3 Simple Homeschool Planning Strategies To Prevent Burnout

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The total amount of homeschoolers has doubled in the last 20 years. This means that twice as many parents recognize this approach to learning as effective, and more importantly, they have found what works for their children and were able to create an effective environment for homeschooling.

However, does this mean that homeschooling is easy? No. Parents assume double responsibility and act as a teacher and mom/dad at the same time. Double responsibility means a double load, therefore, it is necessary to think about the internal mental and emotional cost in advance. This applies to both parents and children, so in this article, we have put together three simple homeschool planning strategies to prevent burnout and loss of motivation.

Plan for a Week and Do Weekly Updates

We burn out when we outstretch our physical and emotional resources. In other words, this happens when we bite off more than we can chew. This approach deprives us of the flexibility and the opportunity to relax because following a far-reaching plan becomes the only thing we can focus on.

Yes, getting started homeschooling, you definitely need a one-year study plan. However, this should be a general outline, which will simply indicate the topics for each subject that you must learn. An annual plan does not imply a plan for each day during the year. Therefore, it’s good to have a plan for the week. The plan for the week is more visual and more flexible. It is much easier to make changes to the five-day plan than to the 180-day plan (the generally accepted number of school days at the state level). And of course, it’s much easier to track the success of the weekly plan and adjust the next week when you have done something better or worse than planned.

In simple words, bite off a small piece of responsibility to prevent burnout. That’s what Amanda Holmes, one of the authors from the Online Writers Rating writing service reviews platform says about homeschooling and her current work:

“I”m a homeschooled child. My parents taught me how to make competent study schedules, and now I use homeschooling tips in my work. I am a freelancer and therefore free from a strict schedule. But I never execute more than two orders at the same time, otherwise quality and productivity suffer. ”

Use Benchmarks Instead of Deadlines or Strict Schedule

As we said, you need an annual plan in the form of milestones, but you do not have to bother planning each day in advance. Allow yourself to move smoothly, but remain flexible. For example, it may happen that your child quickly learned one of the topics, but you had to fight with another theme for several days. This means that you have already dropped out of the plan. In order to prevent burnout in this case, track your progress as a percentage.

• For example, if in the middle of the year you look at your annual plan and see that you have completed exactly half (50%) of the necessary topics, so your pace and direction are perfectly correct.
• If you see that you are behind schedule, (for example, you completed 35%), this means you need to change something, prioritize differently, look for other strategies to explain complex things to your child in simple words.
• If you see that you are ahead of the plan, then here you can act in different ways. Some parents are against the pace of running a marathon, but for some children, this may be a normal speed for learning. Use your free time to enrich your child with knowledge and let him do what he really likes.

Find a Way Yo Use Breaks and Holidays for Your Benefit

One of the main advantages of homeschooling is that you can live a flexible life without being tied to a strict time frame. We recommend using this feature to the maximum. Since you draw up your work schedule yourself, consider the time of day when your children are especially active and when their brain is best at remembering and processing information. Sitting at a desk from 9 am to 3 pm, as in public schools, cannot fit the biorhythms of all children, without exception. Find moments of peak activity and build your schedule around them. For example, this is a good strategy to devote this time to the most difficult subject. Further, be sure to let the children rest in moments when the peak of activity passes. And let yourself rest at this time too. The ability to stop on time is the best remedy for sudden burnout. And by the way, since you are not tied to public holidays, you can well shift your vacation weeks one way or the other – and relax more efficiently, booking tickets cheaper or enjoying shopping without a crowd of other people.

Avoid Homeschooling Burnout

This is a very responsible decision to educate your child at home. And at the same time, this is almost the best that you can give him. Remember that the education of our children and the responsibilities of homeschooling does require increased responsibility. If you feel that you are burning out, remember what the flight attendants say before the flight. “First put the oxygen mask on yourself, then on your child.” Take time for yourself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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April 17, 2020