How do you FIX these stress points during the most problematic parts of homeschooling?
1) Take a one day break (not on a weekend!)
- For this I mean an UNEXPECTED break. My homeschool flow has always been dependent on charts. I have a chart posted on the wall for the week for each child. We look at the day, the week, and sometimes just the box each school day. If math is the worst subject ever for us, then in order to "take a break," I would walk over to the chart WITH the child, and say, "Let's check that off for today. No math, just for today. Let's have a mini-break!" And that's it. Later that afternoon, I might pick up the math curriculum and flip back through it, and just sit with it. Think on it, look over the old pages and flip through the ones to come. See what problems and solutions pop into your head. This works for any problem subject!
2) Change your location - move from a table to a floor, from a kitchen to the patio, or from a hard surface to a soft place.
- This is actually a brain science thing! Your brain, your sense, your body REMEMBERS how it feels when you're learning something specific. So, if you change the feeling around your body, then a reset can happen. If you're in a hard surface, change to soft. If you usually sit on the couch, move to the patio. Change the light source, give them a blanket, let them sit in Daddy's chair, or best of all, your LAP. When kids have the option of feeling love in a concrete way from the warmth and softness of a lap, you'd be amazed at the types of synapses that open up.
3) Set a timer - 15 minutes - You can literally handle ANYthing if you know it's only for 15 minutes!
- I have a little warning for this one. Do not use your phone as the timer. Use the oven, a special timer, or the microwave. If you use your phone, it serves as "just another distraction" - you want it on a screen or a location that is easily seen, not scary or overbearing.
Here's a favorite one (aff link) we liked when my kids were little - or the closest one I can find from what we had.
If I had little kids to get a timer for all over again, I think I would get this cute little one (aff link): https://amzn.to/41dBWzR The lights were fun, but just a little distracting for one of our kiddos.
4) Add food or water - carrot sticks, goldfish crackers, flour tortillas.
- If you think about issues - moods, irritability, focus, general health issues are OFTEN controlled (or affected at least) by hydration, blood sugar, and other dietary issues moment by moment, or week by week! So! Add baby carrots, carrot sticks, goldfish crackers or flour tortillas. Each one of these has different perks:
Carrots contain both soluble and insoluble fiber, great for digestion, and natural sugars that give a sweet perk without a hard crash later. They're SMALL, so easy to grab one and one only. No crumbs, no stickiness.
Goldfish crackers have the fun little shape, no crumbs, no sugar, but enough salt to satisfy the thought that we may be hungry (even if we're not!) And the CRUNCH is so satisfying in both of these. There are a TON of options with those, too!
Flour tortillas: This is a GREAT option for the tactile learner. Basically, it's just a nice little teensy bit of empty calories, no sugar, easy to manipulate, and nice and soft. It can be a mask, a piece of art, or a wadded up bread ball. You can rip it into teensy pieces, or just roll and unroll it again and again... it's an edible fidget!
FINALLY Water: Duh. We need hydration. Drinking cold water, warm water, even some sweet tea can add a nice level of calm to the day... But what I mean now, to add water, is to actually put the child IN some water! Taking a warm bath while listening to a read aloud, or to stand in a sprinkler while calling out math facts, or to call out which president you're talking about while hopping in puddles, sitting in a kiddie pool, etc. I used to let my kids sit on the kitchen counter top and just put their bare feet in the kitchen sink. One side was warmer than the other. Sit on the side of the bath tub and splash and stomp, it's GREAT time to add fun to ANY lesson of ANY sort - except maybe handwriting. ;-)