Crisis homeschooling

Thursday, March 14, 2013


Homeschooling in a crisis is something that we really don't tend talk about very often.  No one wants to plan for a crisis & even the definition of a 'crisis' varies so much  from person to person & family to family .  For some, Mum in bed for a week is a major crisis whilst others have life & death situations to deal with as a normal part of their day.  Here at Sunnyside, we don't have a set definition of what we would refer to as a 'crisis situation', but we do have a plan of the basic steps we would take (but, the thing is with my personality it wouldn't be until afterwards that I would consider myself having been in a crisis, so that's where I need my friends & family to tell me that maybe I should relax the homeschooling for just a little while ~ I need you :)).

Our kitten loves to cross it's paws ~ I'm not sure if it's rebellion or it's personal space is being intruded ;)
When you find life get's too much to handle, you need to consider yourself in 'crisis mode':

  ~ Stop all extra activities.  These include sports, dance, homeschooling groups, facebook, pinterest & even (gasp) blogging ( yes, your followers will still be there if they really love your writing). These are the non-essentials of life & often cause extra pressure on an already busy mother!

If you find there is still too much stress in your life:




 ~Choose to homeschool lite (I know, I know, I'm the last person who should be writing this ~ I can honestly say I've never done this it's either all or nothing with me).  Maths & English are the most important subjects for the primary years, so focus on those.  If you still can't handle all of that work, choose just one subject to continue with.  Maybe just some educational computer programs such as reading eggs are achieveable.  I have a friend who is a mother of 8 & during her last pregnancy she was so unwell that her children did most of their schooling on their ipad.  It worked & they were still educated & she could rest assured in the knowledge that they were still getting educated whilst she was unable to teach.
 Find a balance until you can resume normal life again.  Remember that in the worst case scenario the situation may never change, but your coping methods to deal with it will & you will be able to get back to your normal homeschooling workload eventually.

If this is still too much:

~ Take a break!!! STOP !!!  Believe it or not, your child isn't going to be too far behind even if you take an extended break from formal home schooling.  If you can provide your child with good books they will continue to learn whilst you deal with the crisis situation. If you can't do even that, it's amazing what a child will learn just from the world around them & if nothing else they are learning a wise way of dealing with a stressful situation.  Eventually a new normal will result & their formal education will be able to be resumed.  

Above all:
DON'T FEEL GUILTY!  
No one chooses a crisis situation & it can't be helped. Our mother~guilt loves to rear it's ugly head when we consider easing our home schooling workload even if it's just for a day.  Whatever you do dear Mama, don't listen to it!  You are such an important part of the child's education & if you continue to push yourself too much ( which we often do (read very, very guilty here)) you will end up ill which will mean even more time off for your precious students.  Give yourself time & space to deal with the situation that has come upon you.  Don't try & be a 'supermum' & end up running yourself down.



 No matter what the crisis remember to take it to the Lord.  He will always be there to ease your burden & to carry you through those more difficult times.  

God bless you

Blog Widget by LinkWithin