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I'm getting burnt out


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The sun is coming back, although the ground is still covered in snow and ice. We are all feeling the need to get away from the house, and the house needs an incredible spring cleaning. Frankly, it is just icky in here and I'm tired of cleaning around the mess, with my I-need-to-get-to-that piles in all the corners. We haven't taken more than a 2-3 day break since June -- mostly because my kids revolt getting back into the school schedule, but also because I feel like we are pretty inefficient on many days due to babies and toddlers. 

I really want to take a BIG spring break, but because of life, we are about a month behind where I'd like to be in lessons. Since we typically school year round it isn't a huge deal, but the more breaks I take the worse it will get. And I'm thinking it would be a really nice to have a true summer break this summer. 

So what should I do? Double down and get everything done for the year as fast as possible so we can take the summer off? Or take 2 weeks, clean the house, watch movies in our jammies and try to get back to school with a fresh outlook? 

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What ages are your kids?

If elementary ages, I might look at what we were doing and decide what was high priority to not drop far behind in (here, mostly math) then plan a minimalist school schedule around that and take a month off otherwise.

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1 hour ago, Bronze said:

What ages are your kids?

If elementary ages, I might look at what we were doing and decide what was high priority to not drop far behind in (here, mostly math) then plan a minimalist school schedule around that and take a month off otherwise.

Yep my oldest is a 9 year old 4th grader. I have a 7 year old first grader, and a K-er that I'm not worried about at all. He does what he wants, when he wants, and is doing very well.  None of the kids are actually in a bad place, except my oldest with spelling, but that is more of his natural state than something I can fix with a few more weeks of lessons :) Obviously finishing their math books before the start of the next school year is a non-negotiable. They might have 10 weeks left? Probably less than that actually, and some of it might be compressible. 

They have some outsourced classes (online) that is a source of some of the stress. 

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6 hours ago, CadenceSophia said:

Yep my oldest is a 9 year old 4th grader. I have a 7 year old first grader, and a K-er that I'm not worried about at all. He does what he wants, when he wants, and is doing very well.  None of the kids are actually in a bad place, except my oldest with spelling, but that is more of his natural state than something I can fix with a few more weeks of lessons :) Obviously finishing their math books before the start of the next school year is a non-negotiable. They might have 10 weeks left? Probably less than that actually, and some of it might be compressible. 

They have some outsourced classes (online) that is a source of some of the stress. 

 

I feel a little dense here (I'm asking about an obviously!), but why is it non-negotiable?

Sounds to me like y'all totally need a break. We're ALL inefficient. But no substantial breaks since June? That sounds exhausting!

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Remember homeschooling is a marathon and not a sprint. If you are feeling burnt out it is time to take a break.  I understand about transitions and getting every one back on track can be hard. And feeling like maybe the kids don't need a break because some days are light, or you are behind on curriculum, or maybe they do better with routine.

BUT- what I have learned over the years is that sometimes I need a darn break even if my kids don't. And I matter too.  I won't be at my best stressed out and burned out. So it's ok to take a break if YOU need one. You have been pushing hard and long this year.  Take the time you need to rest and recover.  

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Oh, honey, take a break.  I remember when my kids were that small and I felt I had to just keep going because I was afraid if I'd stop I'd lose all momentum.  Add to that that you have a one year old and you haven't had a real vacation in months and months.  That just isn't healthy.

when I had 4 with a one year old is when I started 5 or 6 weeks on then one week off (2 at Christmas and 8 or so for summer).  That allowed me to catch up on the house on the off week (and cuddle the baby).  Anything anyone was behind on would also get done that week--but I limited what *I* did schoolwise that week to maybe 1 subject one on one with one child.

The one or two days of getting back in the routine can make it seem like it is too much trouble, but it really isn't.  The work your kids are doing will only get more and you must balance that with rest and play or you all will burn out.

What subjects are you behind in? If it is social studies and science, at their ages, I wouldn't worry about it at all. If it is math, just keep chugging along and your fourth grader "may" have to do it this summer (while you take at least 6 weeks off otherwise).  Your first grader will just pick up where s/he left off.  Or work on Xtra math over the summer.  You don't have to finish grammar at those ages or the spelling book or the writing book.  Just keep going.  It may be you have "fallen behind" because you are all burnt out.  Having an off week to look forward to helps keep everyone focused.

Please take care of yourself.

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With ten weeks left, that will put you in June, which is where you started, right?  So you will have gone an entire year with no breaks???   If I had started in June, and had no more than 2 or 3 days worth of breaks, I would just stop.  As a matter of fact, a couple of years ago, my FIL passed away in May (after a month of being in the hospital) and we still had about 4 weeks left and I just quit, with no regrets.  My girls were 14 and 10 at the time.

Most math books start with review, so I would imagine everything covered these last 10 weeks will be reviewed.

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If I read your signature right, you've homeschooled a whole year, with no more than 2 - 3 days off since the baby was 2 months old. I'm going to hazard a guess that you started in June because you took April and May off last year for the new baby. It is more than ok to just take a break already! When my 5th child was a baby and I was homeschooling similar ages as you, we were on a 6 weeks on 1 week off schedule. That week off every six weeks was what kept my sanity with 5 kids under 10yo in the house 24 hours a day, 7 days a week! I can't imagine only getting enough time off to catch my breath a little and keep chugging. It's time to recharge your batteries before you run dry!

And I would have to agree that math books being finished is absolutely negotiable, especially in first grade. You will cover it all again in the beginning of second grade. And the beginning of third grade. It may be a little more iffy for the 4th grader since there is less overlap year to year by that point but you could always just do a few pages of math each week over your break or just pick up where you left off next year before moving on to the next book. There is no penalty from the homeschool police for not finishing a given school book in 9 months time. ;)

We moved across the country when I was 8yo and in second grade. It was April when we had to move and by the time we got to where we were going, found a new house and got settled in, there was only about 4 weeks of school left. The schools even told my parents there was no point in enrolling so close to the end of the year and just enroll me for third grade the next year. So I got a 5 month summer break that year. I suffered no ill effects from taking an extended break and not finishing 2nd grade, lol! I was still in the accelerated class even without missing a beat.

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Thank you so much for the kind words. I feel like such a weight has been lifted off! I told the kids today that we were taking spring break as soon as they finished their math, but that we were starting with spring cleaning. I'm going to take my break in a nice clean house. 

 

We actually didn't even take May off after the baby was born. We took off about 2 weeks, did a few weeks of school, took off a couple more weeks in June, and then we've been going since then. During late summer and fall I was really feeling good about going year round gently, so we took "working vacations", first to see the eclipse doing school and camping all along the way. After that we stayed with my dad for a month and did school-lite for a month, 2ish hrs in the morning and then playing in the pool or at the beach. This winter has just been really hard and now I see why 8Fill's always talks about scheduling weeks off and summer break :). Maybe a couple weeks off will give me perspective on priorities, and hopefully my kids won't forget everything we did in the last two years :-p

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Oh, they'll forget still. And it just doesn't matter because eventually it comes back and it will stick at some point long term. I felt the same way when the kids were little and I just shouldn't have wasted the energy. We even had a family crisis the year one kid was in 3rd and didn't school for 6 months. It didn't make one bit of difference long term and he had a great 4th grade year. Life happens and everyone survives, learns, and grows anyway. Take the break. :)

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