May has snuck up on me and the academic year is quickly coming to an end. I am feeling a bit rushed and overwhelmed as I try to wrap up everything for school. I have a feeling I am not the only that is feeling like this. I wanted to encourage you today to hang in there. Finish strong and keep on the course you have made. You will feel good knowing you accomplished the goals you set.  Here are a few ideas to help.

Take one day at a time. You still time to finish school so don’t panic if you feel that you aren’t where you want to be.  what is it that you can do today? What things do you want your children to learn t-o-d-a-y?

Set manageable goals. What 3 things do you want your children to do in terms of learning? Think of it like this… Today we are going to 1) review the 3’s multiplication tables; 2) read a story and concentrate upon accuracy;  3) observe the clouds and write a poem about them.

Stick with it. I don’t know about you, but Spring Fever is a real thing in my life. I am antsy to get outside and do anything but school. I am sure your kids are right there with me! lol So, I try to think of the day and break it up into smaller segments.  Write lesson plans and then take a 10-minute outdoor break. Grade papers for an hour and then take a 5-minute break to get some fresh air, etc. I find that if I set smaller tasks in front of me with some reward of being outside for a bit of fresh air on these beautiful days I have a better outlook on things.

Take advantage of the weather. No matter where you live, we have great days to be outdoors. Why not do a nature study on plants and animals? Grab your phone, take pictures of cool things you find. You can show the pictures when you return and have your children write a story about what you saw and did.  Let the kids draw animals or plants they see and do some research on them for another day of school.

Soon it will be summer, so hang in there! Have a great week! ~Lisa~