Beating the February Homeschool Funk

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

Written by Chelsea Gonzales.

It’s known as the February funk, and a great many homeschool parents experience it. Nobody’s quite sure what causes it, but nearly everyone agrees that it can make meeting homeschool goals feel impossible. The February funk can strike suddenly, or it might creep in slowly when you're not looking. Either way, it leaves you feeling down in the dumps, unmotivated, and incapable of getting things done.

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There is good news, however: You don't have to let the funk continue to pull you down. If you find yourself suffering from the blahs, consider these tips for pulling yourself up and reigniting your excitement for homeschooling your children.

Remember Why

Something that really helps me when a funky mood strikes is to remember what I’m working toward. Remembering why I chose homeschooling in the first place always has a way of motivating me to get off the couch and get things done.

Take a few minutes to rediscover your reasons for choosing this path. Think about why you started and why it's important to keep going. You might be surprised to find that a few of your WHYs have changed over the years. But even if they haven't, knowing your reasons will help inspire you to continue moving forward even on the hardest days.

Set New Goals

With your reasons in mind, set some goals for yourself and help your children do the same. When it comes to long-term goals, make a list of the steps you’ll all need to take to get you there. Schedule due-dates for those steps and hold each other accountable. If needed, a mentorship program like Make Over Your Year or Say Goodbye to Survival Mode could act as a quick-start guide to goal setting.

It might help to make a plan to showcase each family member’s accomplishments at the end of the semester by creating a video, scrapbook, or presentation for family and friends. This will give everyone something to work towards and a reason to keep working even when the going gets tough.

Stimulate Your Mind

When you have a foggy brain, pulling yourself out of a daze and jumping into a project can be difficult, to say the least. Try stimulating your body to clear the head-fog quickly and easily. Drink a hot beverage, defuse essential oils such as peppermint and citrus, play some upbeat music, or bundle up to take a quick walk around the block.

Set a Schedule

Sometimes a change of pace can be just the thing to jumpstart your passion for homeschooling. Setting a schedule that meshes well with your family’s current needs is a great step in the right direction.

For many, this will mean setting an alarm clock, getting up at the same time each day, and beginning the morning with one of the stimulating things mentioned above. However, a morning-centric routine is not ideal for everyone. So if you find that your family works best in the evenings, roll with it. Build a schedule that matches your rhythms. That’s the beauty of homeschooling, after all!

Consider Your Health

An unhealthy person is a groggy person, and a groggy person tends to be unproductive. If you find that the ideas above aren’t helping, you might want to take a step back and consider your health. Make sure your water intake is where it needs to be. Perhaps, add a multivitamin to your regimen to ensure you’re getting all the nutrients you need.

If cold weather is keeping you inside, consider taking a vitamin D capsule, and make sure your exercise routine is adequate.

Get Out and About

Cabin fever is a very real thing. After a few months of being trapped indoors because of winter weather, you could very well have a mild case of it. Therefore, you might want to consider adding some outings into your weekly schedule. Maybe you could do school at a local cafe once a week. Or perhaps you could take your crew to an indoor playground occasionally. No matter where you end up going, the very act of going somewhere will likely help you feel more alert throughout the day.


If you're experiencing February homeschool funk, I hope these tips help you to pull yourself out in these last weeks of winter. Keep in mind, however, that nobody is perfect. Even the most amazing homeschool parents have lazy days from time to time.

Taking a timeout in the middle of the semester is not the end of the world. If that’s what you have to do for the sanity of yourself and your children, go ahead and do it. School work will always be there next month.

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