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.