| School Year Blues by Crystal Miller I can’t tell you how many years I have had the “school year blues” about now. It has been a long winter and we have been diligent with the school books and there is a bit of burn out for us all wafting through the air. Spring is just around the corner with promises of warmer weather and time spent outdoors doing enjoyed activities, yet the school lessons can just keep marching on causing us to feel a little low. I don’t have the cure all for this, but I can perhaps share how I deal with these feelings. One thing to do is take a break once in awhile. Go and take a field trip somewhere. Anywhere is fine, a museum, the zoo, a factory for a tour, a park day, etc.. Just stop and put the books away for a day and do something fun. It seems when we take breaks like this it helps to refresh our outlook and keep moving forward to the finish line. Know your last day of school. I am one of those homeschool mom’s that insist my children finish their books; at least the math and English curriculum for the year. I think this is important. There are valuable lessons that will be built upon in the next school year. So as the year comes close to being completed, my children and I will check the calendars and lessons left to finish and calculate a “last day of school”. It is so much easier to keep going if you see the finish line. My father use to run and would occasionally run marathons. I remember a lesson from those years about marathon running. When the marathon begins we have lots of enthusiasm. We are fresh and excited. As we get to the middle point we are losing some of that enthusiasm and we can’t see the finish line and we can begin to need some real encouragement to go on because it can get a little tough. As we get closer to the end and we can actually “see” the finish line it boosts the spirits and he! lps give renewed enthusiasm to keep going forward. This analogy applies equally for homeschooling. One of the other things I found helpful this time of year is to do some schooling as a group (either all of my children or with other children). I don’t do unit studies as a method of homeschooling but I do like to engage my children in a common study so they can have the opportunity to work together and this does help as a change of pace for them. In January for instance we started doing country studies. My oldest girls are picking a country each month to study, then writing a report which they give orally and then making a meal or a few recipes from this country. So far they have really enjoyed this and it has been a nice change of pace as well as a great learning opportunity for them. The last thing to keep in your thoughts often is this Scripture verse, Galatians 6:9 “and let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” Let us run the race set before us and not grow weary! The finish line is just around the corner. |
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