains pretty much straight through Feb and Mar, so we just work, work, work. By May, I am DONE. I'm sick of being in the house, I'm sick of school, I'm sick of our curriculum, I'm sick of co-op.... That's also the time of the year when the panic over not being on track to finish on time with our curriculum sets in. I also have 1 April and 2 May birthdays in our home, so I am usually stressing over birthday parties and budgets. Easter planning zaps me (I'm a PW and I run kids' ministry). I wish I could enjoy the spring a little bit more, because I really do love the season.

[KungFuPanda]

I vote December and May. December because of the holidays, and May because EVERYTHING goes out with a bang and that usually involves extra work for me. Also, we're just ready for summer by then.

[Mothersweets]

I voted March. It seems everyone except us is taking a spring break (which we can't take in March because we took off so much time in February!).

[nono]

I voted the summer months, because it simply wouldn't happen here, being at the shore. :)

[EmilyinND]

I voted May because that is the month we finish up. I find it difficult because we are in the midst of 'spring fever' & it seems that the closer we get to the end of the year, the slower it goes!

[SweetMissMagnolia]

for us it's the holidays--Nov/dec

[Audrey]

For me it's December. There are so many activities going on and every club, group, company has a Xmas party during the first part of the month. Then there are the community events throughout the month. On top of that, add in the general excited anticipation ds always gets before the holidays. It's very difficult to keep on track with school during that time.

[lailasmum]

I would go along with February. It's damp, cold and gloomy and we feel like we've been inside for months, feels like every day needs to ba sofa & film day to cheer us up. My ds birthday is Feb 29th and it does feel like the whole of Feb is waiting for that last day. March can be beautiful, really warm and much more inspiring..

Edited October 7, 2011 by lailasmum

[ccm]

I mentioned in another thread that the months of October and February were difficult for me. The novelty of the new school year and brand new curriculum has worn off by October, for both myself and my daughter. We seem to go through the motions of *doing the next thing* (which we both dislike). I feel the need to *tweak* what I'm doing and perhaps, heaven forbid, change my curriculum because it doesn't seem to be working! I often get the same feeling in February after the holidays.

[elegantlion]

February. February. February.

 

We always take a break in Feb, either that or one of us gets sick.

 

Plus it's about the time I start to finalize plans for next fall. So I'm trying to dig out of winter, plan for fall, stress over what we have yet to finish, trying to compromise what we won't finish, budget for the fall, etc, etc, ad nauseum. Yeah, February.

[Paintedlady]

I agree is Feb. is tough, but for me it's September. My kids still haven't transitioned out of summer mode, so they're whining and complaining constantly, plus it's still summer-like in weather and they want to be out playing and riding their bikes/scooters. For me it's the hardest month to overcome.

[JessReplanted]

February is just misery... barely any sunshine, below freezing temps, and all of that snow :tongue_smilie:

 

Oh, but wait, we're talking about hschooling, right?

[Another Lynn]

My first thought was February. My second thought was the old saying about when to plant grass seed..... Every month with an "R" in it!

[nukeswife]

I voted October and March. I have no idea why but for some reason those months always seem to be ones when things break or the train goes completely off the track.

[Mom-ninja.]

December is hardest for me. All I want to do is bake and do fun holiday stuff. We usually end up taking the whole month off.

[Chava_Raizel]

For me it's a tie between February and June. February is just a miserable month anyway because we're just sick of winter but we still have at least another month or two (sometimes 3) to go.

 

June is rough because we usually still have a few weeks of school to complete and no one wants to do anything because it's summer and we're ready for vacation. We do year end testing in May, so by the time we get their results back they think we're done for the year. :001_rolleyes:

[Jilly]

For me it is May. I want to be done with our year, but there is always something we need to finish before summer break. I just find it hard to be motivated to finish the work when it is nice and sunny outside.

[AK_Mom4]

For me it is May. I want to be done with our year, but there is always something we need to finish before summer break. I just find it hard to be motivated to finish the work when it is nice and sunny outside.

 

:iagree:

 

May is the start of our short summer here. If we aren't done by May 1, it's generally worthless trying to keep anyone focused (including me!)

[chepyl]

May....we quite 2 weeks early last year. We had covered most of the material, but we just could not keep going. He had covered enough to "skip" first grade level work. I figured an early break was okay. We made up the days in dance amd theatre camps over the summer.

[annandatje]

No.

[6packofun]

I try really hard not to buy into trends, stereotypes, bandwagons...but February sucks here. LOL It's just that middle-of-the-winter, when is spring coming, we've been inside so long we want to POUND each other thing that seems to happen every school year in late January, early February.

