Ten Ways to Cope on a Bad Homeschool Day

Bad days…we’ve all had them. The kind of day where nothing is really going right. Your patience is thin. You don’t know how you’re going to make it through the day. The kids aren’t listening. Maybe you aren’t feeling the best. Or maybe someone didn’t sleep well the night before. These days are part of the homeschool experience and they happen from time to time. But how is a homeschooler supposed to cope? Here are 10 suggestions of how to cope on a bad homeschool day!

Some Ideas to Help You Cope

Add Some Form of Reading

Reading or listening to books help to take our mind off of our present circumstances. Reading somehow changes the mood and can help you cope better with your bad homeschool day! Your kids will still be learning, but in a different way than you had planned. Some ideas on how to add reading:

Turn on an audio book. Dump some legos on the floor or snuggle on the couch under a blanket and start listening!

Grab your current read aloud or start a new one.

If your kids are all squabbling, send all the kids to their rooms with their own audio books and their favourite toys (legos or other construction toys work great for this).

Send all the kids to their rooms to read independently. Or split up and read to some while others read on their own.

Go Outside Together or Send the Kids Outside

Everything seems better outside. Coping on a bad homeschool day always goes better if some outside time is added. If its great weather outside, it is a simple option to just grab some shoes and go. If its rainy or very cold, you might want to consider if you can handle the hassle on an already bad day. However, the rewards are worth it! Normal noises that children make seem more tolerable outside. Nature is calming. Fresh air helps freshen everyone’s attitudes. Outdoor time allows for more space (and less rules!) about moving around, running and jumping. The kids can get their wiggles out!

I highly recommend going outside with your kids, because the same benefits also apply to adults! Take the kids on a walk or bike ride. Let the kids play in the yard while you do some simple exercises or speed walk circles around the yard. Challenge the kids to do some exercises with you like jumping jacks, skip rope, running on the spot or even tag.

If you just feel like you can’t manage anymore and your kids are old enough to be outside alone, send them without you and watch from the window. It might be better to have some quiet inside for a little while.

Add Some Music

Music can really change the mood of a room. You could even put on something upbeat and dance or do simple exercises to the music along with your kids for an added mood-boosting benefit.

Add in Some Screen Time

Screen time can be a good thing some days. There are many educational videos on places like You Tube. A great option we use for bad days is History Plus Online. If its still educational than you’ll feel less guilt letting your kids use some screen time. Sheppard Software and Seterra also have some fun ideas for educational screen time.

Go Out on a Last Minute Outing or Field Trip

This might seem like too big of an undertaking for a bad homeschool day…but some bad days you just feel the need to escape and it can really help you cope. Grab some snacks and water or even a very simple lunch (everyone grabs a fruit, maybe a granola bar and a pick-your-favourite-spread sandwhich along with a water bottle) and go! Some ideas for last minute field trips:

Head to a playground. You could even invite another homeschool family!

Head to the local pool or beach for a swim (exercise and learning an important life skill!)

Head to the library and check out some new books. While you’re there, check to see if there is anything happening. Maybe they have a puzzle set up to work on or a maker space set up ready to use.

Go for a hike or explore a natural area. Bonus if you haven’t checked it out before! Shout out to your local homeschool group to see if anyone else wants to join you last minute!

Go birding or do some nature study. Notice any birds you can find and try to take photos or take note of what they look like. Take some photos of interesting nature finds. Explore and learn something new!

Check out a local museum, art gallery or mural project.

Be a tourist in your own city. Check out things that you might know about but haven’t spent the time looking at before. Go to a lookout or check out some local monuments.

Add Water

There are many ways to add water to your bad day. Water seems to naturally calm people. Send everyone to take turns having a shower or bath. Stick the little ones in the bath while you sit on the floor and watch (if you give them kitchen items to play with or let them blow bubbles it helps keep their attention span!) If its hot outside, turn on the sprinkler or have a water gun fight. Perhaps you even have the energy to visit a local pool or beach.

Have a Cooking or Baking Time

Cooking or baking might be the last thing you’d try on a bad day. Like any of my suggestions, each one depends on what you feel you can manage. But then again, it might lift everyone’s mood to bake a batch of cookies or bread!

Dedicate the Day to Doing Something That Brings You Joy.

So maybe cooking or baking isn’t your thing on a bad day. Maybe none of these suggestions sound like they fit your mood. Consider what IS your thing? What would help your mood today? Maybe it would bring you joy to help each of your kids with a crafting project or teach your kids about gardening, yard work or other life skills. And if not, that is okay too. Different types of bad days call for different things.

Meet Up With Another Homeschool Family

Ask another homeschool family to join you somewhere- a park, a hike, the pool or beach. Or invite them over if you are brave (and please, don’t clean the house first. That’s the last thing you need on a bad day, and there should be a rule about cleaning before friends come over. I think all it does it set the expectation that everyone else’s home is always clean- which we all know is a lie, so why do we do it?)

Declare A Day Off

Maybe your kids are able to handle less structure and just do their own thing, which would allow you to do your own thing for a day. Its ok to have some days off and not do anything “educational”. It might be in everyone’s best interest to just take a day off completely. Sometimes bad homeschool days can’t really be fixed and the best way to cope is just to take the day off.

If You Need More Help

What if bad days are more of your normal? What do you do to cope then? The above suggestions can still help, but you would need to get to the root of the issue. Is your child struggling with learning? Are you burnt out? Are you in the middle of a family crisis or high stress time? You are not alone! Other families have been through these things or are going through them now.

I hope that you find these suggestions encouraging. I hope that they help you cope the next time you have a bad homeschool day! Remember: not all these suggestions will work for every family. Pick and choose what works for you and leave the rest!