In New England, the winters are long. Although the month of March hints of warmer days to come, it is also a time of rampant “cabin fever.” Homeschooling can be tough on the days when it’s too cold to go out and all the rainy-day crafts and indoor activities have been exhausted.
I spoke with a few veteran homeschool moms about how they survived the “March Blahs” to help get us younger moms through the end-of-winter blues.
When the blahs hit in your home, what do you grab first?
Mom A: I immediately grab a cup of coffee and try to recharge myself. Sometimes the kids have the energy; I just need a jumpstart to keep up.
Mom B: I switch up with a new themed study, something we all get excited about.
How can you tell your kids have hit their winter limit?
Mom A: When the kids started acting weird. Also, they seemed to fight me on assignments that usually weren’t a big deal on normal days.
Have you used any preventative measures to stop “the blahs” before they start? If so, what did you do?
Mom A: We try to sign up for a winter athletic class of some sort. Some years it was indoor diving, indoor soccer, swim or dance lessons. Adding a bit of new fitness excitement helped lighten the mood and got us moving.
Mom B: We have found supplementing with Vitamin D makes a BIG difference . . . especially for Mama!! No joke!!!
Mom C: We intentionally added variety to our schedule to keep things interesting. Activities such as choir, sign language, library courses, mini-dramas, interpreting for the deaf community. The key seemed to be not entirely focusing on homeschooling.
If you take a winter break, how long is it and what does it look like?
Mom B: We have always homeschooled with a flexible schedule and that goes for the entire year, not just winter-time. It is not unusual for me to get up in the morning, contact a few home school friends and say “let’s meet at the sledding hill” and then spend the day with them. I might also declare a “movie afternoon” with popcorn or some other treat (nowadays with Netflix there are great educational videos!). This is a favorite of mine because it gives me time to rest and/or catch-up when I’m feeling overwhelmed. We also had opportunities to get away for a few days here and there. Again, usually with other home school friends.
Anything else you want to share?
Mom B: I think the kids often suffered from boredom when we felt cooped up. On days that we were home all day, I tried to have a schedule that included longer breaks but actually extended the school day so that they would not have long periods of time with “nothing to do.” Involving them in meal prep also helped, as did early bath time with extra play time in the tub. I did my fair share of sledding and going for walks in the snow as well. My thought was always, “If I can just keep them occupied until Daddy gets home, all will be well!”
Mom C: If you work hard without complaining on a daily/regular basis we can be flexible to do fun things with friends when the opportunities arise. Of course, the opposite holds true as well. There were times when we all missed out because this was not happening, or that the “offending person” missed out either by having to stay home or (more often) by having to go, but not participate. (This is hard on both the child and mom). It was not uncommon for my oldest son to have to sit out completely or until all his work was done well. I was strict about this rule, and they knew there was no mercy.
Lindsay Banton is a caffeinated mother to three great kids. She never expected to homeschool, but has found that it is a wonderful addition to their lifestyle and wouldn’t change it for the world. In addition to homeschooling, Lindsay works alongside her husband in campus ministry at a large university in Connecticut. She grew up in Virginia but has settled into life in New England, learning to love the long winters, cool springs, green summers and gorgeous autumns- and has built a boot collection to meet all the demands. She is currently blogging at www.oaksreplanted.blogspot.com.