I think SL and I (it was a joint effort) really burned out my kids

[....]

I'm frustrated and the title says it all.  We're year-round homeschoolers, so we just finished our school year.  We are usually unit-study/CM-ish homeschoolers, but my 3 oldest teens used Sonlight this year (long story, but it involved a needy toddler).  We actually enjoyed most of the year.  They were able to keep up with the schedule and they read lots of wonderful books.  

Unfortunately, they now seem really burned out.  😞  I've never seen them like this before.  The 15 year-old (who never complains) is saying that he's rereading pages over and over again, because he can't get his brain to focus.  The 13 and 17 year-olds are also complaining of feeling very burned out/not wanting to read anymore.  This is not good, because we are year-round homeschoolers.  

I'm just shaking my fist at the sky yelling, "Oh, Sonlight!  Why did you do this to me??!"

I was planning to start the new semester the second week in January, now I'm not sure if that's going to happen.  I mean, I already have PLANS!  lol. *rolling eyes*  

Anyone else overzealous and burn out their kids?  How did you fix the situation??  Mine obviously need a break, but I'm not sure how long.  Ugh, thanks for listening at least!

[Serenade]

With Sonlight, especially for older kids, you probably need to trim some books and assignments.    

[freesia]

Maybe they just need a break.

[Zoo Keeper]

Your older kids were doing core 300, right?  it's an intense core--the subject matter can be emotionally heavy and not so easy to process.  That could be playing into their dazed reaction.  And the reading load itself is also intense...my son is doing 300 this year, and I have cut books.  He is doing an older version of the core, and I have only kept a few SL lit selections exactly as scheduled; he is reading more of Ambleside's year 11 lit instead, plus other books I just threw in there because I wanted too (such as Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which he had read before, but he needed the space in the schedule, and he needed the laughs). 

Anyway, my point is to use SL in a way that works for you.  Sound like your kids are used to fewer books at a slower pace.  Nothing wrong with that.  But SL' s pacing is different, and you will have to cut it if you want to continue to use it. I do use it in bits and pieces for my kids--but I've had to wiggle around with the workload for every one of my kids.  Nobody has 36 weeks worth of perfect days to work with.  But I do appreciate having a schedule done, having questions and writing prompts done, having maps ready, etc.   That's why I bought SL to begin with. 

Sounds like you all worked hard, and are ready for a break.  Enjoy your Christmas! 

Edited December 20, 2018 by Zoo Keeper

[Ellie]

I did that once, when my children were 9 and 12. I put the books away at Thanksgiving, which was our norm, and I didn't pick them up again until the next fall.

[Lecka]

While it is fresh in your mind, can you think of there were any early signs?  I think try to identify any early signs, and look for them in the future as a sign to adjust.  

I also think learning is the goal, and conditions need to be right for learning.  

If the conditions aren’t right for learning, then even with “doing things” it is going to be very hard for the engagement to be there that is needed for learning.  

 

[Lecka]

If you are new to seeing your kids have burn out, I think keep in mind — they may “go through” or “do” the same things but just not get the same outcome.  

So ime there’s really no point to “go through” or “do” things just for the sake of “doing” them. 

Bc what you really want to happen, may not happen just from that.  

You might be used to those two things (doing something AND getting the hoped-for outcome) going together, but there is no guarantee.  Especially if kids start “just trying to get done” or “just trying to finish.”  That is just not a productive place to be for learning ime.  

Its also a mindset that can be bad for kids to spend time in, because it can be a mindset that spreads to other areas.  

I think it is best avoided.  

[Lecka]

What I mean is — you have some kind of goals for retention, skill development, critical thinking, etc.  

You hope to get that outcome.

But when conditions for learning aren’t met, then no matter what is “done,” there may not be a lot of retention, skill development, or critical thinking.  

So I think it is good to separately think about goals like that, separately from thinking about “getting things done.”  

They DO go together, but it’s not automatic.  

[Lecka]

I also think — I cannot go in my child’s head and think thoughts for them.  I can just to my best to provide a productive environment for that to happen.  

