stress headaches during lessons, any tips?

[jmarchman]

I get stress headaches during lessons. Any tips on controlling them? I'm currently trying to drink enough water, take frequent breaks, snack, meditate first thing in the morning and acupuncture. Anyone else dealing with this?

[OneStepAtATime]

Do you know what the exact trigger is?  Are you worried about being a good teacher?  Or what others are thinking of your choice to homeschool (I assume you are homeschooling?) ?  Or is your child or children having learning issues that make it more challenging to teach them?  Have you had any health issues?  Without knowing the exact trigger, it may be difficult to determine how to deal with it.

 

I tend to need to provide guaranteed breaks each day for the kids and I that we all know are coming, not just randomly occuring.  The breaks don't have to be long, but knowing they are coming, when they are coming, and how long they will last has made the day go much smoother.  Also, I structure our curriculum so that every Friday is more of a review day to solidify concepts.  Having review on Friday instead of introducing new concepts has been terrific.  The kids are mastering concepts much better with that built in review and concepts aren't getting lost from lack of use.  I am less stressed knowing that Fridays are review days, too.  We frequently incorporate review through games and other activities to make it more fun.  Also, every 6 weeks we take a week off to pursue areas of personal interest, work as a team to organize our work areas and bedrooms, spend time playing games and going on field trips and family vacations, etc.  Knowing there is a built in break each day and periodically throughout the year has given the kids and I a great sense of relief and has kept the kids and I really motivated to keep moving through the material (no break if we don't cover the material so they really want to get it done and prove mastery so we definitely can take that break - great motivator).

 

Not sure if any of this helped.  I am so sorry you are having this difficulty.  I hope you find answers.

[mathmarm]

I dont know what your trigger is but I do have some suggestions.

1) Prepared everything needed for the lessons before hand and ahead of time.

2) But on some nature sounds or other relaxing background noise.

3) Feel free to take a quick stretch break every 20 minutes

 

[PeterPan]

Just as an observation, it might be stress headaches or it might be your eyes, since teaching involves so much close-up work with print.  Hit a certain age, you might need a new scrip or reading glasses...  Or as a polite doc put it to me: dual focus lenses.   :)

[jmarchman]

Do you know what the exact trigger is?  Are you worried about being a good teacher?  Or what others are thinking of your choice to homeschool (I assume you are homeschooling?) ?  Or is your child or children having learning issues that make it more challenging to teach them?  Have you had any health issues?  Without knowing the exact trigger, it may be difficult to determine how to deal with it.

 

I tend to need to provide guaranteed breaks each day for the kids and I that we all know are coming, not just randomly occuring.  The breaks don't have to be long, but knowing they are coming, when they are coming, and how long they will last has made the day go much smoother.  Also, I structure our curriculum so that every Friday is more of a review day to solidify concepts.  Having review on Friday instead of introducing new concepts has been terrific.  The kids are mastering concepts much better with that built in review and concepts aren't getting lost from lack of use.  I am less stressed knowing that Fridays are review days, too.  We frequently incorporate review through games and other activities to make it more fun.  Also, every 6 weeks we take a week off to pursue areas of personal interest, work as a team to organize our work areas and bedrooms, spend time playing games and going on field trips and family vacations, etc.  Knowing there is a built in break each day and periodically throughout the year has given the kids and I a great sense of relief and has kept the kids and I really motivated to keep moving through the material (no break if we don't cover the material so they really want to get it done and prove mastery so we definitely can take that break - great motivator).

 

Not sure if any of this helped.  I am so sorry you are having this difficulty.  I hope you find answers.

 

I am worried about being a good teacher, and that I am screwing up my children's future.  My oldest is in the middle of testing for learning issues, and the past couple years have been a big struggle.  How, in the moment, sitting with a child working on a lesson... how can I keep my head from exploding?

 

Do you take the 6th week off, or the 7th week?  As in lessons for 5 weeks and then 1 week off, or 6 weeks of lessons and the 7th week off?

 

Thanks!

[teeniebeenie6]

I've started having horrible pressure headaches and I am pretty sure it is related to my vision. When I am on the computer a lot I start getting them. I need to get my vision checked out, you may want to too. :) 

[simplemom]

I got terrible headaches for the first time in my life a few months after having my 2nd child. It was my vision. As far as school schedule, I try to do 6 weeks on then 1 week off, with longer breaks around Christmas and part of summer. I change it up when something unexpected comes up on a different week than was planned to be an off week. But, trying to stretch the break out much past 7 weeks of straight schoolwork starts to produce burn out in all of us.

[OneStepAtATime]

I am worried about being a good teacher, and that I am screwing up my children's future.  My oldest is in the middle of testing for learning issues, and the past couple years have been a big struggle.  How, in the moment, sitting with a child working on a lesson... how can I keep my head from exploding?

