We have been homeschooling for five years now and this year has by far been the most difficult. We have had our fair share of interruptions to our school year.
- a dozen major upgrades and renovations (including: heat pump, hot water tank, bathroom floor and toilet, basement window, furnace)
- the death of my grandma
- the death of my husband’s grandpa
- our child with autism hit a rough spot and has been highly non-functional and disruptive for most this year
- extended illness
All of that was just in the first two terms of this year.
How do you take a bad year and turn it all around and come out on top? Why not try some of these simple ways to turn your year around?
- Take a deep breath.
- Get dirty. Get outside and plant a garden.
- Take a walk in your neighborhood, explore nature and put together your own nature journal.
- Take to the kitchen and bake the day away.
- Pull out the building kits and create, create, create.
- Grab the art supplies and let your little (or big) artists loose.
- Take a trip to the library and borrow some classic books or movies and get all snuggled up and cozy.
How do you change up things in your home (and school) when things aren’t going as they normally should?
When Honey is not homeschooling her kids or tending to Sunflower Schoolhouse she can be found playing in the garden, baking in the kitchen, or creating with the art supplies.
Photo Credit: Sigurd Decroos
No related posts.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
I can relate. After almost 7 years of homeschooling, this has been our most up-and-down year! Here we are with only 38 days left in our year and I’m still making changes to make things go smoother. Some years are like this I’m told. A break off for summer…and a new year will be begin.
I think your list is fantastic! We all need to have the wisdom to know when to step back and do things differently and somehow find a new “normal.”
Sarah at SmallWorld´s last [type] ..18
We just have a PJ day. But I really like some of these ideas. I love the take the kitchen on and get to baking. Love it.
We also sometimes just stop school work if we are just having a rough patch and we go to the local McD’s for playtime and ice cream. This helps me not want to hide in the bathroom when we are having one of those “days”. LOL!
Chrissy´s last [type] ..Homestead Blessings DVD A Gift For Someone
This is our fifth year of home schooling too and we have been having a pretty rough year. Really, it’s just been an unmotivated year (we start our year in January, so really it’s only been a couple of months). No one is excited about cracking the books, so we’ve been working in the garden, taking day trips, cooking, making things, writing stories. It’s important to take a break from the routine.
We just had a C.O.W. Creativity Output Week.
I encouraged the kids to find and work on creative projects all week. They’ve worked on puppet shows, made up board games, done art projects, music projects, sewing projects, photography projects, movie making projects and writing projects.
They’ve even discovered some new hobbies! Who knew they loved computer programming and cross-stich?!
Watching them busy themselves with such creative enthusiasm has even inspired me to put aside the pile of corrections and take time to do some of those creative projects I never seem to find time for too.
We opt for writing! Out come the journals and pens and out flow the short stories, poems, and journaling prayers! We also get out with the dogs and hike some of the beautiful trails nearby. Always helps to get away into God’s good earth.
Janet from Creative Writing´s last [type] ..Apr 16- Creative Writing Activities- Teaching with Hands-On Strategies