Cartoon taken from The Official Book of Homeschooling Cartoons, Volume 1 by Todd Wilson.
Have you ever noticed that in long races when the runner is within sight of the finish line they sprint as fast as they can to the finish. The same doesn’t seem to be true in homeschooling. It seems like the closer we get to June, aka the finish line, the more it feels like we are running through molasses.
Here a a few tips to avoid end of the year burn-out.
Homeschool Year Round.
Well I am sort of kidding, but homeschooling year round has a slow and steady feel to it. For those who like consistency this can be a good option. Joy from Five J’s has a great post on scheduling a year round homeschool program.
Switch to a 4 Day a Week Schedule.
For many of us, the weather is amazing and it is hard to think about sitting inside doing school all day when we could be outside enjoying spring! Plan for one day a week to be a nature day and spend that time outside, taking walks (PE), exploring (Science), and playing games (Character building).
Schedule Field Trips.
Break up your routine by scheduling field trips during the month of May. With warmer weather you don’t have to get the kids all bundled up to go anywhere, so it is the perfect time for an outing.
Read a Good Homeschool Book.
You know those books that remind us why we started homeschooling in the first place? Pull one off the shelf and read a few chapters to help encourage and motivate you to finish strong. My favorites are; Dumbing Us Down
Attend a Homeschool Convention.
There is something about being surrounded by thousands of other homeschoolers that motivates me. I love meeting other moms, talking about curriculum, and finding out that there are people just like me in the world! Plus doesn’t next year’s curriculum always look better than the curriculum we are currently using? 
Finish with a Mini Unit Study.
I know for my family, around the end of April my children start to finish some of their subjects. I have one child who only has two subjects on his schedule each day. For him, that is too much free time. May is a great month to use a mini unit study. Your children will stay busy and learn about something they caught their interest during the school year.
Break Up the Routine.
Take your books to the park, schedule a “reading day”, or dress up funny and pretend to be a substitute teacher, just do something a little different than your normal routine.
Whatever you do to make it through May, know that the finish line is just around the corner. And pretty soon you will be enjoying the warm days of summer!
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for the great tips. I’ve been a homeschooler for 10 years and we still struggle with burnout in the spring. One thing I’ve done to help is switch to a more child directed learning. I let my son(12) choose the order of his school and more outside projects. We have “horitcultural” days where we work on the garden, science lessons while hiking, and economics when I’m trying to stretch our grocery budget. I find getting the rest done is a little less wearisome when I allow more flexibility.
Oh this couldn’t come at a better time. Thanks for the great tips!
Man did I need to read this now. We school year round, but take mid-Jun and all of July off. I’m getting so antsy for this year to end. We didn’t take a spring break because we are going on a 12 day Mediterranean cruise in 15 days! I can’t WAIT for a break. After we get back we’ll only have 3 weeks of school left. Hurrah!
Thank you! We are just hanging on by a thread some days during the end of April & May. This is refreshing. One thing we do is get water balloons (either write on them or just ask the question). They have to say the answer, spell the word, do the math problem 3 times before they throw the balloon. Many times, it doesn’t pop the 1st time. Then they have to say the info. again before throwing it. This is the only time we do water balloons, that way, they really want to do it.
This is my first year homeschooling, and my son pretty much got the entire month of April off. We finished our curriculum early, and I’m just buying time to send in my paperwork to the county. We’ll be starting a new curriculum next week. Hopefully a month is enough of a break!
Great post! I was so burned out with spring time allergies and schooling that we ended up taking the whole month of April off. A first for us. I may be regretting it come June when we have to catch up, but I feel like we are ready to tackle school full force for the rest of the year when we start up again next week. I love the cartoon – too true!
This is the first year in our 6.5 yrs of homeschooling that we haven’t been dragging ourselves across the finish line. A few of the things we did: 1) We actually did switch to a year-round schedule 2) We terminated our Home Education Program (HEP) with our school district (an option under FL state law) and enrolled in a private school for unschoolers (another option under FL state law) 3)We found more suitable (even if more expensive) curriculum that the kids enjoy.
As a result, at the beginning of March I had to order “next year’s” curriculum. In mid-March to late March we began “next year’s” curriculum.
We break things up with vacations, outtings, field trips, visitors (my dad or my in-laws), and life. I have never felt better about homeschooling than I do this year!
Thanks for this post. This is our 4th year of school and I deal with this every year. I don’t think that it helps that our schedule coincides with our public school sched – mid August to late May, a matter of convenience so DS can spend time with his public school friends. I was thinking about going to a year round schedule. If it helps with the year end burn out, I will probably end up going that way.
On thing I’m doing now til the end of May is having work a bit more independently, so the load is not so much on me. He’s almost 12 and I’ve been trying to get him to shoulder more of the responsibility. He seems to enjoy it. The curriculum we use is pretty teacher intensive but the subjects he has left he can do a lot on his own.
Thanks for the ideas. This is our 13th year. My oldest graduates this year and we’re trying to finish up the other kids by the time the graduation ceremony rolls around and our vacation right after that. We don’t really school year round, but last year my youngest son did have to keep going with some special things and this year my oldest son will be doing Spanish, research paper writing and math review. It’s funny how that does help a bit with burn out. Must be a mind thing.
Hi there! I am very excited to begin what I hope will be our first year of homeschooling this fall. (We have a 4-year-old, a 1-year-old, and a baby on the way. I have worked outside of the home full-time for basically their entire lives, and I hope to change that.)
I wanted to say that it had never occurred to me that homeschoolers used the traditional school-year calendar. I always thought that most homeschoolers would do year-round school with breaks in-between, depending upon their family’s needs (seasonal employment, travel, other interruptions). I can see, though, how families could face burnout at the end of any term. Great post, everyone! Thank you!
I love this. What a great batch of tips!
We’re definitely a little burned out here. Since my girls are in grade one and kindergarten, I’m allowing for the burnout. We are focusing on the three R’s and letting the extras fall by the wayside – requiring less of myself at this point is what is working for us.
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