Homeschool Mom burnout

 Yes! All mom's get burnt out, overwhelmed and even sometimes YELL at their kids! Who knew?! Well if you have just jumped into homeschooling like I have, then you may have that feeling too. There are so many things that go through a new homeschooling parent's mind when you first get started, so many questions, like:

• Where do I start?
• What curriculum is best for my child?
• How am I going to juggle work and schooling my kids?
• How will my kids test at the end of the year?
• Am I supposed to keep grades?
• What are my state laws? And what if I don't meet them?
• Do I need supplements for the curriculum that we've chosen?
• Is this curriculum working for my child?
• Did I make the right choice to homeschool?

The list can go on and on and ON...These things lead to emotional and physical exhaustion.

Just slow down mama. Anyone who cares about their child's education will ask themselves questions like this. There are so many resources that can help with this. Some tips I have learned recently is to ask for help, outsource and trust the process.

I had been in a slump, like didn't know which way to go, so I started relying more and more on my husband (that's what he is there for anyway). I asked him to run some errands that I normally ran, and to take our toddler along with him while I worked with our tween on her schoolwork since it was easier to focus and spend more time with her when the toddler was out with dad. This helped so I could spend more one on one time with our tween and to answer a lot of questions more in-depth that normally doesn't get answered. I was also able to do some extra chores around the house as well. 

The outsourcing part is a bit more difficult but we make it work. We have joined a homeschool co-op that helps to teach a different unit study for 5 weeks at a time. We meet once a week and do fun educational activities that are more enriching than some of the schoolwork we do at home. Through this co-op my daughters are able to make friends, learn while having loads of fun and I am able to network and get advice from other homeschooling moms. It is so nice to have other moms to go to for support or resources when you are stumped. 

Outsource cleaning-create a chore list for the kids to help out with even if it doesn't get done the "right" way it still feels great to have things completed and checked off the list. Here is a chore chart I like to use.

As far as the process goes, well we are learning to make it work one day at a time. We are kind of on a loop schedule where we spend the needed amount of time on each subject to finish the lesson for the day. Some days we are done in 2 hours, other days it may take 2 hours to do just a math lesson.

What I am saying is even if you are new to homeschooling or even a veteran at it, there is something new to learn all the time. There is support and resources you can use to help with the stress and feeling of being overwhelmed.