I think that recent events definitely qualify as “stressful.” We’ve had a lot of changes to handle, in fact, some of you may be tuning in for the very first time as you find yourself a brand-new, sudden homeschooler. So, this week, we are going to chat about three tips to help you homeschool during this and other stressful seasons without losing your mind.

Hi, I’m Paige Hudson and welcome to season 6 of the Tips for Homeschool Science Show where we are breaking down one of the lofty ideals of teaching science into three building blocks you can use in your homeschool. In this episode, I'll share three tips for homeschooling during a stressful season.

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Episode 89 Transcript

These days are packed with changes and loads of stressful situations. There are cancellations, isolations, and so much more to deal with. And before I share three tips to help you homeschool during a stressful season, let me qualify that by saying this first.

You don’t have to do school right now.

It’s okay to take a week or more off if that is what your family needs right now. None of us homeschoolers have ever experienced what it’s like to deal with a pandemic. So if watching tv, swinging in a hammock, or just sitting around having those big conversations is all you can handle right now, that is perfectly understandable!

But I know that there are some of you out there that need something in your life to be routine and normal. I know this because that’s what our family has needed. We haven’t been through days like this before, but in the past year or so we have dealt with a hurricane barreling down on us and an unexpected accident that led to the death of one of our family members. Like you, we are no stranger to stressful situations.

If normalcy and routine are what you crave, here are three things that we have found that help us continue to homeschool during a stressful season.

3 Tips for homeschooling during a stressful season without losing your mind

Tip #1 – Read a lot.

First, we up our reading-aloud time. This may mean that we read more in our morning time novel. Or it may mean that we’ll team read books off the shelf that the kids have chosen.

But either way, books are a great way to escape to a new location, a place that you can leave behind the worries of the day. Plus, you can sneak in a lot of learning through books!

Here are a few places to look for books:

• The Read-Aloud Revival Booklist 
• Our Sassafras Science Adventures Series 
• A List of Let’s-Read-And-Find-Out Books for Science 

And if your library has closed temporarily or if you have read through every book on your shelf, you can listen to audiobooks instead. You can find free audiobooks through LibroVox or you can see if your library has access to the Libby App for their patrons.

When you are homeschooling during a stressful season, reading to your kiddos a lot will help you continue on without losing your mind.

Tip #2 – Laugh a lot.

The second thing we try to do is laugh a lot! Laughing changes the mood of the room and it releases the tension of a moment.

So we’ll read silly jokes or poems and try to make up our own. We’ll cook together and laugh at when it doesn’t go as planned. We laugh at the ridiculous of what life is right now and we’ll watch funny movies, instead of the dystopian thrillers!

Last week, I tried to have drop and dance flash mobs where we run into someone in the house’s room and just start playing music and dancing, which resulted in everyone laughing . . . at me. But that’s okay because I try not to take myself to seriously during these times.

When you are homeschooling during a stressful season, laughing a lot with your kiddos a lot will help you continue on without losing your mind.

Tip #3 – Make a lot of good memories.

Finally, we try to make loads of good memories. Most of our children will remember this season. It is poised to become a defining event for a generation. And I want my kids to have a lot of good memories mixed in with those bad ones.

When it comes to homeschool, we’ve added lots of flexibility to our assignments. For example, when our son wanted to change his writing assignment to a different topic, I let him. When he wanted to do a math page I had planned on skipping, he did that one instead that day. And we skipped chanting prepositions this week.

But we’ve also added a few other ways to make some of those good memories:

• We’ve dropped our typical schedule to fit in FaceTime’s with friends, even during our normal school hours.
• We’ve done extra science projects. (Here are 80+ free science activities if you need a few ideas.)
• We’ve played games together almost every night.

The ideas are endless and as unique as your kiddos.

But when you are homeschooling during a stressful season, making a lot of memories with your kiddos a lot will help you continue on without losing your mind.

Wrapping it up

So if you find yourself craving normalcy and you want to continue homeschooling during this stressful season, I recommend you read a lot, laugh a lot, and make a lot of good memories. Doing so and adding in a whole lot of grace for the moment, will allow you to continue on without losing your mind.

Thanks for listening and I hope you have a great week playing with science! If you have any questions or want to share some ideas you have used to homeschool during a stressful season without losing your mind, please feel free to leave a comment below.