Homeschooling requires a lot of energy. Unfortunately, I’m exhausted.
Working as a college instructor and on other projects, along with homeschooling both daughters, leaves me with little time for sleep. That lack of sleep has caught up to me.
We’re in Week 15 of the 36-week school year, day 70 of 180.
Why do we know the weeks and days? Because we mapped out the curriculum to match state and national standards. Each subject area has a master calendar I use to ensure we connect reading, math, social studies, and science. Ideally, we also connect the arts to our thematic frameworks.
Using Microsoft Outlook and Excel, I’ve created matrices that help us organize the themes. For example, our third-grader is studying the Westward Migration period of United States history. For reading, she has a mix of historical fiction and history books. Science is exploring what the habitats were like in Southwest. In social studies, we discuss the indigenous peoples and the frontier settlers.
Technology makes planning less stressful. Ideally, that lets me focus on teaching the material.
If only our children and I could focus!
My wife and I have noticed a pattern. Each year, our daughters reach this point in the school year and progress stalls. As content moves from mostly review and reinforcement into new and more challenging material, the girls resist.
Is this a fear of failure? A dislike for making mistakes? A touch of normal childhood burnout?
The public schools had an IEP for the youngest and a 504 plan for the older girl. They each have ADHD diagnoses, which complicate learning in traditional settings.
When I’m tired, I forget that they need a lot of monitoring and redirection. They need help staying focused and on task, no matter how much they try to regulate themselves. We also work with healthcare professionals to treat the ADHD with a mix of approaches.
My wife telecommutes and cannot be monitoring the girls while also managing her team. My schedule is flexible, meaning I can work after the girls are in bed. But, there is a price to working at night.
This week, with four to five hours of sleep each night, I haven’t been the most patient teacher or parent.
The girls are making more mistakes and forgetting to complete some assignments. They’re not sleeping well, either. Tired children with ADHD? They cannot remember anything from previous days.
I’m frustrated. They’re frustrated.
The Christmas break (or Winter Break, if you prefer), should let us ease up a bit and recharge.