How to Beat the Homeschool Burnout Before You Start
I love the beginning of every school year. We are all rested and pumped up with great ideas and enthusiasm for the school year. Our school supplies are bought, and our school area is clean and ready to go. This enthusiasm typically carries for a few months or if you are like me…. maybe not quite that long. Then the day-to-day work of homeschooling, keeping house, outside commitments and life in general start to weigh us down and we begin to feel tired. The Joy of homeschool begins to wane and Homeschool Burnout sets in.
So How do You beat the Homeschool Burnout Before You Start?
I know a few people in my life that I swear never seem to tire of homeschooling. They are my heroes! But for the rest of us normal folks it’s inevitable. There are going to be days where we just feel tired and even defeated, but we don’t want to stay there! With just a little planning and organization you can beat the burnout before you start.
Before you Start
Lay out your calendar. Consider all of the things that you need to accomplish in a given week and then all the reoccurring commitments that you may have. Make sure every birthday, doctor or dentist appointment goes in that calendar. Add the days that you typically grocery shop, run your errands and any sports or lessons that you have. Put everything in. EVERYTHING. It’s so important for us to be aware of where our time actually goes during the week. This helps us to realistically set expectations for ourselves when we want to add anything extra to our routine.
Simplify your routine and curriculum right from the start. Don’t set up unrealistic expectations for yourself. Know thy self! The first 5 years of homeschooling I had a daily schedule. Hour by hour I had my children’s school lined up along with our daily chores. And always by the second week, that schedule went out the window. I have since realized I’m more of a checklist kind of gal. I write down what needs to be accomplished and those are the things I work on getting through. I also know that art and music are not my thing- so I stopped pretending that we would do those things together and I enrolled my children in classes where others would teach them these subjects. Need help with your Morning Routine? Check out Creating a Morning Routine that Sets the Tone for The Day
Begin to say no to outside commitments. This is the time of year where EVERYBODY is gearing up for the year ahead. Everyone is trying to find help for their committees and programs. Before committing to anything, think all the way through what that will look like for you and for your family. Think day by day and week by week. Ask specific questions like “How much time will this require of me a week, a month?” “What are your expectations of me in this area?” “Who are the others that will be helping me?” And then once you have the information tell them that you will get back to them after discussing it with your spouse and family. Never commit to anything on the spot. Remember that Homeschooling is a full-time job. Do you have educational fidelity with it?
Plan, Plan, Plan. The more well prepared you are before you start, the less likely you will feel overwhelmed. Even if you are just planning a week ahead, get everything together. Know what you will be doing and make sure you have the needed supplies. Include in your plans the meal plan for the week. It’s a good feeling to wake up in the morning and know exactly what the plan is for the day. Even if that plan ends up changing, you will still be able to rest easy Knowing that the day wasn’t a flop for lack of planning on your part.
Organize. Planning will get you nowhere if you don’t have a way to keep everything organized. Folders, Binders, Bookcase, drawer system- are you going to set work out daily, weekly, monthly. How are you going to keep up with the schoolwork? Will you check it every day? Weekly? You need a system! But don’t just do what works for someone else, do what will work for you. If you know that you aren’t a detail-oriented person- don’t pick a system that requires a lot of moving parts. The simpler you can make it the more success you are going to have with it.
Related Post: How To Achieve Your Goals When You Are Organizationally Challenged
Implement. And because you now have a plan for what your schooling is going to look like- decide how you are going to go about implementing it. Now that you have everything laid out and you know exactly what your family is going to need and the expectations that are going to be placed on you, this is a good time to let the people in your life know the plan. Tell your husband so that he can keep you accountable for saying no to things that are going to add stress to your life. Put the calendar out or sync it with your husband’s calendar where everyone in your family can see what’s on the agenda for the month. Get your homeschool space ready and give everything a place for what you need- Then go and be the awesome homeschool parent that you are!
What are you currently doing to ensure that you are going to beat the homeschool Burnout?
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.