And then — I can do things that seem to promote that or detract from that.  If I am seeing signs that the environment I am providing is detracting from what I want to happen, then I do need to make some changes.  

And it’s often not that I am doing something that is bad in of itself, it just isn’t leading to the outcome I want to have.  

[....]

2 hours ago, Serenade said:

With Sonlight, especially for older kids, you probably need to trim some books and assignments.    

 

Yeah, if we ever use SL again, I am cutting that booklist in HALF!  lol. We didn't write nearly as much this year, because the kids were trying so hard to keep caught-up with the tornado-like reading schedule.  Also, I was counting how many books one of my teens read....35.  She read 35 books this school year.  *sigh*. It was too much!

[....]

2 hours ago, freesia said:

Maybe they just need a break.

 

I'm going to try to take off until mid-January and see if that helps.  We are switching back to my homemade unit studies.  DD17 and DS15 are going to concentrate on science for awhile, so that should be a good change.  DD13 is going to do a unit study on short stories.  Some of those short stories are only 600-1000 words long, so that should be refreshing.  

[....]

1 hour ago, Zoo Keeper said:

Your older kids were doing core 300, right?  it's an intense core--the subject matter can be emotionally heavy and not so easy to process.  That could be playing into their dazed reaction.  And the reading load itself is also intense...my son is doing 300 this year, and I have cut books. 

 

Yes, they did Core 300 History and 200 Literature.  I did not think about the emotional toll of these courses!  And we spent a ton of time on the Holocaust, also.  I added a book + some videos.  I think you're right.  It's the amount of reading + the emotionally heavy content.  

[....]

22 minutes ago, Lecka said:

While it is fresh in your mind, can you think of there were any early signs?  I think try to identify any early signs, and look for them in the future as a sign to adjust.  

I also think learning is the goal, and conditions need to be right for learning.  

If the conditions aren’t right for learning, then even with “doing things” it is going to be very hard for the engagement to be there that is needed for learning.  

 

 

I completely agree with you.  That's why I usually homeschool differently than a lot of other homeschoolers.  We're not school-at-home homeschoolers and I usually don't use a curriculum.  Towards the end, we were just checking off the boxes to get it done.

[....]

1 hour ago, Zoo Keeper said:

he is reading more of Ambleside's year 11 lit instead

 

We did AO one year (about 3 years ago when I was pregnant with #5 and having some health issues) and that was one of our best homeschooling years ever.  I switched away from it, because I worried about how to work AO through high school.  *sigh*. Yes, I really appreciated their short booklists.  

[Skippy]

It sounds like your idea of taking a break is a good one.

Personally, I really needed this reminder today: We were studying Ecclesiastes this morning and read this verse - 

"But beyond these, my son, be warned: there is no end to the making of many books, and much study wearies the body" (Ecclesiastes 12:12).

[MerryAtHope]

Sounds like you have a good plan to go back to doing your own thing! I was very "SL eclectic" in the high school years--I cut the lists liberally and just did the things that really inspired me, measuring by time rather than quantity of books. I also always took a couple of days between books to just "sit with them" and mull. Some books more time than others. Think-time is valuable! 

[Shoes+Ships+SealingWax]

Definitely take a break. Just put it all away and enjoy the holidays. You’ll be able to see when they are ready to start up again.

[Arcadia]

DS14, my oldest, loves to read but all the screen (online class) and book reading is exhausting him (eyes wise, not mental) so he doesn’t even play phone/tablet games. He rather catch a nap or just look out of the bus/train. We had to up his recreational sports time this semester and while he feels tired after tennis, his eyes feels better after concentrating on tennis balls than text on a screen/book. He also needed a lot more sleep in 8th grade (12/13 years old) and still needs more sleep now. 

We go on a road trip vacation every time we get academic burnout. DS13 has a test to be submitted by Monday so we’ll see where we can go next weekend (Saturday to Tuesday). My husband’s office is closed on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.