Beat the Burnout: 15 Ways to Stave Off Homeschool Burnout

Homeschool burnout happens to most homeschool families. But how can you set up your homeschool life to (hopefully!) avoid burnout?

You’re cruising along in your homeschool year, and then, bam. You’re hiding in your room, eating chips & chocolate.

Maybe the high point of your year was day 1, and it’s only gotten worse.

Dragging their feet when it comes to school work, kids fighting, & you can’t remember the last time you had 10 minutes without hearing a question. Mt. Paperwork is growing, the last time you had a good conversation with your spouse was days ago, and it’s been even longer since you exchanged more than a quick text with another adult.

Homeschool burnout is real. But what if we can avoid it?

Recognize it.

Look into the “eyes” of burnout.

There’s power in the simple acknowledgment that…

• Homeschool burnout is a real thing.
• Experiencing it doesn’t mean you aren’t cut out for the homeschool life.
• And that it’s best for everyone if you can avoid getting to that point of being burned out.

Plan time to catch up.

In our home, every other Friday is a catch-up day. Falling behind happens because life happens. By building in a little breathing room & time to catch up, I’m far less stressed. (And when Mama is more relaxed, everyone else is, too.)

Some weeks, Friday afternoon rolls around, and our lessons are marked off. We may go ahead and work on next week’s lessons. Or we may take it off. Either way, this time was built into our school year because I planned to be behind.

Stay flexible.

Take a hammer to ice. And then to a cup of water. What happens? The ice shatters. Water will splash, some going outside the cup, but it’ll (mostly) look the same after it settles.

We are no different. Routines & plans are great. Until something comes up. When a project takes longer than we expect, or we forget a supply for science, or they can’t remember any of their addition facts (despite knowing them yesterday), it’s understandable that we’ll feel frustrated.

But cracking down and not adapting to what is (as opposed to what we planned) doesn’t serve anyone’s needs.

Remember your why.

Why did you begin homeschooling? And why are you still homeschooling?

When we lose focus, homeschooling begins to feel like one more thing on our never-ending list of things we need to do. But I guarantee you aren’t homeschooling just to add more stuff to your day!

Add some fun.

Several years back, we were in severe homeschool burnout. All of us. Our assignments were marked off day after day. But we dreaded each day.

I wanted them to have a good education. There was only one of me & three kiddos who needed me. Our days were filled with workbooks, a scattered (and stressed) mom, and absolutely no enjoyment.

With my eyes on a solid education, though, I was hesitant. Fun & educational felt like opposites. But I knew we couldn’t keep on the way we were going either.

I set out to reclaim the joy of homeschooling, even when the days were mundane.

1. We’ve added seasonal topics to our days (that are more than just pumpkins, snow & seeds).
2. Writing prompts & Don’t Forget to Write changed our attitudes about writing.
3. Brain Food: Daily Tidbits for Curious Homeschoolers is something we’ve added this year.
4. Games like Prime Climb & Trekking Through History are fun additions and don’t replace math or history.

Take school outside.

Or wherever leaves you feeling refreshed. Experiencing different locations & experiences can lead to increased levels of relaxation, attention, and happiness. {Here’s one study about it.}

A change in approach may produce similar effects.

1. If your kiddo usually watches a video on a computer, watching on a tablet is different.
2. Rather than lugging a stack of books to the coffee shop, reading on a Kindle is a different experience.
3. Maybe they work on just 1-2 subjects (but for a longer time) rather than the same 3-5 subjects they’d usually cover during the time you’re away.
4. Flip up your own habits during the school day.

Turn on the TV.

Don’t turn your homeschool into couch potato school. But turning on the TV, plopping on the couch & watching a show together can be an easy way to switch things up. Or turn it on for the kiddos while you do your own thing, whether it’s working on dinner or reading a book.

Choose something that connects to a current topic or choose something interesting but entirely unconnected to anything you’re doing.

“This means that every day after lunch we are going to sit at our desks and read silently to ourselves any book we choose in the library.”

“Even mysteries?” someone asked.
“Even mysteries,” said Mrs. Whaley.

