Homeschool 3rd Quarter Slump

Personally, I have found that the 3rd quarter can be the hardest time of year for a homeschool Mom. At least, in the past, it has been for me. True to form, this year was no different! As we entered the 3rd quarter I could feel my spirit slip into the all too familiar 3rd quarter slump. I hate to say it, but most days I just didn’t want to do school. I just wasn’t excited about doing school anymore. On top of that, I didn’t even want to take time to prep for our upcoming week of school.

Can anyone else relate? 

In previous school years, I would start to feel overwhelmed and discouraged that I had slipped into this 3rd quarter slump. My bad attitude, combined with feelings of guilt and shame, because I am not the perfect homeschool Mom begin to make the problem worse. My negative feelings cause me to fall deeper and deeper into my slump. However, I didn’t want that to happen again this year.

All that being said, I would like to share with you the few things that God used to reignite my passion for homeschooling and pull me out of my 3rd quarter slump. Below, are 5 tips which really helped me this year and I hope they will help you too.

5 Ways to Break Free From Your 3rd Quarter Slump

1. Pray. 

First and foremost, I began to pray for my attitude about homeschool. I asked God to give me a new zeal and passion for homeschool. I'm not going to lie, it took a little bit of time. However, as I was faithful to pray, God helped me to take my eyes off of my feelings and replace them with a renewed excitement for our homeschool. I am so thankful to God for answering my prayers!! 

2. Remember. 

One of the ways, God answered my prayers was to remind me about why I started homeschooling in the first place. He used other people in my life who asked questions about homeschooling, which allowed me to remember that it was God who called me to be a homeschool Mom. I was also reminded that even on the hardest days, I wouldn’t trade this for anything! To read more about "Our Homeschool Testimony" click here. 

3. Ch-ch-changes.

Another great idea, to help get you out of your 3rd quarter slump is to make some changes. Sometimes I can be just like a robot on autopilot, doing the same thing day in and day out. I have found that it helps to make changes on a regular basis, so that homeschool doesn't become monotonous and boring.  There are lots of things you can change like trying a new routine or finding different books for your morning basket. You can also try fun projects each week to keep your homeschool lively and excited. It's safe to say, the kids are probably feeling the slump too and will welcome these new changes.

4. Research new curriculum. 

During my 3rd quarter slump, I decided to focus on researching homeschool curriculum for our next school year. I am a homeschool curriculum junkie! I can’t get enough of it. It wasn't long before my love of curriculums had me excited about homeschooling again. I spent time online reading about different curriculums. Additionally, I watched lots of YouTube videos about a variety of curriculums that I was thinking about using next school year. Currently, we live in Hong Kong, so I cannot attend any kind of homeschool conference. I am so thankful to homeschool Moms for posting videos on YouTube of the curriculums that they use. I really appreciate seeing what the curriculum is really like, because it has helped me make wise choices for our homeschool.

5. Plan for next year. 

Finally, as a result of my curriculum research I began to make plans for our next school year. Our 2019-20 homeschool year is just around the corner! That begin said, I want to make sure that I have prepared as much in advance to ensure that we have a wonderful school year. Looking forward to a new year has really helped give me the extra motivation that I need to finish our current homeschool year. I’m so thankful to God for answering my prayers and bringing me out of my 3rd quarter slump.

I would love to know, what are some ways that you get yourself out of your 3rd quarter slump? Please leave me your ideas in the comments.

Starting a New Chapter

Back in the spring of 2018, I stepped down from being a leader and receptionist at Weight Watchers after working for them for 7 years!! Stepping down was two fold, because I was pregnant with twins and by 30 weeks my midwife put me on modified bed rest. This meant I couldn’t be up on my feet for long periods of time. As a result, I wouldn't be able to effectively complete my duties as a leader and/or receptionist when needed. Additionally, we had plans to move to Hong Kong shortly after the babies were born. With our international move upon the horizon, I was certain that I could no longer work for Weight Watchers. 

Honestly, Weight Watchers has been apart of my life for so long, it was hard to imagine NOT begin there to help people on their own weight loss journeys. Without completely realizing it, when I stepped down from Weight Watchers I started to feel like I couldn’t help people the way I used to when I was apart of Weight Watchers.

