Re Post: Walking through Burnout!

I originally posted this four years ago.  I had 7 children under 16 and I thought I would drown soon.  I still have a lot going on, but no longer feel burned out. (maybe worn out, but that is a different story. :-)   I am re-posting in case it is helpful again.   

About this time last year, I looked at my husband and told him I could not keep home educating.  I just did not have it in me.  Between our oldest son with multiple issues, all the kids, and my very busy little ones I could not go on.  He thought I was joking.  I convinced him that I meant it.  I started looking at the Baptist school down the street, and I am not even Baptist.  Something had to change.

I watched this video by Susan Wise Bauer. She starts talking about burnout at about the 9:30 minute mark.  It helped me to define my feelings, and realize I needed a plan to get through it to the other side.  I like home educating, but I needed a break.  These are some of the actions steps I took.

• For me I started by taking the whole summer off.  I had never done that.  We had schooled all year with breaks in-between.  I had not taken a large chunk of time off.  It helped tremendously. 
•  I realized I was not going to finish the whole curriculum, took a deep breath and cut my losses.  I did finish math, but that was all.  I dumped some things in my recycling bin and did not look back.  (Well, until the papers blew out of the recycle bin in a storm and landed on the deck posts and stuck there.  I did get over that.)
• I choose a complete curriculum with lesson plans for the next year, and just followed that.  I would try to be more eclectic in the past and pull in all sorts of resources, but I did not have that in me.  I just followed the plan.
• I was distressed with the state of my life and house and started doing a project a day.  My friend Kerry and I would write each other daily and share our projects.  It kept me going and as my house became neater my attitude changed.  My kids helped me with the projects.  We really had fun.  I felt like I was getting my life back. 
• I shared with some other friends how I felt, and I was shocked that they felt the same.  One friend said she was so burned out she was crispy.  I loved that.  Just sharing with others made me feel better. It is so easy to think that everyone else is doing great and you are the only one.
• I enjoyed just playing with my kids.  I played hours of badminton, sat in the back yard with them, took a few field trips, and just did not worry about school.   I remembered what it was like to just be with them. 

Next week. . . I will tell you what I did not do.

Update on Life

I wanted to provide an update on our lives.  Many of you remember how our middle son was diagnosed with cancer in August of  2017.  He was in remission and had been doing well. 

He went in for a routine scan last Thursday(3/21).  They found a tumor on my son's spine that had grown since his last scan in December 2018.  As you can imagine it was like a sucker punch. Within 24 hours he had a PICC line in and the next day started chemo again.  We are a little shell shocked, but moving forward.  If you would like to keep up with our family you can on Caring Bridge.  

I am still planning on completing assessments.  I enjoy what I do and it is a big help to our family.  You are welcome to send in your assessment at any time.   Please click here for more information.  

I appreciate your continued support of our family.  

Sincerely,

Becky Boerner

All Things Green $25 Amazon Give-Away!

Spring is on the way!  I am starting to see green buds.  In honor of green I am having a contest.  

I am going to be giving away  TWO Amazon gift cards to celebrate all things green.  Maybe you can use it for a new book, some music, or a movie you have been wanting to see.  Celebrate Spring!  

I am also running a bonus contest again. I am trying to build my book blog, Becky's Bookshelves.   I am running a contest there for another $25 Amazon Card and you are welcome to enter.  So many chances to win!

Good Luck!
Rules: The contest is open to anyone I can send an Amazon online gift card to. Please know I VERIFY all winning entries. If you need help please email me.  

How to become a Public Follower.

To become a follower, look under: "I would love it if you would follow my blog publicly, Please click on "Follow" below."  After clicking on that button follow the steps. You may use a Google Account, Twitter Account or Yahoo Account to follow. Click on one and follow the steps. In order for your entry to count you must follow publicly.

If you are on a mobile phone. . go to the end of this post and click on the words "View web version" (It is under a HOME button)   It will take you to a page where if you look in the top right corner you will see the FOLLOW button.  Click on that and Follow Publicly. 

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Homeschool Planet (repost)

When two of my friends who quite honestly are vastly different told me that they used Homeschool Planet I thought that was interesting.  I should have stopped right at the moment and realized that this was something I needed to take notice of.  Instead, I foolishly delayed looking into it.

But luckily, I am no longer foolish.  This spring I took the plunge and did a free trial of Homschool Planet.   Within 3 days I purchased a year subscription which they added on to my 30 day trial.  It changed my life. Truly!

The Homeschool Planet is an online planning, calendar, and scheduler.  It is a way for you to post the lessons that your students need to complete AND more importantly at my house, know whether people have actually completed them!

I love this!  I pull up my view and say things like. . . Why is math not completed?  I am confused as to why you have not done that for two days?  Hmm, it looks like you will be doing math on Saturday.   I also say things like, WOW!  You completed all your work today. Look at how close we are to the end!  I am so proud of you!

The other part that has been powerful for my students is that it has the feature of moving all the assignments forward.  My students began to understand that not doing something adds it on to the end of the year.  It was a good visual reminder.

You can also add music practice, track grades, put your vacations in, send your students an email with their assignments, and much more.

So this would be a great time to try a free trial.