Have you ever asked yourself, “Why is everyone having a bad day?” “What should I do when everyone is resisting schoolwork?” “Should I push through?” “Should we take a break?”

An enormous benefit to homeschooling is the flexibility you have to address these issues.

We asked our consultants – veteran homeschooling parents – for their tips and here’s what they had to say:

• When everyone is having a bad day, it is such a blessing to drop everything and gather together for a prayer. Lead your children in a prayer to God, invoking our Mother of Divine Grace and all our angels and patron saints to pray with us and for us, to renounce the spirit of complaining, resistance, and down-heartedness. Acknowledge the feelings everyone is experiencing, and share your own struggles. But don't give in to them. Filled with grace and determination, model enthusiasm and joy in returning to the duties of the day.

• I like changing up the scenery...such as porch school, park school, picnic blanket school...go for a walk, get outside!

• I first consider if everyone slept well the night before and if anyone is hungry. I also consider if anyone might be getting sick or is worried about something. After eliminating all of those factors for resisting schoolwork, I stop and reread Sirach 21:19-21 with them: “To a person without any sense, an education is like handcuffs, but to a sensible person, it is like gold bracelets.” Homeschooling is the goldest of bracelets which we should all be grateful for.

• When everyone is having a bad day and resisting schoolwork it's okay to take an off day, call it a play and pray day.

• First and foremost take a break - get everybody outside and recalibrate. When you come back to school do a different subject than you were doing before. If it seems that it’s still going in the direction of not going well then learn to let go of the day and be at peace with it. You will be better off the next day for having taken the break. If grandparents live nearby hop in the car and go visit them. Maybe go to a park and runoff some steam. If you are really uncomfortable with giving up a school day then just change the way the school day looks. Use it as a day to catch up on fun school projects or experiments you’ve been trying to get to but I haven’t had time to. You can snuggle up and watch a movie about something you’re learning about, or you can read books together. Take watercolors or colored pencils outside and observe nature. Education is happening constantly in our homeschooling lives. Sometimes we just need to choose a different approach to the day.

• Sometimes it's okay to take a day away from school. It can be a good day to bake cookies, do a craft, or take a nature walk. These activities are also opportunities to teach or to just be together.

• When our family was having a bad day, we would say a prayer and then shift gears to fun and functional activities (venture off-syllabus), incorporating reading, sequencing, math skills, etc. We would play cheerful music and have a sing-along, complete a seasonal family craft activity, cook/bake, do fun science experiments, take a field trip, go on a nature walk, have a movie day, etc. At the beginning of the year, I planned for these days with a supply of materials and ideas so I could easily grab-and-go.

• I think you first have to assess the reason everyone is struggling. Is there a legitimate reason for scaling back the work for the day and building in extra rest or play or is it just that some days are harder than others and the kids need a pep talk about the important work they are doing?

• Sometimes a little tea or chocolate break can help them regain some focus and levity. Or perhaps moving school outside on a nice day—just mixing things up a bit can go a long way to cheer up the crew.

• Send up a quick prayer (or many quick prayers!) Also, a technique we have found to be helpful is to envision "wiping the slate clean." I would tell everyone we are going to start over right now and ask everyone to picture a big white board with writing on it, and then picture taking an eraser and wiping the board clean. Physically making the wiping motion with your arm helps!

• If everyone is experiencing a bad day on the same day, it's a fairly good indication that we all need a break. This is one of the advantages of homeschooling that when you need to take a break, you can. Stop, drop, and play. Stop schooling, drop the books, and play at something fun. Life is short. I have never heard myself say, “I regret that day we decided to go to…(insert something fun)!”

Thank you to our consultants for sharing their wisdom and encouragement! At Mother of Divine Grace School, we pray for our homeschooling families every day. God bless you as you continue the difficult and beautiful journey of homeschooling!

For more information about enrollment in Mother of Divine Grace School and our consultants, read about our Teacher Review Program.