The Hard Days

As a new homeschooler it can be easy to get frustrated or to feel like you aren’t doing something right when the days are hard. Sometimes it does mean that you need to change something in your school day, maybe the schedule, maybe the curriculum, maybe the order of events. However, often it simply means it was a hard day. Almost everyone gets them, and the few who have said they don’t mention that they did and now they just know how to mitigate them when they start.  I knew what I do when the hard days come but I wanted to be able to share wisdom from lots of different moms that have walked this road.  We want to help you build a library of ideas to turn to when the hard days come and we want you to know that you are not alone on this journey. It can be hard but it is worth it! So I asked the homeschooling moms over in the Schoolin’ Swag Facebook group what they did when they had hard days.

The two most popular answers are probably not surprising to anyone: prayer and chocolate.  Those are probably my first go-to choices as well. In addition, here are some other ways to help the hard days.

• Switch it up and do a day of educational movies (Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, and Discovery Education are common choices for finding those)
• Go outside for awhile and get some energy out or do some nature study. We even enjoy taking the books outside and doing school outside on nice days.
• Remember, that is isn’t hard just because you homeschool. Everyone has hard days.
• Stay Flexible and adapt as needed.
• For some folks, its not flexibility but the schedule that helps. Knowing that no matter what else is going on in life at a certain time they are doing school.
• When things seem to be going downhill take a break and enjoy some songs and movement to change the mood and re-energize.
• Take a break and take some time to talk about what is going on, maybe even over a glass of hot cocoa or some other favorite treat.
• Go on a field trip. Take the day or afternoon and go to the park or a local museum.
• Take the day off, use the flexibility to have a day completely off to regroup and try again.
• Coffee, we can’t forget coffee which is almost as popular as the prayer and chocolate option 🙂

The last common reason I want to discuss is “The Why”.  We all chose to homeschool for different reasons, for some it was bullying in the public schools, for some it was religious conviction, for some it was a educational goals and still others have a variety of personal reasons. No matter what your reason, when the days are hard remembering that “Why” can help us to push through and do what needs to be done.  I have found that having a spouse or a friend (or both) that you can turn to on those hard days that will remind you of your “Why” can be very beneficial. I am personally blessed with both a spouse and friends that will remind me on the hard days and show me that it is worth it.

I hope that you have a great year and remember these ideas when the hard days come. I also invite you to join our Facebook group, Schoolin’ Swag, where we share free and cheap homeschool ideas as well as provide a tribe of support.  Share with us in the comments what you do on the hard days.

If you are looking for a lesson planner, contract, or other resources to help you on this journey, check out our free Resource Library.

When you sign up for our free resource library you will get a link and password to the library, we are adding to the library each month with new items. You will also get a bi-weekly newsletter email to keep you up to date on what we have going on.

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Harry The Happy Mouse (Free on Kindle)

Illustrated Would You Rather Book (Free on Kindle)

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Free Help Your Child’s Memory Book from All About Learning Press!