Right now some of my homeschooling friends are trying to finish their books. They tell me that their kids have not finished everything, so they can’t take a break. I don’t say anything to them. I just tell them Godspeed, but inside I am baffled. By the time May arrives my homeschooling year is in the record books. I can’t go on. We push through to the middle of May, and then I call it quits for the summer. Because I can. And so can you.
I could go on about why your kids should get a break in the summer. Maybe it doesn’t need to be 3 months, but they need something. They need some unstructured time to explore and just be kids. Honestly, I need the break more than they do.
I take nearly 3 months off. It is a glorious 3 months. Then when we start back up in the heat of August, I am ready to go. I am excited about the upcoming school year. The new books and supplies. I am organized and ready. Well, as organized as I ever am, anyway.
You should really think about doing this. It is good for you. You need some time to just be a parent. Burn out is a real thing, and I think this is a good way to fight it.
But they haven’t finished their math!
Who said they had to? Who told you that every lesson in every book must be accomplished within that one school year? No one told me that. It is an unspoken feeling that we all have because we are just sure that the public school is finishing all their textbooks. Some books we finish and some we just finish the following year.
But then we will be behind!
Behind who? The public school? The neighbor kids? Who is it that you are comparing your children and your school to? There is a reason why the first 40 lessons in your math book are basically review. Kids need to warm up again. What they missed at the end of the year can easily be picked up again in September.
Any maybe you are doing too much.
Take the summer to reevaluate your homeschoool. What wasn’t getting done? Why were you having trouble getting to it? If there was anything we didn’t get to in our school was history. I struggled with history so much. I only enjoy history when I read it as historical fiction or watch historically accurate movies. It is my preference. So I re-evaluated what we were doing. Instead of a literature curriculum, I got a textbook and told them to do it. It was like Alka-Seltzer. Oh, what a relief it was!
What do your extra-curricular activities look like? Are you out of the house every day for a few hours at a time? That may be causing some problems. Yes, we want well-rounded children that have lots of social time, but you also need to get other things done. For example, Nathan was swimming in the mornings from 8-10:30. By the time we got home and he had been fed and settled, we weren’t starting school work until lunch time. Then by 4 pm, he felt that he should be finished. It was very hard for him to realize that he might have to do his school work at night time! Heaven forbid. So, I pulled him out of the homeschool class, and had him swim at night instead. Our school days improved immensely. Those homeschool classes sure are nice, but too many of them can start interfering with your day.
Maybe you are just doing too many activities. The plain fact is that it is easier to get extra curricular activities in public school. Your child can be in band, play a sport and still manage to get stuff done. Why? Because it is all in one place. They don’t have to go anywhere. Band is a class that takes them 1 minute to walk to. Homeschool band in my area is 30 minutes away by car. That is a full hour out of our day just for travel. If you are having trouble getting everything in, you may have to specialize. I know one public school mom who has all her kids in swimming. They don’t get to choose another sport because she refuses to drive all over creation. With swimming, they are all in one place at the same time. Even competitions are in the same place. I think this mentality is a good one. You are going to have to choose eventually. You have to prioritize. When they are younger you can be more flexible, but eventually that will change. When that happens. Let your kids decide what they want to do. Make them pick. Very few can do it all.
One more thing.
Protect your school hours. Figure out what time of the day you get your best school work done and protect those hours. Don’t make dentist appointments. Don’t do your grocery shopping. Don’t get on the computer. (I failed at this one miserably.) Obligate yourself during those times to your children. This is your mission, and it sounds to me like you have chosen to accept it. It can be as short as three or four hours devoted only to school work, but make it for school work. You can get more done in a solid, undisturbed 4 hours than you can in 7 hours spread throughout the day. It sounds oppressive, but it gives you more time in the end.
Now, take a summer break. Do not feel guilty about that break. Your spirit needs the rest. Your children need the rest. Enjoy the lake. Enjoy the comic books. Enjoy Netflix. School will be waiting for you when you are rested, and it will be so much better.
Realistically Speaking 