June 5, 2023

5 Proven Ways to Refresh an Overwhelmed Homeschooler

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The scene is typical. A desperate mom hovers over her “stubborn” child, practically begging them to complete their assignment. The child, overwhelmed with the amount of work laid out before them just wants to run out of the door to go outside and play on this sunny day. Neither of them are able to get through to one another. Both of them just innocently want to do what they feel is best.

Maybe this is your typical homeschool day. I know that it was mine for a long while. Unfortunately this is the lives of many who feel burnt out and overwhelmed from life with home education added to the mix. It is all too common because of the fast pace that we exist in today.

There is a common theme that more is better. More lessons, more extra curricular, and more on the to do list equals success. The rise of home education has become a popular choice for families because it promises slower days that enable more opportunities for children to play and create. But this hurried nature of mainstream living has begun to permeate into the homeschooling community.

There has been added pressure on parents to make sure that their children are keeping up with their peers in academics. With a lack of deschooling, parents are falling prey to the notion that more is better for their children’s success. The very reason they may have begun homeschooling in the first place is lost to worksheets and flash cards.

Sometimes having a reminder of why you are doing what you are doing is helpful in getting back on course. In this blog post, we are going to explore 5 proven ways to refresh an overwhelmed homeschooler.

1. Deschooling for Parents

The term “deschooling” is one that is tossed around the unschooling community, but it is just as important for regular homeschooling families as well. If you aren’t familiar with the process of deschooling, it is basically the process of unlearning the “bad” stuff that you probably picked up while in public school. As Albert Einstein once said, “Education is that which remains when one has forgotten everything he learned in school.“

When deschooling, it is important to remember the why behind your decision to homeschool. Was it because you realized the importance of play as a cornerstone for learning? Public schools are desperately lacking in playtime these days. In some schools, recess is as little as 15 minutes.

I think as parents we can sometimes forget that we have the power to open up the day for our kids when we homeschool. Who says that we have to sit down and do worksheets for 8 hours in order for our children to learn? Deschooling is remembering that learning takes place in almost everything that we do.

Deschooling is typically a process that is gone through by unschooling families, but I think that it can be a valuable process for any homeschooling family. There are many resources that teach parents how to deschool and shake off the pressure and stress that was instilled in them from their own schooling experience. It is truly helpful and transforming in reducing overwhelm with home education.

When we cast off the societal pressures of public school, we are able to see the natural learning process unfold in the lives of our children.

2. Slow Down

I know what you’re thinking, how can I do that when there is a schedule to keep in our curriculum? I am doubting that you chose to homeschool because you wanted to completely replicate a public education. What’s the point in that?

The beauty of homeschooling is the ability to follow your child’s lead. To go at their pace. Albert Einstein was a wise speaker in this regard, and I really relate to his quotes. He once said, ” Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by it’s ability to climb a tree, it will live it’s whole life believing that it’s stupid.” It is okay to slow down and back off if your child is resisting.

Our Experience with Slowing Down

When my oldest was in 1st grade, we went through a difficult phase of her resisting anything that resembled schooling. This just happens to be the age that she was to begin learning to read. The mom guilt and anxiety crept in as I worried about this process. My intuition told me that I should back off.

At first, I listened to the anxiety and the more I pushed, the more she pulled and we were getting nowhere. Eventually I decided to slow down, back off, and let her learn at her pace. The pace that would encourage a love of reading and not a withdrawal.

She is now in fourth grade, an enormous lover of books, and can read well beyond her age. The intuition was right in this scenario. Slowing down is exactly what was needed for her to flourish. Had I kept pushing, I doubt that she would be at the level of reading that she is at today.

Homeschooling provides the perfect opportunity to slow down and live a less hurried pace in life. Both you and your children will enjoy learning so much more when it isn’t forced or rushed.

3. Make it Playful

Play comes in a variety of shapes and sizes. There is creative play, imaginative play, digital play, and the list goes on. Play is important for humans of all ages, it just may look very different depending on your stage of life.

