7 Things to do when you’re feeling unmotivated in homeschool

Feeling unmotivated in homeschool is a terrible feeling. You’re exhausted, overwhelmed, or simply burnt out and you can’t figure out how to get yourself going again.

I think every homeschool mama goes through the same thing every once in a while. And unfortunately, you will experience this feeling multiple times throughout your homeschool journey.

However, there are ways to get out of the funk of feeling unmotivated in homeschool and I’m going to share those with you today!

Now, before we dive in, I think it’s important to note the signs of jumping on the unmotivated train. When we know what to look for, we can get off the train a little quicker, and the ride might not be as discouraging.

During our first year of homeschool, we jumped in head first and rocked out the first half of the year. Christmas came, our most favorite season, and we took a long break from homeschool.

Getting started again was so much harder than I imagined it would be.

The kids and I were all unmotivated and found ourselves just going through the motions to “just get it done” each day.

Now, I don’t know about you, but one of the things that we love about homeschool is that we get the freedom to make it exciting and fun! So when you’re in a season of feeling unmotivated in homeschool, it’s takes all of the joy that comes from homeschooling almost instantly.

Suddenly, homeschooling becomes a chore or something that we take for granted.

That’s not the kind of homeschool I want for our family.
And I’m sure that’s not what you desire either.

So, I began tracking the signs that would highlight the path to our lack of motivation and when I see the signs, I know it’s time to put one of the methods I’ve listed below into practice!

A major sign for us is going too long without a break. We need brain breaks during the day, for sure! But more importantly, we need regular breaks throughout the school year too!

We like to put our breaks on a schedule (for example, on six weeks, off one) that way we know where our stopping point is and it gives us something to look forward to!

Some days are just hard though, too. When you see the kids (or YOU!) are starting to get frustrated or tired, you need a day off. It’s okay to take a day off! Don’t fall into the myth that homeschooling has to look like public school at home for it to count. It doesn’t.

Learning at a pace your kids respond to is all that matters.

So, let’s dive in to some of my favorite ways to tackle feeling unmotivated in homeschool! Keep these in your back pocket for when you need them! 🙂

1. Take a break!
I’m telling you. Taking a break is okay and a much-needed thing in homeschooling. Try to switch up your schedule to four days a week or taking a full week off every fifth or sixth week and watch how your home atmosphere changes!

2. Go back to the basics.
On the days when no one is excited about homeschooling, go back to the basics for the day. What are your “must-do” tasks? For us, it’s reading and math. So we will just commit to finish those and call it a day.

3. Try out unschooling!
Unschooling is intimidating for me to commit to the long-term. However, throwing in an unschooling day here and there is fun for us! There are so many great unschooling ideas on Pinterest too!

4. Movie Day!
Stay in your pajamas, eat comfort food, snuggle on the couch, and watch a movie. You can find SOMETHING to talk about that’s educational in almost every kids movie. Or just let it be and get back to the learning tomorrow.

5. Bake something!
Baking something together is not only a learning opportunity in itself, but you also get to eat something delicious afterward, and that almost always tackles feeling unmotivated in homeschool for us!

6. Start on the easier things first.
When you’re “over it” trying to complete something hard for homeschool only makes it worse. Start with the easier tasks and watch it snowball into feeling motivated enough to work on the hard stuff.

7. Game Day!
Games are such a great way to get motivated! I made a list of a ton of great educational games to play, that won’t actually feel like school work! Click here to read it 🙂

I hope these ideas are helpful for when you’re feeling unmotivated in homeschool. It’s tough, mama. But we can do this together!

And when all else fails… You can always add more coffee to this mug and keep on truckin’!