Instead of "Here comes the Sun"

[PollyOR]

Rain and overcast skies have finally made their way to the Pacific Northwest.  I'm  sleeping-in later and I feel less energetic which of course is affecting school.  When I get up late the whole day feels off.  We are getting less accomplished.

 

I know this happens every year.  I try to prepare myself for it but it still happens.

 

I hope you all don't mind, but I need some public accountability.  I'm announcing to you all my first baby step to try and keep the dreary weather from derailing our homeschool.

 

Tonight I will go to bed 1/2 an hour earlier. :)

[Peaceful Isle]

Baby steps are good. Take one day at a time. Weather affects me tons. You could to have a routine of comfort things you do that help you get throught the day and stay on the bright side. Maybe playing music in the morning while getting ready, or using a beautifully scented shower gel for your morning shower could help.

Getting a bread maker and putting on a loaf (the smell always makes me happy) is helpful and yummy and warm.

[sassenach]

This is about the time I start really looking forward to the time change. It's so dark when I get up!

 

Make sure you're taking vit D. That makes a huge difference for me.

[redsquirrel]

I live in the NE and it is now dark by 6pm.  Soon it will be dark by 4.  In February it feels dark all the time.

 

I have taken the attitude that this is the BEST time to get school work done. What else could we possibly be doing with our time? It's dark and cold so might as well make a pot of tea and decline some latin nouns, lol.

 

try to get some exercise in during the day. Working up a sweat and getting your heat rate up there really pumps up the serotonin levels.

[PollyOR]

Thanks for the support and suggestions.   It gives me an "I can do this!" attitude.

[EndOfOrdinary]

We switched to "personal time" in the mornings at some point last year (though I do not know exactly when that happened). It means that my son got to have one full hour between 8 & 9 where he could do completely as he pleased as long as he was willing to be ready for school. It worked well. No more fussy kid being dragged from his morning YouTube and MineCraft.

 

Then I noticed that the first forty five minutes of every day was watching Salsa! and Learning Latin with Virgil or some other half hour history show. This was what he consistently picked and it was completely independent. So I told him that as long as he watched his Salsa shows and one other half hour of school each morning, school did not need to officially start till ten. The independence has been quite great for Ds and he has taken real ownership of what he is studying

 

This has allowed me to be a grumpy morning, groggy, coffee addict Pacific Northwesterner and have it not affect our school much. Is there a way you could have individual activities your homeschooler could do while you are waking up?

[FairProspects]

Me too. I'm hoping to get started exercising first thing in the morning. Then I will already be awake and hopefully have endorphins. I'm also trying to get outside every chance I get. Just being outside seems to help me.

[Penguin]

We live in Denmark. In December, sunrise will be after 8 AM and sunset will be prior to 4 PM. My favorite winter mornings start with candlight and medieval music. Can you embrace it?

 

I am in redsquirrel's camp - January and February are for hard-core school. There are minimal distractions then.