Let's avoid the Homeschooling Burnout

Sooner or later we all experience homeschooling burnout. Here are some tips to avoid it, cure it and enjoy your journey again.

The dictionaries define burn-out as fatigue, frustration, or apathy resulting from prolonged stress, overwork, or intense activity. Everyone struggles with this at one time or another.

Realizing that everyone goes through homeschooling burnout, can help us to anticipate, recognize it and it's causes and find our way out.

Our expectations are usually what set us up. We believe that we should be able to keep our house spotless, do all the things we did before taking on homeschooling, and homeschool to perfection. You know...the Super Hero Syndrome!

Idealism is a quick path to burnout!
Sooo....back up, take a deep breath and remember:

Have Fun!!

Bake cookies for math.
Pitch a tent for geometry.
Fly a kite for science.
Listen to a really good story for Language arts.
Sing and record yourselves for a music day.
Go for a picnic for the sake of living!

Don't do it all yourself!

Find a story teller that can portray life in the middle ages. Look for someone who loves to diagram sentences. Surely you can find a writer in your neck of the woods to explain the writing process. What about a local scientist? Could they maybe put an experiment together to explain clouds? There are so many resources available ...don't feel you need to be the all-creative-power and come up with things from scratch! Have fun! and be sure to take the time to enjoy your children!

If it's the house work that is your boon, the phonebook is a great source for housekeepers that would be willing to come once a month to help you catch up.

Take some side Adventures!

May be someone you know is ill or in the hospital. Take an adventure to visit them and share what you have been learning in school thus far. Take them some cookies or warm soup. Make them a poster or card to cheer them.