It seems to be a well-known phenomenon among homeschool moms that the “January blues” settle in shortly after the holidays. Feelings of not being as far along as we wanted to be can become overwhelming, and the “shorter” days and yucky weather seem to add to the stress.
Just knowing that I’m not the only one who experiences the January blues has helped me persevere through almost twelve years of homeschooling. I’d like to share some ideas with you that have helped me re-focus and re-fresh my outlook.
Here are 5 tips that help me gain a fresh perspective and face the month with a better attitude:
- Pare down to the basics: math, language arts, and science, and use read-aloud time to do a “living” history book for the month.
- Incorporate a few field trips. If it’s too cold outside, go to a museum, visit a nursing home to play BINGO and visit, arrange a tour of the post office, fire station, or grocery store. Just get out!
- Get together with friends for a game day or to watch a movie.
- Sort and organize books, records, papers, etc., and purge what you aren’t using or what hasn’t worked for you. Sell or donate curriculum that you’re ready to move on from.
- Read some encouragement from other homeschool moms:
- When the Day Falls Apart by Kelli Crowe
- Today is a New Day from Simple Homeschool
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