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Is There a 6 to 10 Week Let Down Phase?


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Seems like a lot of people have been having less than ideal days of learning after what was a great start. This is only the beginning of our second year so I'm wondering if this is a normal time frame for a let down...6 - 10 weeks? We definitely had a less than awesome week last week.

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I think October is often rough. School is in full swing. Classes/activities have started back up and are in full swing. We're all still adjusting to the new schedule. AND the holidays are looming. AND every day you think might be the last nice day before it gets cold and dreary.

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Absolutely.

 

This is our 9th (? I think) year and I noticed years ago that about 8 weeks after starting (whether it's after the summer or after winter break), things start to crash.

 

There's all that fresh enthusiasm, all that new stuff, I get all organized & I think finally, this is going to go great, and the kids will love this, and it will be rosy and cheerful every day, and I'll be patient, and I'll have tons of energy, and I'll never lose my temper or get frustrated, and there'll be world peace, and my stomach fat will magically disappear ..... NOT.

 

Generally now when things start taking a turn for the worse, I just take an impromptu break for a week or two and start baking, watching documentaries, cleaning out closets/decluttering and going outside whenever possible.

 

Soon, things will pick up again.

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We just finished week 9. I told dh this weekend, I think we need to take a few days off after every 9 weeks. I need time to regroup, catch up with reading, and tweak my schedule. All those little things I've been putting off are starting to snowball. I'm sure ds needs some time away as well.

We've had several unplanned days off already so I'm only taking off today.

 

I think I'll plan a week break in February, a very-early-spring-break.

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Seems like a lot of people have been having less than ideal days of learning after what was a great start. This is only the beginning of our second year so I'm wondering if this is a normal time frame for a let down...6 - 10 weeks? We definitely had a less than awesome week last week.

 

Oh, yes. We just finished week 9, and we're going to be at about half-speed this week. I would take the entire week completely off, except 2 of my dc have online classes that are continuing, and I'm teaching one of the classes this week!

 

It is a really long time from August (when we begin) to Thanksgiving; we usually need some sort of breather in October.

 

Anticipate a similar time between New Year's and spring break; we usually have a mini-break in there as well.

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I teach for a "virtual academy" and I actually tell all my new families the same thing... "In six weeks you are going to ask yourself if it was worth it and you are going to want to quit. Push through that and it will get so much easier and it will get better."

 

I have heard that in most "new" situations, the downtimes are at 6 weeks, 6 months, one year and two years. This is a chart for culture shock, but it applies to nearly all major life events - and switching back into school mode is definitely a major life event!

 

MODEL_OF_CULTURE_SHOCK.jpg

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Yes. We plan vacations for both October and February, or late January. It's the perfect time of the year to get away. It provides a needed break from school and vacation spots are less crowded.

 

We're headed to Disney tomorrow. Yippee.

 

We're doing something tropical in late January, probably the U.S. Virgin Islands.

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