How to Revive Your Homeschool in a Winter Slump
Facing a winter slump in your homeschool? Guest writer Leah has some creative ideas that will help get you through it and conquer those mid-winter blues.
Winter is most definitely my least favorite season. In my part of the country, it’s wet and cold, not with snow, which at least would be pretty, but with rain, lots of rain. It’s easy for me to become down and discouraged, to find myself in a slump. Dealing with homeschool burnout is an issue that we all face from time to time.
Winter can also be a time when we face a homeschool slump. Being stuck inside in bad weather, facing constant winter illnesses, struggling with a curriculum that isn’t working- all of these things can cause moms and kids to face a homeschool slump. So, what’s a homeschool mom to do to breathe some new life and energy into her homeschool? Here are four things you can do to revive your homeschool if you find yourself in a winter slump.
How to Revive Your Homeschool in a Winter Slump
Try a unit study
Take a break from your regular curricula and do a unit study. Choose a topic the kids are interested in or a book that you’re reading aloud and use that as a theme, then plan learning activities around this theme. If you’ve never created a unit study and want some help, you can get a free step-by-step unit study planner here. You can also purchase a pre-made unit study. I love to use unit studies from UnitStudy.com. They’re easy to use and some are short, meaning you can take a short break from your regular curricula to use it. Unit studies are great because you can involve multiple ages of kids, so the whole family can do a unit study together. Sometimes learning around a fun theme or a great book can give your homeschooling a much needed boost.
Find a great read aloud book
Don’t underestimate the learning that takes place when you are reading and discussing a great book with your kids. A well-written book expands vocabulary and helps kids to recognize good sentence structure which will, in turn, help them to become better writers. Narrating and discussing what you’ve read increases comprehension and encourages critical thinking. Taking time to read a good book aloud is a great way change up things and bring new life to your homeschool.
Get outside when you can…even if it’s only for a short time
I know that it’s often the case that we get stuck inside during the winter weather, but I’ve found that getting outside- even for a short time- as often as possible is a good thing. Take a quick walk around the block if you live in a neighborhood. Encourage the kids to play a short game of tag. Plan a nature scavenger hunt by listing nature items the kids can find around your house in the winter and then giving kids a time limit to find as many as possible. Even a short time outside will give you a chance to breathe some fresh air and hopefully enjoy a little bit of sunshine.
Read more: Winter Nature Study
Change up your curriculum
Use this idea with caution! I have sometimes fallen into the trap of trying to change up our curricula every time we were tired of it. The result is frustrated kids and lots of wasted money. But there are times when you legitimately need to consider whether or not you need a curriculum change. And sometimes a homeschool slump comes about because your curriculum just isn’t working. If you’ve tried some of the other ideas here and things just aren’t improving, take a look at your curriculum. Is it a good fit? Are you and the kids continually frustrated with it? It may be time for a change.
You don’t have to stay stuck in your slump. Try some of these ideas to breathe some new life into your homeschool.
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