Whilst many homeschoolers thrive upon routine, schedules, rhythm, or assignment sheets (or none of these things at all!), burnout when homeschooling for many years on end can be fatiguing at the best and ending of the homeschool journey at the worst.

Sometimes what we need a big shakeup, but in a good way!  I have 6 ways I like to shake things up in my homeschooling when burnout threatens.

1. Plan for and allow for margins.  So, in planning one could consider careful planning of number of weeks of school a year, number of days of school in a week, and vacation planning!  Plan less weeks, less days, and less material per week than you might think!  Many homeschoolers are far too ambitious as to what they think they will accomplish in a school year or even in a particular day.  You can’t do ALL the things.  If your child blows through all projects and drawings, you  can also plan a swing day each week that involves an independently focused area – practical arts, geography fun, cooking, gardening, handwork, arts projects or field trip days.
2. As your children get older and responsibilities and outside of the home activities grow, consider planning the first of the month as a mental health day off and the last day of the month as a picnic/hiking/nature exploration day.  It is a great reminder as to what is important!
3. Delegate and let go.  I personally love having a clean and picked up house.  It’s my jam. I won’t sacrifice sleep to do it, but I do work in small chunks every day to make sure things are happening. If this isn’t you, let it go!  Delegate chores, pick up the meal and bring it in if you cannot spend the time preparing everything from scratch anymore, get help.  Let it go.  Homeschooling IS a full time job. Sith multiple children it is beyond a full time job, and it serves no one to have you be a cranky and worried mess all day long because you are trying to do all the things!
4. Put the big focus on the big things and put it first in the day. If your big passion in homeschooling is for family connection, then spend longer all together at the beginning of the day.  If your big passion is everyone being healthy, spend time at the beginning of the day with healthy cooking or coping strategies. If your big passion is your small farm, use your time there.  Then fill in either the  weakest (ie, the child who hates math, that’s next!) or the next  biggest parts of school, and understand there are only a certain number of hours in the day.
5. Cultivate a community for yourself. Homeschooling older children that are 5th grade above can be especially lonely or isolating. It gets even lonelier at the high school level!  Plan a coffee date out once a week or walk with a friend.  It doesn’t have to be expensive or long to be enjoyable and rejuvenating.
6. Self-care first. You cannot take care of a whole family plus animals (did I mention we just got a new puppy?  Pictures are over @theparentingpassageway on IG if you want to see!)  Exercise, quiet time for all WITHOUT screens is so helpful in re-setting and getting back on track.

Lots of love y’all!

Carrie

The junior year of high school in the American school systen is often said to be THE busiest year for families on all levels.  There are a lot of things that go on during the junior year  for teens getting ready for college, and this can often be compounded for the homeschooling parent who must play teacher, parent, and guidance counselor during the junior year of high school.  Having a good plan in mind is an essential part of preparing for homeschooling high school in the junior year if you have a child who is college-bound.  Things to consider include creation of transcripts (hopefully you have been doing this since freshman year!), testing, choosing a college and scholarship money.

For the creation of transcipts, my favorite resource is “Setting the Records Straight: How to Craft Homeschool Transcripts and Course Descriptions for College Admissions and Scholarships.”  I have read a lot of the work of Lee Binz, author of this book, and I find her straight-forward approach to high school refreshing and honest.  In our family, we have already decided to create transcripts based upon subject, not by year, since this approach aligns better with the Waldorf approach of block teaching and teen-led interests.  For example, our oldest has accummulated quite a few credits in music at this point, based upon hours of work, so we needed a transcript type that will highlight that kind of dedication.

In order to create the rest of a homeschooling portfolio, you need to keep track of hours (120-180 hours equals one credit; usually the lab sciences are what gives one those upper hours of 180 and English courses and such usually clock in at 120 hours); projects and reading lists; completion of a textbook if using a textbook or outline for a particular subject, and a system for grading.  Course descriptions, extra-curricular activities, leadership activites and awards, and reading lists of books outside of assigned school books round out the porfolio.

Testing is another big consideration.  The public schools around me have teens start taking the PSAT and SAT very early and take it many times.  The only PSAT score that counts for the National Merit Scholarship is the one taken in October of junior year so that is something to consider.  The SAT can be taken many times, but I feel if one makes study preparation and quick essay writing a part of homeschooling in the sophomore and junior years, then you shouldn’t have to take it more than twice.  It could be taken in spring of junior year and later towards the end of that school year if it needs to be done twice.  Some students do better on the ACT, and some colleges require one or the other, so it is good to know what the colleges your student is interested in requires.  If your student doesn’t know where they will apply, like mine, then you can take both just to have it done.

Lastly, hunting for colleges can be difficult. Many students these days are visiting and applying to 12 colleges or more and dividing this into “reach”, “fit”, and “safety” schools.  I feel strongly that because applying to colleges cost money and time, it is better to visit more schools and tease out any possible scholarship money in order to pare down the list and not apply to more than 4 colleges. My husband and I were talking about how back in the 80s when we graduated, students generally applied to only two to four schools.  It has changed since then, but I still feel doing the legwork first rather than after applying makes the most sense in terms of time and money.

Scholarships are harder to determine at times.  Many are financially-based; some are not.  There are apps available to help you find out what scholarship money might be available to your student based upon their interests, specific questions regarding background of the student and the family, or more.  I have heard of some students getting scholarships due to athletics or music, but these seem to be far less prevalent than most parents believe are out there.

I would love to hear your experiences and stories about going through the college application process while homeschooling!

Blessings and love,
Carrie