My healthy lifestyle knowledge and roots are so deeply embedded in Weight Watchers that it was hard to imagine my life separate from Weight Watchers. On top of that, one of my greatest fears about moving to Hong Kong has been that I would gain all my weight back from emotional eating and stress over such a big life change.

In the weeks and months leading up to our big move, I began to pray and pour my heart before the Lord. I asked Him to help me continue to make healthy choices, even when life was overwhelming and I just wanted to eat everything in sight.

As a result, since we moved to Hong Kong I have been reading a lot of books to expand my knowledge about healthy eating. Each of the books listed below are so good!! I have been reminded that I can't conquer my weight loss struggles without the Lord by my side. I have also learned that I need to limit my sugar intake and other processed foods. I won't share too much about this now. However, if you're interested I can share more about what I'm learning in future blog posts.

Here is a list the books I’ve read so far. If you have other healthy eating book recommendations, please let me know in the comments below.

"Trim Healthy Mama Plan: The Easy-Does-It Approach to Vibrant Health and a Slim Waistline" 

by, Serene Allison and Pearl Barrett

"Body Love: Live in Balance, Weigh What You Want, and Free Yourself from Food Drama Forever" by, Kelly LeVeque 

"Full: Food, Jesus, and the Battle for Satisfaction"
by, Asheritah Ciuciu 

"Made to Crave: Satisfying Your Deepest Desire with God, Not Food"
by, Lysa TerKeurst

Finally, today, God used several people in my life to begin to show me that even though I don’t work for Weight Watchers I can still encourage and support others on your own weight loss journeys. This has always been a passion of mine and I can’t wait to see how God continues to use me to help other people reach their weight loss goals.

It’s safe to say, I’m very excited about this new chapter of my healthy eating journey. I can’t wait to share it with all of you!!

Hope For A Mommysaurus

In the past few weeks, I’ve been in a hard place. I have been irritable, ungrateful, impatient, grumpy, angry, resentful, and more. If I had to use one word to describe myself the past few weeks, it you be Mommysaurus. There have been slivers of joy and happiness, but they have been few and far between. To make matters worse, I haven’t been making time to pray and read my Bible!

This is truly a recipe for disaster.

I don’t know about you, but I have 5 kids, two of whom are 9 month old babies. I live in a foreign country. I homeschool my children and I’m a pilot’s wife. Even just one of these things would be enough to overwhelm any normal human being. All that being said, I NEED to spend time with God everyday. Not out of obligation, but necessity.

That’s right. I require more to sustain me than just the Instagram Bible verse of the day.

Every time I get mad or lose my cool, I ask Jon and the girls to pray for me and that God can help me get out of this funk. Today, when I was feeling down, God used my “Breaking Free: The Journey The Stories” by Beth Moore Bible study to bring me some wonderful encouragement.

One of the passages of scriptures I studied was Psalm 63:1-8.

“O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; 

my soul thirsts for you; 

my flesh faints for you, 

as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. 

So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, 

beholding your power and glory. 

Because your steadfast love is better than life, 

my lips will praise you. 

So I will bless you as long as I live; 

in your name I will lift up my hands. 

My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, 

and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, 

when I remember you upon my bed, 

and meditate on you in the watches of the night;

 for you have been my help, 

and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy. 

My soul clings to you; 

your right hand upholds me.” 

- Psalms‬ ‭63:1-8‬ ‭ESV‬‬ 

Throughout these verses, the Lord showed me that my soul is hungry for the Him. I believe that only time with God will quench my spiritual thirst. As I spend time in the presence of the Lord, I will be changed. My soul will be satisfied. It says so, right here in God’s word!!

Why am I telling you this?

We all have hard things going on in our life. So, if you're feeling a bit like you’ve wandered off into the wilderness and can’t remember your way out. I want you to know, you’re not alone. God is with you. He’s waiting for you to come to Him (just as you are) and confess your great need for Him. Only through our confession and repentance that can we be brought back into a right relationship with God again.

I pray that this encourages you.