 

Do you take the 6th week off, or the 7th week?  As in lessons for 5 weeks and then 1 week off, or 6 weeks of lessons and the 7th week off?

 

Thanks!

You might very well want to get your eyesight checked, just in case, and you might want to go to a developmental optometrist, not an ophthalmologist (or maybe both) since a d.o. may catch things that a normal eye screening won't.  My brother had good eyesight, but had a very odd tracking issue making reading extremely exhausting for him, which gave him headaches, but no eye exam caught it, and he was unaware he had the issue until my mother took him to a developmental optometrist.  

 

That being said, stress and worry over making the right choice to homeschool has undermined many homeschoolers and can damage your health.  I don't really know specifically what to suggest since I don't know your personality.  If you have any homeschooling communities in your area you can hang out with, develop close friendships with and get support from that MIGHT help.  I know when I have doubts or I see friends or family with kids in public school that seem to have everything in place, i get stressed and worried.  Then I think of the struggles my bright kids were having in a brick and mortar school and I KNOW that while I may not be a perfect teacher or facilitator of learning.  we are in much better shape than if the kids were back in school, no matter WHAT other people may say or think.

 

Honestly, having now homeschooled for a year and a half, while not every day goes even close to glass smooth, I am so grateful we chose this path.  Sometimes, when I have doubts, I re-read some of the homeschooling books I have purchased.  That really helps center and focus me again and relieves me of many of those debilitating doubts.  Also, when we are getting stressed about something, I get the kids and I to walk away from it and do something where we reconnect with each other, like play a board game or take a walk or play piano for fun (not drills) or do fun and crazy art projects, just to hang out, laugh, remind ourselves that contrary to what you are indoctrinated to believe in school, the things that will really matter long-term, and will stay with you and sustain you the most are not those latest worksheets or if you complete algebra in one year or two years, but whether you, overall, are resilient and strong in your character and connections,

 

So many kids who were "successful" in school and were top in their class, driven to be the best of the best academically end up lost within themselves and in middle life find their lives empty and unhappy, unable to connect in a meaningful manner with those around them.  I just returned from my college reunion.  My friends are now in their 40's.  Those that seemed truly happy and raising resilient, happy kids are the ones that didn't make grades and a narrow view of learning their only focus when they were in school.  Those that branched out and were encouraged by their parents to find many interests to pursue, many things to learn, many ways to learn and connect with family and friends and community, not just the more limited academic definition that is pressed on us by our educational system, were the ones that have ended up with a good balance of success, happiness and ability to handle whatever life might throw at them.  

 

Those that were so pushed or were driven themselves to only achieve great successes in a very limited academic window floundered when things didn't always go according to plan.  Many of the latter are unhappy, don't know their own kids and spouses, and are unable to make meaningful connects in their lives, just surface relationships.  I was shocked at the differences among all of my college buddies.  There were many high achievers that I thought would be in great shape now that are actually miserable, even if many have good paying jobs.  

 

Could it be that maybe you are losing the larger picture and putting too much stress on yourself because you think you or others will perceive your children as failures if they don't get into some high end college or blow through their courses with a high degree of constant success?  It seems from my experience that many homeschool moms put tons of pressure on themselves because they believe if their children can't perform as if they are blowing through their academics with complete ease, then the parent has failed them.  I assure you that teachers in p.s. (when they genuinely care) are feeling the same way.  

 

Kids take time to learn and master anything (that's one reason why there is so much repetition in school), and learning comes in many forms.  Branch out, do some interest driven studies, get some confirmation on any learning issues that might need addressing, find hobbies that can be pursued and work hard to knit together a better relationship with yourself and your children and the rest of your family and community.  It is those connections and memories that will do the most to sustain all of you.  As long as you keep encouraging learning, the learning will come, just not necessarily from the direction you thought.

[OneStepAtATime]

And the curriculum we use (Trail Guides to Learning) is structured in 6 week units so we take a week off between units.  We actually just took two weeks off between units so we could take a family vacation to another city, do some great homeschooling activities at several metropolitan museums, etc., visit family, etc. then have a week to hang around the house, pursue personal interests like music and lego building and electronics and catching up on fun reading selections, etc.  Were the kids learning?  You bet.  Did we ever crack a textbook or do a single worksheet or drill on ANYTHING?  Not at all.  Did I have to prep any lessons?  Nope.  But we learned about crystallization and my daughter wandered through the Faberge exhibit and discovered a love of not just the eggs but other items created by Faberge, which triggered an  interest in the history of that time, along with metal working.  My son discovered he was interested in Leonardo da Vinci and is exploring his time period and works.  We had some greatly needed reconnect time, everything learned a lot, and we are far more relaxed and ready to go into our next, more structured, unit of study.