How to Deal with Homeschool Burnout in a Positive Way

Homeschool burnout can easily happen to any of us who are home educating our kids. Being a teacher of any kind is really full on because it takes loads of energy. And when that teaching involves your kids, and all the emotions that might be brought along, it can be exhausting!

Now throw on the extra layer of being a working homeschool mom, and it can easily lead to homeschool burnout! I’ve been there and I’ve worked through it. So I want to share some of the ways that you can overcome or prevent homeschool burnout in a positive way.

Rest when You Need To

I hear you saying duh! But it can be easier said than done to prioritize yourself when working and homeschooling. You have to make a concerted effort to slow down when you’re feeling overwhelmed.

I think one of the biggest issues with homeschooling, especially when you start out, is that you feel like you’re under a lot of pressure to do everything. You’ve taken on the responsibility of educating your children and you might feel like you need to go go go all the time.

If you’re working and homeschooling you might need to fit in all the homeschooling activities when you would usually rest. It could easily mean working late and waking up really early – this is a recipe for burnout!

Some ways to prioritize rest are to…

• simplify your life so that you have more time for what’s important
• realize that taking a break won’t have a negative effect on your kids
• ask for help when things are getting too overwhelming.

Prevent Homeschool Burnout by Not Comparing

I know I sound like a broken record because I always talk about how comparison can really make your homeschooling experience terrible. The reason why I do so is because it really can!

Trust me when I tell you that even really experienced homeschoolers, like me and many of my podcast guests, can still struggle with comparisonitis. And this in turn can very easily lead to homeschool burnout.

You could be trying to emulate a homeschool that has a very different reality to you. They might have more space, money, time, help and experience than you do. So it’s not going to be viable to try and copy what they’re doing!

The sooner you can embrace your unique homeschool, the better it will be for you and your family. You can also…

• find like-minded people online or in your community for support,
• unfollow anyone who makes you feel bad about yourself,
• find more realistic and honest homeschoolers to follow,
• get off social media entirely (it is possible…I’ve done it)
• do some digging about people who are making you feel bad about your self because you’ll be able to find out if their life is really worth trying to copy.

Homeschool Year-Round for a More Relaxed Day

Homeschooling year-round is also a fantastic way to take off the pressure and to prevent homeschool burnout. As you’ve probably noticed, it’s one of my favourite homeschooling tips!

Just think about how much more relaxed you’re going to feel if you can fit your homeschool work into 12 months rather than 8 or 9 month. So much more relaxing!

Now it may seems counterintuitive because you’re always homeschooling. But if you make homeschooling as easy as possible and work towards making your kids independent learners, you’re going to feel the benefits or year-round homeschooling.

Another bonus of this type of schedule is that you can easily and without guilt, take breaks when you really need them. And you can even homeschool for 4 days a week rather than 5. We do this and it hasn’t impacted the amount of work we get done.

Lastly, you’ll prevent the dreaded back to homeschool blues. It’s very normal for kids to struggle to get back to a routine after an extended break. But it can be incredibly frustrating! And a waste of time too! Year-round homeschooling is the perfect antidote for this!

Make Homeschool as Easy as Possible

As I mentioned above, the pressure of homeschooling can be heavy! And you might feel like homeschooling should be like public school. Teachers have a lot of prep and administration to do. Not to mention all the extramurals that they might have to run.

I’m here to tell you that there’s no need to make homeschooling any more difficult than it is! You can make it easy for yourself, and still have kids who learn successfully

My number one tip for this is to use an online curriculum. Most of them can really do all the heavy lifting for you. We’ve used CTCMath for years and it’s awesome! Most good ones will…

• need very little prep
• adapt to the level and needs of your kiddo
• have a parent portal so you can assign tasks and check what your kids have done
• and will generate reports if you need one.

If you have the budget, you can also outsource. There are loads of fantastic websites, like OutSchool, where you can find what interests your kids. And interest-led learning means happy kids – which in turn means happy working homeschool mom!

Ask for Help when You Feel Homeschool Burnout Looming

It’s not always easy for everyone to ask for help. I definitely prefer giving help than asking for it! But I have realized the value of a strong community of women. I belong to a mastermind of working homeschool moms and have a lot of awesome women in my online communities.

There are lots of ways you can get help…

• You could ask for someone to watch your kids so you can take a break.
• A partner could get involved in homeschooling.
• Homeschool swaps can be great as you can take turns teaching.
• Or you could join a community to ask for advice and support.

Final Thoughts on Homeschool Burnout

I think at the end of the day, prevention is better than cure. Is there something you could do today to make your life a bit easier? Or is there someone you could reach out to?

I’m always here is you need help. You can follow me Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest for more working homeschool mom encouragement. And please book in a coaching call with me if you feel you need some extra support.