Burn Out in Homeschool City

Trouble.
Trouble.
Trouble, oh we got trouble,
Right here in Homeschool City!
With a capital “T”
That rhymes with “B”
And that stands for…Burn Out!

Now, you might not have gotten the whole “Music Man” comparison, but the truth is, Homeschooling and Burn Out go hand in hand…or at least they do now. I’m not sure it was always that way. It used to be that early home school pioneers were guided by the passion and purpose that home is the best place to learn and that parents are smart enough to know what’s best for their children.

But as the ‘movement’ gathered momentum and acceptance, those ‘guidings’ got pushed to the back burner…and maybe right off the stove!

Other criteria took their place, namely academics, curriculum, and achieving. Moms lined up to hear education experts and began their search for the perfect home school curriculum and were an easy target for any “Professor Harold Hill” and his sweet talking ways.

“Oh, yes, with this curriculum your child will increase his reading comprehension by 357%.”

“With our program, your child’s brain mass will increase and…”

“The key to success is early mastery of Greek and Latin…”

“Our curriculum uses only the Bible to teach your child all that he needs to know…”

“Our books are 100% organic…”

“With just 7 hours a day, your child will…”

“We’ve created 1500 easy-to-use Unit Studies…all spelled out for you…

“Music opens your child’s heart to learning…”

“These 150 Living Books will transform your child’s life…”

“With whole-grain cooking…”

Oh, yes, we got trouble,
Right here in Homeschool City!
With a capital “T”
That rhymes with “B”
And that stands for…Burn Out!

Why, just within the last two weeks my bride plopped down on the couch and said to me, “I hate this curriculum. I’m tired of its repetitiveness and stupid lessons. I mean, who cares if they know about the Mastodon and his relationship to the Wooly Mammoth? I don’t care!!!”

“And it says I need to teach them about Ur, ancient trade routes, and the gods Moloch and Chemosh. I could care less about Ur and trade routes!!!” She looked at me to come to her aid and to defend her reason for choosing the ‘curriculum.’

Being a seminary graduate and knowing the value of knowledge for leading a godly and productive life, I said, “Who cares?! Throw the curriculum out! I think it‘s a waste of time too.”

My wife wasn’t expecting that. She expected me to say, “There, there dear. Now you just need to plug away and teach these things to our kids because they need to blah blah blah blah blah.”

She’s absolutely right. Does everyone have to know about the Mastodons?

Yes, some of our kids will want to know about the big, wooly critters, but it’s not the end of the world if others don’t. The history of Ur? I didn’t learn about the place until I was in seminary. And guess what? You don’t need to know much about Ur to live a life that pleases God, get a job, or be a dad or mom. But we’ve been told that we do. We’ve been fed a bunch of tripe in a lot of areas.

We’ve swallowed it hook, line, and sinker, with the result that WE’RE BURNED OUT!!!!!! We’re tired of unit studies, monotonous curriculum, time-consuming programs, pie-in-the-sky promises, and home schooling!

I’m going to take a stab in the dark and bet that you feel some of this. You’re tired of the same old, same old…tired of running through the same workbooks, the same little rhymes, the same…everything.

So can I offer you a simple suggestion? Do something different. I don’t think the answer to burn-out is vacation time or fun times interspersed into our humdrum lives; instead, I think it’s a radical change in the way we do things.

If you don’t like the curriculum you’re using, try something different. Or go off grid and do your own thing. But first stop and take a deep breath and get a piece of paper. No, not after you finish this article…NOW.

Got the paper? Next jot down the things you think are absolutely necessary for your children to know.

Just to get you started, here’s the list for my, little to middle school, kids:
Bible – I want them to know basic accounts, key Bible verses, and books of the Bible
Reading – They need to know how to do it and once they learn the basics, they need to…READ.
Writing – Copywork, dictation, free writing (no book reports, themes, and no pressure)
Math – add, subtract, multiply, divide, fractions, percentages…read a tape measure.

Now, there are other things that are fun to learn like…history and science, but we’ve decided those are non-essentials (plus they already know tons just because they’re readers and explorers). Your list might be different than mine…which is OK. You might want your child to know how to yodel. If so, then stick it on the list.

Next, write down the things YOU want to experience with your children during your school time.

Again, here’s my list (for my wife) for my little to middle school kids:
Reading time – I want them to read a bunch of good books out loud…together.

Fun – I want there to be lots of smiles and fun interaction. I want homeschooling to be the best thing going so that all my children will want to do the same with their children.

Again, your list may be different. 

Now, let’s make a burn-out-proof schedule. Something that is sustainable and enjoyable by all. Leave it open…not minute by minute, but in generalities, allowing for…life. 

Here’s my sample school schedule (9-noon):
Bible time – Basic Bible accounts (known as stories). Google it. There are lists of between 100-180 accounts (one for each day). Just read it and talk about it for a few minutes.
Learn and recite books of the Bible
Memorize key Bible verses – John 3:16 (Google – 20 key Bible verses)

Read aloud time – Read 30 min. or more of a great book. Need a list of books? Google it. The goal is not to read a certain amount in a year…but just to read together during the year.

Math time – No way around it…you just have to plug away. Our favorite math program is Teaching Textbooks.

Reading time – Don’t get frustrated…just do it. If they already know how to read…then make them read on their own.

Writing time – Spend 15-20 minutes doing copywork, dictation, or free writing. We’re not trying to create little Hemmingway’s, just children who can communicate through the written language (Check out Institute for Excellence in Writing).

We often have the older ones read each day out of a science book, history book, or ‘whatever book’ to give them an overview of a specific topic. We don’t give tests or quiz them on what they’ve learned. They just learn.

That’s it. 

Simple? Yes. 

More than adequate? Yes. 

Enjoyable? YES!!

That’s what homeschooling is all about, and our kids will end up learning and…liking US.

Will you get tired? Yes. Will you need a summer vacation? Yes. But I think you’ll find the trouble in Homeschool City has moved on, leaving in its wake a family that enjoys being and learning together. Truth is: home is still the best place to learn and YOU are smart enough to know what’s best for your children.