I didn’t like the first answer at all. What if every Public School teacher who ever woke up feeling like not going to work were to quit? The schools would close down tomorrow.

Other wise, like others have said, change how you do things a little. You could stick to a schedule for basic skill subjects like reading and math, and just do the other subjects in fun interesting ways and not worry about covering everything.

Considering the amount of time in public school *I* spent watching nonacademic movies, or filling in the blank worksheets, or cleaning the classroom (teacher-speak for I don’t know how I’m making it to May), I would say it’s pretty typical for any adult to reach a period in which they need a break. Homeschool mom’s are no different than any other person, and you don’t have to be supermom.

I’d look at the schedule you’re maintaining as well as the curriculum you’re using. One of the reasons we did year round was so that we COULD take weeks off, rather than working for nine months and then not do anything for three months. That’s just not normal and it’s not what kids will face when they get out of school.

I’d also look at your stress levels and possible depression. Do you have a good support group? Does your family criticize your choices to homeschool? Are you trying to do too much (either housework, schoolwork, parenting) What can you let go besides school? Are your kids helping around the house?

I definitely have days where things are harder than I want them to be, and I recognize it for what it is, my brain’s way of saying “STOP! You’re trying to do too much, be too perfect!” and relax. Spend a day at the lake with the kids, or pretty much anything to change our schedule. PJ party, go to the movies, have dessert for breakfast. Anything to make it fun. Then the next morning move on…don’t let yourself get into a slump. Have you read about unschooling?

Do you need to change up how you do things? It could be any number of things.

Do your kids enjoy and learn from the curriculum you’ve chosen? Even the best curricula, if it doesn’t fit your kids and your teaching style, can be next to useless. It’s ok to break things up a bit and have fun with school. Maybe talk with some other homeschooling moms in your area, see what they do to get out of a rut?

I’ve found it helpful to talk with my son, to see if there is something he really wants to learn about or a course he really wants to take. This year, it’s Old Testament feasts and Greek – go figure 🙂 He dove right into the Greek and is doing it on his own, it’s keeping him happy; the feasts, we’re doing in co op, so he’s looking forward to that. I’ve found that when I do this, he’s a lot more likely to do the rest of his work without complaint or dragging because he gets a say in it as well.

It may be that you’re just suffering from burnout; moms in your homeschool group are probably the best cure for that. You may also try to see if you can get the kids involved in a co op setting, it can take some of the pressure off of you.

Or it could be that you’re suffering from something like depression – if so, it probably is better to find the best school setting for the kids, even if just for a semester or school year, and take care of you. If something like this is draining you, you’ll have nothing left to give to your kids, and both their education and your family will end up suffering for it.

Anyway, I hope this helps? Sorry I couldn’t give more specific advice, but I covered the bases I could think of 🙂 Hope things look up soon!

I hope I’m not too late to add my 2 cents worth.

I have days that I do not feel like teaching. My brother is a teacher in the public school and he has days he does not feel like teaching. The trouble with home school is that we do not have enough substitute teachers, sick days, and motivational speakers to entertain the kids. We don’t have a planning session scheduled into our school day. We don’t have a teacher’s lounge where we can go to rant and tell horror stories of the class we had last period. Our day does not end when the bus pulls out at 2:30 and takes the little darlings back to their homes. We can’t blame the parents because we are the parents.

After saying all this, I love home schooling. I wouldn’t trade it for the world and I know you feel the same way.

Relax, take a deep breath. It will be over way too soon. Enjoy the trip.

Yes, there have been days, and even weeks, when I’ve not felt like jumping into the routine. There are three possibilities for you to consider:

1. You and your children are bored. In this case, a change of scenery is called for, and perhaps a change of academic diet.

2. You’re burned out from trying to do too much. Slow down and take it easy. Educating you children is a fun experience, and it doesn’t require you to be “on” all the time. review your goals and see if they aren’t set too high.

3. You’re depressed. If your feelings of not wanting to do anything extend beyond just your homeschooling, this is a distinct possibility. Since depression can be caused by chemical imbalance in the brain or by outside influences, it would be a good idea to see your doctor.

A change of activity — get away from the kitchen table and go on a field trip — may help for any of the three things. Go to the spa or gym and work out. Take the kids to the park and play for a few hours. Go see a good play at the community theatre or a good movie to get the neurochemicals flowing again.

It may also be helpful for you to review your expectations of homeschool and your part in it. If you are expecting too much of yourself, it is easy to slip into a “it doesn’t matter anymore” funk.

Absolutely, just the same as there are people who do not feel like going to work all the time.

These are times where it is important to do the most important items on your list, and take a tomorrow is another day, or even next week is another week approach.

Often this will come about when the children are not at all motivated to do much, they will drag things out from getting up, doing their chores to that day’s learning.

The trick is to find the root cause, for us this has been that we have been spread to thin, they have been involved in to many outside activities, so many that it started interfering with regular family time, dinner time, and just plain down time.

This was a time where we needed to reevaluate, and rethink what we should be doing.

This year we are cutting back to one or two activities that they each are very much interested in doing, and all other activities will be “family only”.

Hopefully it will keep the “we do not feel like it” days to a minimum.

Absolutely! These kinds of days are great for “light” work, and craft, or outside activities. When your not gung ho, it just means your human. Try planning an activity that gets the kids and you out of the house, and out of your regular routine. Sometimes home schooling can be monotonous, but keeping things new, and changing is great for those times. Try a field trip to a firehouse or museum, which puts the teaching on someone else for the day, and then the next day reports on what was learned and why they enjoyed it lightens your load again. The great thing about home schooling is you can take a week off here or there if you and your kids work hard, and plan ahead. Sometimes a lil’ break does wonders for everyone. Don’t be hard on yourself, just remember that they are depending on you for their education, and none of us want to fail our kids there.

Heavens yes. I don’t think there’s a hs mom who hasn’t. At least if they’ve been doing it for more then a year. LOL

When I get like this I’ve done different things. Sometimes we just plain take time off, sometimes we start watching videos about other countries instead.

Other times we’ll head out of the house for a couple days – do parks, hiking, nature studies, etc.

It can be tough. This year we’ve taken the summer off. I just couldn’t do it. We’ll start again in a couple weeks but I’ve sure enjoyed the time off. 🙂

Absolutely! With summer heat it is all the more tempting to slack off. (Child whiney voce: “But ma, my friends don’t have homework!”)

Use the summer break to your advantage. Hit the parks and do some nature exploring. Find some wonderful library programs. Go to the beach or pool. Find some other ways to promote learning. Who wants to write spelling words ten times when life is going on outside. So, you can have the kids verbally practice their spelling words while you are driving to the museum.

Shake things up, make it fun, but keep teaching in other ways!

My kids are grown now, but yes there certainly were! My son took science courses at the University when he was 14, and started college full-time at age 15, so it was a challenge- a happy challenge, but a challenge none the less- keeping him occupied.