 

I think that I also tend to take stock then because we're into the new year and if we aren't as far along as I'd like--uh, happens often--I get stressed and disappointed!

[freeindeed]

I find January the most difficult....post-Christmas blahs. Nobody wants to do anything, myself included.:tongue_smilie:

[ereks mom]

I voted November/December. The holidays make it difficult because we all want to decorate and make cookies and go shopping and visit family instead of working. We have mild winters, but even if we didn't, we would just be holed up and forced to do the work.

[nmoira]

February, without a doubt. The month is usually a bit warmer, and crocuses start to poke up; but we're so sun deprived by that point, even the crocuses make little difference.

[rhrice3]

When we were living in TN, we found Apr to be the worst since the weather was beautiful and the kids just wanted to be outside and so did I. We always planned a big trip somewhere warm for Jan or Feb, and we all loved cuddling up to hot cocoa and books during these months so they were not a problem for us. BUT the spring and its beautiful weather and the mountains calling us to hike, etc were difficult!

ReneeR

[Danestress]

But some years, we have taken most of December off anyway.

 

I find it hard because there is so much to do that isn't homeschool related - visits, cooking, decorating, gift buying. No one's brain is really in the work, and for me, I have two kids with early December birthdays, so we go right from Thanksgiving into birthday mode and then into the holidays.

[HollyB]

February is just misery... barely any sunshine, below freezing temps, and all of that snow :tongue_smilie:

 

Oh, but wait, we're talking about hschooling, right?

 

You forgot sleet and ice. At least it's the shortest month. :tongue_smilie:

 

I'm so thankful that it's 80 and sunny today! :D

[iamrachelle]

Another February voter here... March was still pretty abysmal for us but I could at least see the light at the end of the tunnel at that point... we finished our school year just a few weeks later.

[Forget-Me-Not]

I voted November and February. It seems like at the beginning of November, that anticipation for the holidays (and ensuing breaks) runs so high that nobody can settle down and get anything done.

 

February. . . on the other hand. . . was like a long, dark, depressing month. I struggle with SAD anyway, and Jan/Feb right after the holidays tend to be difficult for me as it is, but add being cooped up with the kids for our first year of HSing into that mix and you don't have such a great combo. We went a little unschoolish that month. We kept up with math and language arts and went to bowling with a local HS group and watched a lot of TV. This year, I'm hoping to fortify myself a little more before it hits.

[Mommyof4ks]

Feb. Is the hardest for us. Dec. is a vacation month, so we are ready tomstart back in Jan, but Feb drags on. March gets warmer, so we are motivated to finish out the year.

[MelissaMinNC]

I voted February, and I live in NC - so if you want to trade houses this Feb, let me know.

 

Wait...where do you live? I might not want to do that, actually. :D

[QuirkyKapers]

I voted February. In the fall and early winter there are more built in breaks, like Thanksgiving and Christmas and New years Day. Than in March/April we can opt for spring break. But Feb, it is snowy and just yucky because we are ready for spring. Winter has lost its thrill.

[justamouse]

Feb and March are sheer hell to school through. January is non stop birthdays at my house, plus, Christmas still isn't over-it's like this long, extended holiday.

 

Feb comes and crash. We hunker down, complain every time it's time to leave the house, need to straight shot Vit D.

 

We actually take off from the week before Christmas to the middle of Jan, and, truthfully, sometimes ALL of Jan. Of course, this is also why we school all year long.

[HSMom2One]

 

• Saw the choices.
  

 

 

 

• Clicked immediately on the month I ALWAYS struggle with.
  

 

 

 

• Posted my vote and - voila! I see I'm with the majority.
  

 

:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

 

February, ah February...There's a reason why that month has fewer days than any other month. Clearly, God is merciful.

 

Blessings,

Lucinda

[Joyofsixreboot]

February is the worst month in my opinion. Gray, mud, damp and no exciting holidays.

[Violet Crown]

August.

 

When it's above 100 every single day, and even running the AC full time can't bring the interior temp below 90. When the girls can't play outside for more than a few minutes without being exhausted by the heat. When all the homeschool activities haven't started yet; the pools are closed because the lifeguards have to go back to class; and other homeschoolers don't even want to get together for spontaneous activities because nobody wants to drive their kids in a 90+ degree van just to go somewhere.

 

When it's so hot and so dry the state starts spontaneously combusting, and some homeschoolers find their curricula (and homes) to have been incinerated.

 

We did a lot of summer homeschooling up until then, because what else are you going to do? But August conquered us. We did a lot of lying under ceiling fans and reading in misery.