Ten Ways to Banish the “End of the Year” Bad Attitude

Homeschool moms: Get 10 ways to get rid of the end-of-the-school year bad attitude (in your kids and in yourself) with these tips and hacks.

I often find myself saying things like “As soon as ____ is done, I’ll have more time and I can ____.”

My mom calls this “wishing my life away.”

I think we’re all guilty of this type of thinking at some point in our lives.

We’re so focused on how great things will be at some point in the future (e.g. when I graduate, when I get married, etc) that we tend to ignore the blessings right in front of us.

As a homeschool mom, I must admit that I’ve been thinking along these lines: as soon as we finish our school work for the year, then we can have fun.

I’ve found that this “bad attitude” in my own spirit usually coincides with that feeling of “It’s more fun to plan next year’s curriculum, than it is to finish up this year’s.”

And so, I’ve been pushing the old Larry the Cable Guy attitude upon my children to just hurry up and “Get ‘er done!”

There’s nothing wrong with being motivated to “get it done,” but I realized that I had taken all of the joy out of learning in my quest to be just. be. done. with the school year.

So here are 10 things that we’ve done and are planning on doing to ensure a memorable spring and hopefully to inspire some intrinsic motivation to finish the school year on a fun note.

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10 Ways to Banish the End of the Year Bad Attitude

1. Surprise the kids with a spur on the moment day trip to a local museum. We took a quick trip to the Federal Reserve closest to us. The tours are free and their website has over 100 activities, games and lesson plans.

2. Build a fort. If the calendar says “spring”, but the weather outside doesn’t agree, let your kids use their creative skills to build a fort out of pillows, blankets and card tables. Then they can complete their school work inside their new “study area.”

3. Substitute an audio book or movie for one of the books on their required reading list.

4. Recreate history outside. My son and his friends love to recreate what they are studying in history while playing outside. So far this year, they’ve re-enacted a few Revolutionary War battles, explored like Lewis and Clark, and fought in the War Between the States.

5. Play video games. When the weather was suddenly too nasty to play outside, the boys created Civil War Forts with Minecraft.

6. Add in a fun project. Instead of feeling like it’s just one more thing to complete, adding in a project like a lapbook or science experiment just for fun can really add some energy to your week.

7. Float a boat. Gather some friends together to make duct tape boats and then have a boat race in a local stream. No stream close by? How about a kiddie pool or pond on a windy day.

8. Explore nature. While you’re at the stream or pond, check out the tadpoles, turtles and other early-spring wild-life.

9. Showcase your talents. Enter a local talent or art show and show-off the skills and talents you’ve acquired the past year.

10. Move your school to the great outdoors. Is it just too nice out to be stuck inside? There’s no rule that says school has to be completed indoors. Get outside and soak up some vitamin D!

Bonus Tip: Take a break from the mundane. Throw everyone in the car and road trip to an educational destination. On the way, use these 55 fun car games for road trips to keep everyone happy and entertained. Or let your kids plan a vacation with these printables and suggestions.