10 Sanity Savers When You Need a Homeschool Break
Homeschooling is hard y’all. But I probably don’t have to tell you that, if you are reading this post. You are living it. Every year I get about 6-8 weeks into the school year, and I think… “I don’t want to do this anymore” Like really ya’ll. I flat out want to give up and enroll my kids in the nearest public school, or just throw a diploma at my 5th grader and call her graduated. But my senses do usually return to me and what I realize is that I spend 24 hours a day with my kids and fight with them to do their algebra for a good portion of those hours! What I really need is a BREAK! So I came up with the 10 Sanity Savers When You Need a Homeschool Break to help in just these situations!
“It’s just the beginning of the year, semester, week…. , why are we already talking about taking a break?”
Trust me, even if you don’t think you will need a break now, the time will come my friend… the time will come. My first day of homeschooling was spent with me running between my bathroom, closet, and kitchen table trying not to cry in front of my daughter.
Last year our first day of school went off without a hitch… well until a fight broke out, whining ensued, a kid started crying and I sent everyone to their rooms for the day. Related Post: How to Beat homeschool burnout before you start
You may have just gotten started but if you find yourself having a “moment” and you need a sanity break, here are ten things you can do and still feel good about at the end of the day.
10 Sanity Savers when you need a Homeschool Break
Take your family geocaching. If you have never done this before, chances are you will love it. Not only can the whole family get involved but you can call it your geography lesson for the day! And if you know anything about geocaching, check out these accessories to add to the fun.
Call your local homeless or animal shelter and ask what you can do to help out that day. At the homeless shelter you could chat with the residents or organize the pantry or clothes closet. The Animal shelter might have you walk or play with the animals to help socialize them more, or help with cleaning out the kennels. Both places almost always accept bottled water or pet food.
Go to a local park and have a scavenger hunt. This gets everyone out in nature and having to pay close to attention to their surroundings. If you have a bird or tree/plant identification book, take it and spend some time looking for those particular species of birds and plants. Make it a group event and invite some friends to come along.
Related Post: 10 Things you can do to help your Homeschooled Children make friends
Choose an ethnic restaurant that you have never visited before and go have lunch. With everyone out of their comfort zone this will give you lots of opportunities to talk about being brave and polite. Trying new things together always creates memories. If you don’t have one around you, choose a country and research what a typical meal might look like, then go purchase the ingredients and make it at home.
Have a baking day and bake cookies together. Encourage your children to write notes of encouragement or bible verses to their friends. Take time to drive to each of their houses to deliver them. Chances are they may need a break too and you can sneak in some “mom fellowship” time.
Put your kids in charge for the day. Give your kids $20 and tell them they need to plan tonight’s dinner. Have them create a menu and a grocery list, then take them to the store and let them shop without your input. Once they get home, they have to make the meal and don’t forget the clean up!
Have a Game Day! Pull out all the fun and educational games you have and tell them that today you will play them all. You can up the stakes by keeping track of who wins each game. Winner gets the night off from chores. Try these fun Math Games or this list of great spelling games.
Watch a video or check out a book on impressionism and head to the park or botanical gardens with watercolors and have them choose a scene to paint like an impressionist.
Give your kids a children’s book and an iPad or phone with a stop motion app and have them recreate the story or have them create their own story. Pull out the popcorn and watch it together.
Go on a long walk, bike ride, kayak, roller skate, etc. Have a P.E. Day. Set up an obstacle course with things you have around your house and challenge each other to it.
If you get to the end of the year and it turns out that you never needed to just take a day off, Please! For the LOVE of Pete, leave me a comment and tell me how you did it!
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Angela is the Homeschool Encourager for the Overwhelmed & Under-Caffeinated and the Chaos-to-Confidence Specialist behind Schooling with Grace. With a no-fluff approach, a dash of humor, and a whole lot of heart, she helps homeschool moms cut through the chaos, ditch unrealistic expectations, and teach with confidence.
After 2 years of homeschooling and feeling frustrated for not being able to keep up with the housework, part-time job, etc., I came across another Homeschool Mom’s blog that laid out different school schedules/possibilities . One really stood out to me. It would never have occurred to me since, I went through public school and so did my oldest and my husband too. It’s basically a year round school year. Now, let me back up. I started homeschooling because we had just finished remote learning through Cov’d. It was horrific. Plus, he had been diagnosed dyslexic 3 months before remote learning began. Zoom remote learning and the self proclaimed dyslexic & ADHD, dyslexia instructor did not always show up for her own scheduled Zoom class and rarely let the parents know there was a cancelation (public school class). Suddenly, the 3 months of in school house dyslexia classes and the things he would tell me after school about nobody coming to pick him up to go to the class (2nd grade) made ALL the sense to me. He wasn’t getting the help he needed, and neither were the other kids. After the year of remote learning, we pulled him out and found a local retired, 1st grade teacher who is a certified Barton Tutor. We were also in Vision Therapy sessions with out local ophthalmologist. Needless, to say remote learning opened our eyes (God’s hand) to everything we needed to see as parents. I wasn’t prepared, in fact, when my oldest asked years before if I would homeschool him I said, No Way, I’m not a teacher. So I started flying by the seat of my pants. Stressed, chaos, appointments and I’m a Realtor and work on the weekends. I had no additional help from family, and was running a 7 day schedule. All that to say, we were behind, by a LOT. The last thing I could imagine was taking a week off from school at a time !!
BUT… when we started year round school, it really helped both of us (mentally).
So here’s our plan…
We start school around July 18th (whenever the Monday near it falls that year). We ease into the first week of school so we go 7 weeks and then take a week off (this happens to fall on his birthday week). Next, go 6 weeks which gets us to our local, public school’s Fall Break so if there’s school friends to play with, that’s not a hassle. After that, 6 more weeks is Thanksgiving. Then, 2-ish weeks at Christmas. Our Spring Break week hits well with our public schools and we end school around June 18 (whenever the Friday falls) Take a month off and start all over again. He really doesn’t need more than a month. He’s usually bored by then anyway. The biggest difference it has all made is that after a week off, he comes back refreshed. The first time, I expected he would relapse and not want anything to do with school but it was the opposite. He remembered things so well. Individually, it was idea for his learning style.
… and I get to work on my bigger projects around the house. I can even plan for them by the 6 week mark !! I still get overwhelmed but remind myself that I can add it to my list for that week.
This is exactly why I love homeschooling. I love that your schedule is whatever you make it. I love that you get to individualize their learning and since you know your kiddo best, you can do what is in their best interest. Thank you for sharing! It sounds like the perfect plan!