I can't be burned out yet mamas. I just can't. We are just gearing up for holidays, yk? :sob: OK I'm whining but I could use some suggestions to deal with burnout. TY. I feel like we need a more structured routine, but I can't enforce it, no energy. ARgh.

:hug: How old are the kids?

I found that having Jacob work more independently was the key for us. As much as I want to be 100 percent hands-on, I was finding that I just couldn't. Not if I wanted to also parent Owen, run my business, take care of the house, etc.

I purchased History, Science and Bible SOS (Switched on Schoolhouse) for Jacob. It has been a great thing for both of us. He does his LA and Math the more "traditional" way. We fit in physical ed., art, music, etc. in there as we feel like it. But it's nice knowing the "core" is being taken care of with very little prep from me.

showing them they can learn independently is a huge huge thing imnsho. burnout can come easily and fast - dont try to do too much. your are HOMEschooling. things can be different from institutionalized methods. have you tried maybe focusing on fieldtrips? or buying some audobon (or the like) books and sending them outside to identify things? birds?insects?trees?flowers?herbs? grab some videos from the library or discovery channel dvds from netflix. and breathe :) :smooch:

Since you are homeschooling you can declare a school holiday when ever you need one. When you're trying to be everything to everyone, burn out can happen easily. A break from routine can do wonders for your attitude.
I don't know what age your kids are, but when my older daughters were homeschooling with me, they earned a bonus day without "school" every time they finished a reading assignment (novel or play).
For my little one, when I get too busy, he's perfectly happy with playing educational computer games and exploring PBSkids.org or the phonics activities on starfall.com. He also really likes the new learning to read shows on PBS. Books on tape or CD are another thing I've introduced lately. I get them from the library and try to keep one in the car to listen to while we're driving around.

When I'm feeling overwhelmed the first thing I do is reassess my goals to see if they are realistic. Sometimes I set some pretty lofty ones that I cannot achieve and that sets up a viscious cycle of failure.

I agree whole heartedly with fostering independant learning. It takes some time to get going, but in the end, it's what home education is partly about--creating independent self-starters.

Another thing that really helped, but dropping everything except what each child needed. So, instead of me trying to make 3-5 programs "mandatory", I just used what each child needed. So, only one of mine gets spelling. The other get it within the context of their reading or writing. 2 of mine get a full blown math program. The K-student gets help in concepts without any sort of book.

I set up a framework of needs for each kiddo and go from there. That helps me anyway. No way could I or would I enjoy teaching all sorts of curriculum to my kids of varying levels.

Don't be hard on yourself. You've got a busy crawling baby boy there. Everything is nutty with a baby. :D