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5 Tips To Avoiding Homeschool Burnout | How To Avoid Homeschooling Burnout

How To Avoid Homeschooling Burnout

You probably already know that parenting is not easy! It was tough, long before the year 2020. However, this year has taught many parents how to be more adaptable, homeschool, and how to keep your kid calm when you feel like you’re going to freak out at any given second. This year has been a bust on many different levels. If you are having a difficult time with COVID and feel like you are struggling to maintain sanity at home, we have a few tips to share from our experience.

Since we won’t be entering the new year with a solution to all our problems, let’s start it off with some excellent tips for giving ourselves an adequate dose of self-care. What does self-care look like anyway? When I hear those words, I think of a person with a mint face mask, cucumbers on their eyes, hair in a towel, wearing a white house robe and being too pampered. I’ve never actually had this happen to me, but it’s where my mind goes when I think of ‘self-care’. What does self-care look like for a homeschooling parent? You may try to lock your door and hide from your kids for a few minutes. But does that help?

For some people, self-care and self-love look like: Laying on the couch, watching a movie while your kids mess up the basement. Or cleaning and organizing all the cupboards in your kitchen. For some, it’s painting the dining room so that when you walk in the room, the burst of fresh colour helps lift your spirits. For some, it’s a bath with Epsom salt and lavender. Maybe for you, it’s taking a walk or a long run. Or locking yourself in the bathroom with a box of chocolate to soothe the anxiety you’re feeling. There’re many different ways that people medicate with Self-care and love. How do you?

Top Tips

Let’s start with the symptoms. These indicators are warning signs; please pay attention to them.

· Crying randomly
· Lack of patience with daily tasks
· Overeating or no appetite
· Overreacting
· Irrational decisions

A few tips,
· Lower your expectation. You cannot be the parent, the teacher, the wife/husband and the other ten roles you need to play. It is ok to lower your expectations and underperform.
· Build a community. Create a small circle of strangers with whom you can share and be transparent outside of your family. Sometimes, it is hard to communicate with the ones you love and having this outlet will help you share the burden.
· Create a schedule and get the family to involve in all aspects of running the house. Please don’t do it all yourself.
· Get out of the house. Take a walk, go for a drive – something.
· Do ‘your’ thing. What is the one activity that you can do by yourself that makes you happy? Reading? Painting? – find something that gives you alone time and some mental break

On the newest episode of The Schoolio Podcast, we discuss how different self-care and love can look for many of us. Laughter being a huge one, have you ever thought of laughter as a way to remedy the blues? Have you ever heard of writing letters to yourself? Today we talk about both these interesting self-care ideas and so much more.

The laughter in this episode is contagious, so beware! And please, share with us your go-to self-care tips! We would love to hear them.

Listen to episode 11 of The Schoolio Podcast now on your favourite podcast streaming app, or listen on Spotify.

Let us offer you a slice of peace of mind. We know that right now, many kids are bored from the lack of routine that they’re experiencing. So, we have a brand new FREE mini unit about New Year’s for your sweet kids to do when they’re ‘bored’.

You can pick up your FREE Mini Unit here: https://schoolio.io/newyear/

P.S are you on the fence about homeschooling? Have the newest lockdowns made you frustrated that your child’s education has been interrupted yet again? Maybe you really aren’t a fan of virtual learning but you aren’t sure where to start, or how?

We have all the tools you need to start your homeschooling journey at: https://schoolio.io

Curriculum For Homeschooling Kindergarten?

Kindergarten can be a difficult grade to teach. This is when your child is learning the fundamentals of education. And, they’re often very easily distracted. This may make you feel like you just want to give up, especially when homeschooling a Kindergartener. It seems that all they want to do is scribble all over everything and yell, and run around the house. It’s so hard to get them to focus back on learning sometimes! You aren’t alone, many parents are struggling with just that. Because, let’s face it: Virtual Learning for Kindergarten – just isn’t doable nor is it good for their mental development. During a global pandemic, the best option and most obvious choice for your Kindergartener would be homeschooling. How can you homeschool your Kindergartener without causing insane amounts of stress for both you and your child?

First of all, why is Kindergarten so important for your child anyway? Why can’t you just skip Kindergarten and go right into Grade 1? Or, maybe just do some quick workbooks? Why is a Kindergarten program so important for children?

Kindergarten isn’t just about learning letters, sounds and colours. Kindergarten is also so important for your child’s emotional development and for building their self-confidence. Through a solid Kindergarten Program, your child is given the opportunity to learn and then practice very important skills that will help them with their emotions, social skills, and study habits.

When you have a good Kindergarten Program, your child will better develop their cognitive skills. And when these key characteristics are planted and cultivated in the beginning years of their educational journey, they will have a wonderful foundation for a lifelong, wholesome, learning experience which will in turn, help them with their overall well-being.

Skipping over Kindergarten and holding off until Grade 1 isn’t a great choice. Why? Because your child will inevitably be behind when they reach Grade 1.

Because, some of the main things a Kindergartener will cover will be missed if you skip Kindergarten, like: Identify letters in the alphabet, and their sounds. Learning about the different blends that letters can make. They cover letter tracing, because hand writing is something that you need to practice to get better at. They also should cover, diagraphs, sight words, language, rhyming words, nouns, verbs, writing their own stories with booklets. Kindergarten is also when they start the basics of Science and Social Studies, covering fun and basic concepts to peak your child’s interests. They should learn how to write letters, and sight words and more. Yes, some days are hard – Especially when their focus is anywhere but on learning. Even so, if you just skip over these very important lessons, your child will have a more difficult time adjusting to lessons in Grade 1.

