Homeschooling parents hold a great responsibility and are often deeply dedicated and hard working, therefore every once in a while, they are bound to run into some homeschool burnout. Besides the everyday challenges of homeschooling, often exceptional circumstances come up such as a new baby, an illness or added responsibilities. Such life changes can cause a lot of stress and directly contribute to homeschool burnout.

The symptoms of homeschool burnout vary from losing patience, to overeating, to suffering breakdowns for no clear reason. But fortunately everything has a bright side, even homeschool burnout. It’s all about perspective. You should view homeschool burnout as a wake-up call, indicating to you that changes must be made right away. One thing that can help you cope with homeschool burnout is knowing that this is not a permanent state. It can be temporary if you simply slow down for a while, analyse the current situation and come up with solutions to help create a more feasible schedule for all family members involved.

Homeschooling parents are naturally ambitious and strive to set high standards of achievement. This is great, but success is not a smooth path. It has ups and down and when you come to the bumpy part of the road you have to reduce your pace in order not to fall off course. The same applies to homeschooling. When you feel homeschool burnout approaching, slow down and lower your expectations to avoid completely steering off course.

 

Flexibility is key in overcoming homeschool burnout. When you see that a certain schedule is no longer doable or a particular method of teaching is not working, then look for alternative ways to accomplish your goals. Flexibility also means being able to throw in a few extra breaks or some relaxation time even if they weren’t originally scheduled. Remember that sometimes short term loss can bring long term gain. Long term vision is an important trait for any successful homeschooling parent.

Sometimes homeschool burnout comes when parents try to pack too many activities in to the week for the sake of socializing their kids. But it’s important to remember that wearing yourself out with too many activities will often reflect on your children and leaves them worn out and grouchy as well. No one benefits from over scheduling. Think in terms of balance. Have your child pick their favourite two or three activities and stick to those. More is not always better. Remind your child that doing well in their favourite activities is more important than having many activities going on all at once.

 

Lastly, when you sense tension rising and homeschool burnout approaching ask your support network for help. See if your spouse can take over some of the tasks or maybe the kids can pitch in a little more. You can also seek help from your network of homeschooling parents. You may consider hiring a tutor to do some of the teaching to ease the load for yourself. The important thing to remember is not to let homeschool burnout steer you off course. Slow down, look for solutions and implement the changes required to to beat homeschool burnout.