When it comes to learning, play is probably the single most important factor to consider. There is so much scholarly research proving the benefits behind play based learning. I can think back to the catchy songs and slogans that I was taught in elementary school and have remembered after all of these years. What I can’t remember, however, are the many hours of formal lectures that I sat through.

Play is also an incredibly huge aspect of decompressing for kids which I will go into more later in this post. Between the physical and also cognitive benefits of playing, there are many reasons that play is a cornerstone for learning. From increasing curiosity to helping to build the physical structures that result in executive functioning in the brain, there are many reasons to promote playing in your homeschooling day.

When it comes to reducing the feelings of overwhelm in children, play should be the first line of defense. Whenever you are able to incorporate play into your learning, it will increase the overall sense of satisfaction and help your children thrive in their education.

4. Incorporate What They Love

Hand in hand with play is incorporating what your child loves into the homeschool day. Does your child have a particular interest in art? What about a specific interest such as dinosaurs? When you can incorporate these things into what they are learning, they will be more keen to delve into what you are trying to show them.

There are so many ideas out there, and Pinterest is a perfect place to find ideas to support your subject. From safari math to ideas for books on pirates, you can find just about anything and everything nowadays.

This is true even for adults. Whenever I am passionate about a subject, I am more willing to dive deeper into it and commit my time and attention. I am less likely to pay attention to things that I am not as interested in.

This one essential method has been the difference between scattered, inattentive homeschoolers in my home, to eager and hungry minds. We are able to research topics of interest and incorporate them into math, reading, science, social studies, etc. Even just letting them incorporate it in physical means, such as wearing a Spider-man costume and pretending to be Spider-man while doing math equations will pique their interests more.

When you can find and incorporate their passions and interests into learning, it opens a new door of potential and possibilities. No longer will you have to fight tooth and nail to get your children to sit down and complete a worksheet. They will naturally be drawn to learning because they will associate it with the things that they are passionate about.

5. Having Outlets

Just as adults need outlets, children also need outlets to decompress from the stressors of school and childhood in general. A place to go for comfort or an activity that ignites passion are perfect outlets. Whether an outlet is physical in the form of play and art, or mental like escaping in a good book, outlets are important for all humans, young and old alike.

Think of what your child likes to do when they feel stressed and make sure they are able to partake in that activity often. For my children, this often looks like playing, art, wrestling, and reading, depending on which child. I always try and make time in the day for these activities. They are important to my children and that makes them important to me as well.

The rigorous nature of schooling and the process of learning and growing takes a tremendous amount of mental and sometimes physical energy. It’s no wonder that children love to play as much as they do.

With each activity, try and incorporate an outlet to break the monotony of the day. After practicing sight words for instance, maybe color a picture. The picture can even be one of the sight words you are practicing. It is a win-win. It serves as an outlet and as a fun way to remember the sight words you are learning.

Whichever outlet your kids enjoy, incorporating them into your homeschool day is a sure fire way of reducing overwhelm, both in you and your children.

In Conclusion

Homeschooling is not meant to look like a public school day. There is a reason we decided to home educate our kids and I’m sure a part of it is to reduce the amount of overwhelm. Regardless, overwhelm can still occur, even in the most relaxed of homeschooling environments. Life itself is overwhelming at times.

When that overwhelm creeps into your day, you can incorporate these five proven ways to refresh your homeschooler. Everyone will benefit and there will be less stress and more connection between you and your children.

A slower pace of life in general is less overwhelming. We live in a world where busyness is worn like a crown. This busy pace of life for adults has begun to merge with our children in their most valuable phase of development. A phase of life that is important not to rush, but to savor.

If you are a simple soul, a homemaker, a nature lover, or just simply looking for some inspiration, then you’ll love my twice a month newsletter. Each one is created with the latest updates, tips and tricks for living simply, the best recipes, and how to’s. Wherever you are on your journey towards a simple life, the Borealis Mom community is here to cheer you on, teach you, and to give you more inspiration than you arrived with.

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