On the same note: Just learning with workbooks isn’t going to give your child the repetition that they need to develop and build excellent skills. Like, handwriting, memorization, and beginning reading skills. Workbooks are so good, for additional practice. But it’s important to have a good Kindergarten Program to be the foundation of their learning. Workbooks never cover all the content that a Kindergartener should be covering. So, the Schoolio Kindergarten Program is vital to their success. And at http://schoolio.io we offer the best foundational programs to help your child along the way.

The most important thing to remember when it comes to your Kindergartener’s education: Is to not allow stress to enter the classroom (or kitchen).

Studies show that a child under stress has a very difficult time learning. A key component of a successful Kindergarten Program: No stress. The Schoolio Kindergarten Program can provide a no stress environment for you and your child. Our Kindergarten Program was written by a teacher, who is also a homeschool mom. She has a big heart for all homeschooling parents but especially for those that are just starting out. She wants you and your child to excel on your homeschooling journey.

With all that in mind, I can tell you that the Schoolio Kindergarten Program has many excellent components to it, that will keep you and your child in a no-stress zone. How? Well, with Schoolio, you are never left to figure it out on your own. Most Homeschool companies sell you the books, and never check in to see how you are doing. With Schoolio, we maintain our mission to make sure that no parent (or child) gets left behind. Feeling stressed? Reach out to us. We have a Schoolio team made up of new and experienced homeschool parents that are here to help you with all your concerns. We give you access to the exclusive Schoolio Community, where you can tap into our resources for your lessons, get freebies, chat with other Schoolio parents and more. You also will get a complimentary 1-hour chat with a Registered School Teacher to help you start off on the right track.

The Schoolio Kindergarten Program comes with a built-in planner. Which means that you don’t have to worry about figuring out what your child should be doing and when. Because it is all laid out plainly for you. There are 36 weeks of lessons covering 7 different subjects interchangeably. The lessons are fun, and interesting and extremely engaging for both you and your child. There’re not many Canadian Curriculum Homeschooling options out there for Kindergarten. And we take great pride in knowing that with the Schoolio Kindergarten Program you never have to worry about your Kindergartener not reaching their educational goals. We make sure to follow Canadian Curriculum Homeschooling Guidelines to ensure that your child stays on track with a wholesome Canadian education.

You don’t need to approach Kindergarten with stress, because with Schoolio, we do the groundwork, so you can just focus on what is important: Your child, and your peace of mind. Check out the Schoolio Kindergarten Program here: https://schoolio.io/kindergarten/

Learn more about the Schoolio Kindergarten Program by watching this video. (Click here) There are also tons of free Youtube videos that can help you get started. (Click here)

Do you have more questions about the Schoolio Kindergarten Program? Like how it’s different from other Kindergarten Programs? Why it is the best option for you and your Kindergartener? We answer these questions and more on the latest Schoolio Podcast.

On Episode 10, “Let’s Talk Kindergarten” of the Schoolio Podcast, we chat with Lindsey Casselman – head writer of the Kindergarten Program. She answers all our questions, and offers great advice for all our new homeschooling parents out there

Listen to it here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/76ViZ1S7q7VaDCQvVWUK2v

What’s a Learning Pod?

Whether you are a new homeschooler or an old homeschooler, “Learning Pods” seems to be a ‘new’ aspect of homeschooling for everyone. So, what is a Learning Pod?

According to study.com, Learning Pods are characterized as being, “Small group learning with an experienced teacher for a whole-child education from the safety of your home.”

Many seasoned homeschool parents are now thinking to themselves, ‘But that’s a Co-Op!’

A Learning Pod and Homeschool Co-Op have many similarities, and honestly, I was just as confused as many other families when I heard of Learning Pods. So, what’s the big difference?

According to www.thehomeschoolmom.com, “A homeschool co-op is a group of families who meet together and work cooperatively to achieve common goals.” Like Geography, Art, Crafts, Science, Music.

The main differences that I can see between a Learning Pod and a Class Homeschool Co-Op would appear to be the content being taught. In a Learning Pod, you have basically one person responsible for teaching children. Creating a little pod of learning, thus the name: Learning pods! Learning pods appear to be a new way for families to keep their children safe from the pandemic that is raging outside. Co-Op is a shared experience between many different homeschool families, where they join together to teach their kids fun classes, like art. Leaving the core subjects, like math, and language arts for the structured classes at home.

Along with that information, I’m pleased to inform you that on the newest Schoolio Podcast we interviewed Marie Pihl. Marie is a first-time homeschooling mama who is managing her own Learning pod successfully. Marie Pihl has three children, ages, 8, 7 and 5. She worked as an Event Coordinator for Children’s Aid for many years before deciding to stay home, full time with the kids. Currently, Marie works part time as the Community Development Manager at Schoolio and is homeschooling her 3 kids at the same time while also managing a Learning pod. (Where is her super hero cape?)

Today we asked her lots of questions about what Learning Pods can look like, and we even got some awesome legal information from Sathish Bala regarding how to have a safe, legal, pod. We hope that you enjoy this new Episode of The Schoolio Podcast!

Stream it now on your favourite Podcast Streaming app, or click the link to find it directly on Spotify!