Spring HS: Help! We're Having A Hard Time Because its Sooo Beautiful Outside!

[kellycbr]

I thought getting through the February blahs was tough. It seems like our spring break won't end. DS8 doesn't want to do anything except play outside and with his Legos. He's employing all sorts of delaying strategies, and I'm starting to get stressed that he's going to fall so far behind it will be hard to catch up. Are we all vitamin D deficient? I'd rather sleep in and garden, cook, even houseclean (unheard of!), rather than homeschool. Its finally warm, the air smells sweet, the tree frogs are croaking.....

 

So what are your strategies for getting Anything done? How on earth could you possibly homeschool year-round when its so lovely outside?

 

Yesterday I think I was having an anxiety attack. Nauseous, headache, dizzy, chest felt tight. Its all over homeschooling!

 

Help! I need some sort of strategy to get DS back at the table to do his work.

 

Kelly

[Ummto4]

I have the same problem. We live in Tx, so spring (March, April) is the time when I and my kids can garden and be outside.

 

This is our first year of homeschooling. Knowing that spring is too precious to be spent inside the house, I decided to do light homeschooling these months and do the non-table work outside (on a mat, propped with pillows). We of course continue on homeschooling during summer since the weather will be horrid down here.

 

For next year, I plan to take spring off or do light homeschooling especially on the month of March and April.

[ciyates]

Enjoy the weather you have been blessed with. Unless they are headed off to college this year everything else can be caught up later.

 

FYI I am one of those parents who print off lesson plans weeks in advance and have everything organized. It is out the window as we speak. :lol:

[runninmommy]

We home school outside.

 

The kids will take their books on the front porch and do their work on the bench swings.

 

Or they will do it in the grass by the garden. I like this best b/c I can sneak in some gardening while they are working. It improves everyone's mood and makes for a very nice day.

[catalinakel]

for us, spring was time to play outside. school in the summer when it is too hot to be outside playing....worked forus.

[AuntieM]

Enjoy the weather now!

 

Not sure where you live, but we often slack in the spring to spend time outside, then make it up in the middle of summer afternoons when it's in the 95 degree range outside.

[Ferdie]

We follow the public school schedule for our hs so we do school during the spring. My kids get a sticker if they start their school before 8:30am. They also get a sticker if they can stay in their seats until 10am. After break time they get another sticker if they can stay in their seats from 10:30am-noon. Thankfully after 3 hours their school work is mostly done and after chores they spend the rest of the day outside enjoying the beautiful weather.

 

We normally don't have sticker incentives, but I bring out the sticker charts in the spring just to get through the end of the school year. Once they have 50 stickers they get to go on an outing alone with Dad so they are pretty motivated.

[HRAAB]

Pack up your books, throw a blanket on the ground, and learn outside. That's where we will be today and everyday from here on, weather cooperating.

 

Janet

[Cedarmom]

Go on a walk. Collect leaves, bugs, etc. Have short lesson in the morning and play outside all afternoon. I look back with joy on the days we played hooky and spent the time outside.

[Ellie]

KELLY!!! He's only 8! How far "behind" could he be if you took a few days off??!!

 

And that's why we hs year-round: so we *can* goof off on beautiful spring days. :-)

[nukeswife]

We only have math and LA to finish up this year, but we've gone to a 3 day a week schedule. My kids are still getting things done. It takes about 1 hour or a little more to finish our work the days we school. We do read alouds outside on the porch swing or I sit on the deck and read while they play on their swingset. This is the end of our 3rd year and this is a hard time of year for us because it is getting to be so nice outside. I will say I love that my kids are starting to gravitate away from TV because the weather is nice. They've been giving their Playmobil toys a real workout lately and the TV doesn't come on until after dinner. They are also enjoying audio books more.

 

So I say relax, enjoy your time with the kids and the great weather, things can always be made up when it's too hot or raining etc.

[myfunnybunch]

You're singing my song! I was just looking out the window thinking those exact thoughts. It is perfect outside right now, so it's hard to even think of hitting the books.

 

Right now we're heading outside to do school in the back yard. As long as the guys can stay focused, they can stay outside.

 

Our Spring Survival Strategies:

 

Trim back to the basics. I've realized that we've got a yearly routine as well as a daily routine. Winter is our time for academic rigor. By spring we're ready to be out of doors and take a more leisurely approach to school.

 

I think about all of the kids "stuck" indoors all day at public school. I've got a couple in ps myself, and I don't mean it in a snotty way, but it does help knowing that at least we're doing bookwork at the picnic table or reading in the hammock instead of sitting indoors.

 

We've been gardening together. A plant study makes a great science unit.

 

We focus on nature studies in the spring. Nature walks and nature journals can encompass a lot of different subjects. Copying a nature poem is way more fun and motivating than a handwriting page.

 

We take longer breaks. 30-45 minutes instead of 15-20. I clean or garden, they get to play in the sun.

 

Off to enjoy a beautiful day!

 

Cat

[kellycbr]

KELLY!!! He's only 8! How far "behind" could he be if you took a few days off??!!

 

And that's why we hs year-round: so we *can* goof off on beautiful spring days. :-)

 

 

I took last summer off with DS, and we spent 2 months trying to get him up to speed on reading. He's a bright kiddo (lots of genius Daddy genes;)), but the reading is behind compared to everything else. I finally got a tutor to bring him up to speed, and we're doing ok now. I'm not sure how we would be able to homeschool year round. We follow the PS schedule because the whole neighborhood ends up at our house, and trying to HS while everyone is playing and knocking on our door would just torture DS. I'd love to say we've only taken a few days off, but in reality it like we've only done a couple of days a week for the last 3-4 weeks. Eek! Spring break, then re-entry trouble, then grandparents, then more grandparents, then beautiful weather......lots of fun. Now he doesn't want to do anything other than build more lego models. School has become a big battle.

[rafiki]

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[Joyful]

We are on the East Coast. Sometimes the weather is nice. Sometimes we get rain. You know how the saying goes about April showers... So, we go out every chance we get! :001_smile: We do school even on Saturdays if it is raining.