Ramona Quimby, Age 8

D.E.A.R. Ramona

Mrs. Whaley was on to something — sometimes we just need to read and read whatever we want without worrying about vocabulary, comprehension questions, or its educational value.

Sometimes I’ll yell out, “DEAR time! Drop everything & read for 20 minutes.” Mom included. Our DEAR times have been spent reading “twaddle”, travel brochures, instructions for game boards, baby board books, a book from the last library trip, magazines — you name it, we’ve read it.

Removing the expectation of reading because it’s on some reading list or it’s the next book in our science curriculum is a reminder to read for the joy of reading.

Make regular time for you.

Yes, the dreaded ‘self-care’ reminder. I hated hearing it earlier in my parenting journey. Between nursing, deployments & filling 17,321 sippy cups a day, the thought of self-care became just one more dreaded thing on my to-do list.

In the last few years, though, I’ve been putting in more effort. My kiddos are older, and that certainly makes it easier. But you know what else helps? I’m doing things that actually serve me well, not Pinterest’s ideas of ‘103 Best Self-Care Ideas to do TONIGHT’. <major roll of the eyes>

I took a painting class. No, I’m not an artist. Yes, I cried tears of frustration during nearly every class. But I also had fun. I enjoyed meeting new people. And doing something new was fun for me.

Square dancing. Yes, the dreaded PE activity. There’s a group that meets near me, so I went on a lark. And I had a blast! Nearly everyone is 25+ years older than me. No, it’s not really much physical exercise. But I smile, I laugh, and I interact with people that I’d otherwise never meet. And that does my soul well.

The point isn’t to do some self-care routine that blogs promise will be the best thing ever. Learning something new & interacting with different people refreshes me. Complex skin care routines feels lonely & repetitive to me. Fill your own tank.

Try something new.

Whoever coined the term “variety is the spice of life” was right. Adding variety to our homeschool days can be an antidote to the monotony that contributes to homeschool burnout.

You don’t have to change your entire curriculum.

1. Pause math for a week (every Friday, once a month, etc.) and play quality math apps, like DragonBox apps, instead.
2. Do a short unit study. December & January are a great time to try out a winter-themed unit study.
3. Rather than (or in addition to) pen-and-paper writing, incorporate digital writing prompts.

Plan breaks throughout the year.

Our catch-up afternoons are often repurposed as breaks. But I also have to be intentional about adding in breaks during the fall & spring. An occasional mid-week day off. Long weekends.

Even now, in homeschool year #15, I still forget the power of time off.

Intentionally planning them & having that anticipation is important for me. For my kiddos? They like to be surprised. (That’s harder with older kids & outsourced classes.)

Plan some field trips.

Closing up the books & getting out of the house is ideal. But even if you can’t do that, a virtual field trip from home can break up the day & add some fun to your homeschool.

If you can’t plan one soon, look ahead to the rest of the school year, mark off a few possible dates, and jot down a few ideas of places you might visit.

➥ Check out these US history virtual field trip ideas.

Be intentional about sleep.

I hate hearing this. I HATE IT. But there’s a reason why it’s oft-repeated advice. While adults generally need 7-9 hours of (quality!) sleep each night, women in our age groups aren’t known for getting that many hours of sleep (quality or otherwise). Babies, parenting stress, caring for aging parents — the list goes on & on.

But it’s not just the lack of energy, irritated feelings, & slowed thinking the next day that is the problem. Chronic poor sleep makes us more likely to have poor mental health, cardiovascular disease, mess with our hormones (as if perimenopause isn’t enough!), and more.

This sets us up for burnout on homeschooling — and quickly!

What could Dad or a grandparent teach on a Saturday morning? 

This isn’t just a way to take something off your plate. And it’s not just a way to move something from the weekdays to a weekend, so you have more breathing room on those days. (Though it does both of those!)

When you bring others into your homeschool…

1. It nurtures bonds between your kiddos & other adults.
2. They learn perspectives & skills that you may not have.
3. Each of us has different ways of instructing & communicating. When young ones have opportunities to learn from others, they are expanding their skills in learning how to learn from others. (An underrated skill once they get to the workforce, higher education, etc.)
4. Watching our kiddos build relationships with others just makes my mama heart happy.