Easing back into homeschool routine after a break

One of my favorite things about homeschooling is that we get to take break whenever we feel like it. On the other hand, my kid does better with a certain amount of routine in her day. I've figured out some things that make the transition between vacations and our more typical routine go more smoothly:

• We have a whiteboard calendar where we mark any break time, so we can clearly see when we’re going to be diving back to a more typical routine.
• We talk together about how we want to manage our “off” time and how we want to get started again. Getting that buy-in helps a ton.
• When we’re “off,” sometimes we opt to not be totally off. For instance, we might play Prodigy for math (instead of our typical Beast Academy curriculum), and then take the rest of the day for whatever.
• When we come back from a break, we usually agree to ease back into it for the first few days. We make it a shorter day, or shorter lessons, or easier stuff. Just knowing that it’s going to be easier removes anxiety.
• She gets to initiate the idea that we need break time, too. This self-advocacy is important for her get comfortable doing, especially since burnout can be a big challenge for ADHD folks.
• As she’s had a chance to experience a few breaks and returns, she’s getting to be able to feel that as its own semi-predictable rhythm, and that helps.

You may have noticed that collaboration is a big theme here. It's important to us that Wanda has agency. Being able to manage workload realistically and sustainably is an important life skill, and this is a great opportunity to model how we make those choices.