I feel like every year with homeschool brings its own highs and lows. I’m always trying to find a way to keep things interesting and fresh. Not just for my child, but also myself. While it’s nice to have a rhythm and a system to do things, it can get monotonous too. So what do you do when homeschool gets boring?
I realized this was a problem this week, when i was told, “Can we skip school today? It’s so boring.” My response, “Okay, lets skip school today!” The look of shock your having right now is the same one I received. So I know what your thinking, “You really let him skip school.” Yes I did and no, I didn’t.
What I realized is that what he was asking for was not to skip learning, but rather to skip our routine. So instead of cracking open a book and doing the standard English lessons, we went to the park instead. We birdwatched and excercised by playing on the swings.
When we got home I explained that I needed to make homemade chorizo and I needed his help. I would get all the ingredients together but I needed him to put the recipe together. This was done with great enthusiasm on his part.
When we were done, I told him I would clean up the whole mess we made, but I needed him to write down the recipe in our “special cookbook” so we wouldn’t lose the recipe. What’s amazing to me about this was that not only was this done with joy, but his handwriting, which is normally awful, was completely clean and legible. All of this was done without any pleading or arguing for neatness on my part.
So at the end of the day we accomplished the following skills:
Practical living & home ec
Writing
Copywork
Fractions & Math
Science and Birdwatching
PE
No tears!
We ended our day on a happy note. My child received the needed respite from the bookwork that wasn’t interesting. So what’s the point? Well, I suppose it’s finding balance in your own homeschool. I believe there is a place in the educational process for both standard education, unschooling and directed learning as well as self directed learning. I don’t think its an all or nothing process.
So when homeschool gets boring, change it up. Reinvent your home, the process, the location or just get out of the house. It may be the fix to your sanity and your children’s happiness.