It's the February slump for homeschool parents.
The holidays are over. Valentine's Day is around the corner, but face it, there's not much of anything until Easter now. We've hit the hundredth day of school, which means we are halfway done. But not done yet. It's still winter, and even if you live in the South like me where it is pretending to be spring, the sun still rises late and goes down early, and it's just dark and dreary mostly.
It's the time of year when everything is dragging, the curriculum you loved in August isn't quite so enthralling, you want to sleep in everyday, and that yellow school bus never looked so good.
The holidays are over. Valentine's Day is around the corner, but face it, there's not much of anything until Easter now. We've hit the hundredth day of school, which means we are halfway done. But not done yet. It's still winter, and even if you live in the South like me where it is pretending to be spring, the sun still rises late and goes down early, and it's just dark and dreary mostly.
It's the time of year when everything is dragging, the curriculum you loved in August isn't quite so enthralling, you want to sleep in everyday, and that yellow school bus never looked so good.
I've got it, too. And I thought I would share some of the things I'm doing to help myself push through it to the other side.
Getting outside. Even in the winter, the sun is shining, and letting it shine on you helps! Get outside and get your children outside for fresh air, exercise, and sunshine, every day that you can. It helps!
Trying something new. Curriculum feeling stale? Try out something new. You don't have to change everything, but add in something you haven't gotten to spend time on. My third grader has been wanting to learn how to type as fast as I can, so we grabbed a keyboarding book from the Homeschool Build Your Own Bundle sale last spring and started using it. We also started a new unit in Grapevine Studies after letting that part of our "Redemption" time lag for a bit.
Changing something. If you don't want to change your curriculum, try doing it in a new way. We've been following the same schedule all year, of focusing on history on Wednesdays, science on Thursdays, and geography on Fridays, and it was just getting stale. Last week, I started reading up on something called "loop scheduling" (which I'll write more about later), and just making that one change from our same-old-same-old is a breath of fresh air.
Setting goals. My daughter is in American Heritage Girls, and this is her last year as a Tenderheart (cue the tears!). Which means she needs to finish up some badges that are half-done and get some other things done in order to move up to the Explorer level in May. We made a list last week and are starting to check it off. Getting things done helps with the slump.
Looking ahead. We have some exciting events coming up - a visit from friends from Europe, my parent's silver wedding anniversary, summer camps, some day trips we've been wanting to make. Getting them on the calendar where we can see that they are coming up helps when the hours drag.
Taking a break. There have been a few days when we (gasp!) didn't do school. That is one of the beauties of homeschooling - setting your own schedule! Taking a day off when you need one! And do it without feeling guilty!
Taking stock. Remembering why we are doing this. Realizing that the days may be long, but the years are short. Counting the time remaining before my daughter will be starting her Classical Conversations Challenge years. Recognizing that my son is graduating from preschool this year and we don't have another little one in the wings this time. I can choose to let those things bring me down, or I can allow them to give me a boost to enjoy the PRESENT and live in it fully, even when I want to stay in bed an extra hour. Because even when I am in a slump, God is right here with me, and He has given me the precious gift of these weeks, days, and hours with my children.
And I am ever so thankful!
Getting outside. Even in the winter, the sun is shining, and letting it shine on you helps! Get outside and get your children outside for fresh air, exercise, and sunshine, every day that you can. It helps!
Trying something new. Curriculum feeling stale? Try out something new. You don't have to change everything, but add in something you haven't gotten to spend time on. My third grader has been wanting to learn how to type as fast as I can, so we grabbed a keyboarding book from the Homeschool Build Your Own Bundle sale last spring and started using it. We also started a new unit in Grapevine Studies after letting that part of our "Redemption" time lag for a bit.
Changing something. If you don't want to change your curriculum, try doing it in a new way. We've been following the same schedule all year, of focusing on history on Wednesdays, science on Thursdays, and geography on Fridays, and it was just getting stale. Last week, I started reading up on something called "loop scheduling" (which I'll write more about later), and just making that one change from our same-old-same-old is a breath of fresh air.
Setting goals. My daughter is in American Heritage Girls, and this is her last year as a Tenderheart (cue the tears!). Which means she needs to finish up some badges that are half-done and get some other things done in order to move up to the Explorer level in May. We made a list last week and are starting to check it off. Getting things done helps with the slump.
Looking ahead. We have some exciting events coming up - a visit from friends from Europe, my parent's silver wedding anniversary, summer camps, some day trips we've been wanting to make. Getting them on the calendar where we can see that they are coming up helps when the hours drag.
Taking a break. There have been a few days when we (gasp!) didn't do school. That is one of the beauties of homeschooling - setting your own schedule! Taking a day off when you need one! And do it without feeling guilty!
Taking stock. Remembering why we are doing this. Realizing that the days may be long, but the years are short. Counting the time remaining before my daughter will be starting her Classical Conversations Challenge years. Recognizing that my son is graduating from preschool this year and we don't have another little one in the wings this time. I can choose to let those things bring me down, or I can allow them to give me a boost to enjoy the PRESENT and live in it fully, even when I want to stay in bed an extra hour. Because even when I am in a slump, God is right here with me, and He has given me the precious gift of these weeks, days, and hours with my children.
And I am ever so thankful!
RSS Feed
