{"id":34184,"date":"2014-09-10T06:30:10","date_gmt":"2014-09-10T10:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/simplehomeschl.wpengine.com\/?p=34184"},"modified":"2026-02-11T10:51:57","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T15:51:57","slug":"land-mines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/land-mines\/","title":{"rendered":"Navigating the land mines of the homeschool day"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"homeschool-daypicmo\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The following is written by contributor\u00a0Anne Bogel of Modern Mrs. Darcy<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

T<\/span>he older I get, the more aware I am that effective homeschool time management\u00a0must include\u00a0effective energy management.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Creating a\u00a0schedule that really hums for our family\u00a0requires\u00a0more than just shifting blocks of time\u00a0around in Google Calendar or\u00a0the\u00a0DayTimer. We also need to strategically\u00a0take energy reserves, emotional needs, stress levels, and self-care into account.<\/p>\n

The potential land mines that can blow up your\u00a0homeschool day are many, for kids and<\/em> for grown-ups.<\/p>\n

Having an awareness of what punches your buttons\u2014and scheduling accordingly\u2014can\u00a0mean the difference between a successful homeschool day (week\/month\/year) and one that goes up in smoke.
\n<\/p>\n

These are the land mines that blow up the most at my house.<\/strong> I’m sure you have your own list,\u00a0and I’d love to hear about them in comments. Self-awareness makes all the difference, so let’s help open each other’s eyes.<\/p>\n

\"bread\"<\/a><\/h4>\n

1. The epic blood sugar meltdown.<\/h4>\n

When a person you love (of whatever age) suddenly turns into a complete and raving lunatic because they are starving<\/em>, they are in the grips of an epic blood sugar meltdown.<\/strong> (I experienced more than my fair share of these during pregnancy, and became a much nicer person once I learned to keep a bag of trail mix within arm’s reach.)<\/p>\n

How to recover:<\/strong> Give the poor kid (or poor parent!) a snack, pronto.\u00a0The ideal snack contains protein, healthy fat, and carbs, and not too much sugar.<\/p>\n

How to avoid it:<\/strong> Schedule a regular snack time (or breaks where snacks are optional) into the homeschool day. If you have a kid who forgets to eat, remind them to think about a snack before they reach meltdown territory. If you’re on the go a lot, stash snacks and drinks in the car.<\/p>\n

2. The I-cannot-sit-still-for-one-more-second freakout.<\/h4>\n

For some kids, sitting for schoolwork is like holding a beach ball under water: they can do<\/em> it, but it requires\u00a0all their concentration. When they let go of the beach ball, it shoots into the air like a rocket.<\/p>\n

How to recover:<\/strong>\u00a0Send the kid outside, give them a trampoline, do pushups and planks and jumping jacks, as often as you need throughout the day. Walk, run, stretch.<\/p>\n

How to avoid it:<\/strong> Build physical activity into your day. Schedule “recess.” Walk the dog around the block at lunch time.\u00a0For our sensory-seeking child, we installed a swing in the house<\/em>. (Worth it.)<\/p>\n

\"Probably<\/a><\/p>\n

3. Complete and utter fatigue.<\/h4>\n

We’re talking about those\u00a0days when your schedule is full, your temper is short,\u00a0and you start to question\u00a0your competence as a human being.<\/strong>\u00a0Or those days when you ask your child why he’s\u00a0crying and he keeps\u00a0saying I don’t know. <\/em>Too-tired-to-function tired.<\/p>\n

How to recover:<\/strong>\u00a0Take a nap, if possible. (If you know this backfires for you or your kids, nevermind.) Grown-ups, pour yourself an extra cup of coffee and eat extra-clean for\u00a0energy.\u00a0Get some sunshine and fresh air. Go easy on yourself. And for goodness’ sake, get to bed on time tonight.<\/p>\n

How to avoid it:<\/strong>\u00a0I find this the most frustrating land mine because we may know exactly what to do, but that won’t\u00a0stop the toddler from waking us up 4 times before morning.<\/p>\n

As far as you can, go to bed on time, and help your child do the same. If you’re regularly exhausted, do\u00a0some reading up on sleep hygiene, and consider checking in with your doctor.<\/p>\n

4. Too much talking disease.<\/h4>\n

The\u00a0introverts and highly sensitive<\/a> among you\u00a0are nodding understandingly. For some of us, talking all day requires enormous amounts of emotional energy and lots of recovery time. <\/strong><\/p>\n

When we don’t get it,\u00a0bad things happen.<\/p>\n

How to recover:<\/strong> Find a quiet place. Really.<\/p>\n

How to avoid it:<\/strong> Learn to be aware of your daily “word budget,” and try to build in periods during the day\u00a0where you aren’t talking nonstop as a teacher and parent.\u00a0Try audiobooks instead of read-alouds. Implement charts and checklists.\u00a0Embrace a daily quiet time.<\/p>\n

Teaching your\u00a0kids to recognize and (ideally) avoid or (more likely) recover from their personal land mines isn’t just a good homeschooling practice, it’s a life skill that will serve them well for years to come. \u00a0I wish you well as you discover\u2014and tackle\u2014the land mines in your own homeschool day.<\/p>\n

What are the big land mines in your own day-to-day, and how do you avoid\/recover from them?<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The following is written by contributor\u00a0Anne Bogel of Modern Mrs. Darcy. The older I get, the more aware I am that effective homeschool time management\u00a0must include\u00a0effective energy management.\u00a0 Creating a\u00a0schedule that really hums for our family\u00a0requires\u00a0more than just shifting blocks of time\u00a0around in Google Calendar or\u00a0the\u00a0DayTimer. We also need to strategically\u00a0take energy reserves, emotional needs,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":34270,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[339],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34184","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-planning-organization"],"yoast_head":"\nNavigating the land mines of the homeschool day - Simple Homeschool<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Whether it's low blood sugar or the need for a nap, Anne shares tips for navigating land mines in your homeschooling.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/land-mines\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Navigating the land mines of the homeschool day - Simple Homeschool\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Whether it's low blood sugar or the need for a nap, Anne shares tips for navigating land mines in your homeschooling.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/land-mines\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Simple Homeschool\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/simplehomeschool\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-09-10T10:30:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-11T15:51:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/homeschool-daypicmo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"413\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Anne Bogel\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Anne Bogel\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/land-mines\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/land-mines\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Anne Bogel\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ee93a7379a1671c9d7ad116123445524\"},\"headline\":\"Navigating the land mines of the homeschool day\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-09-10T10:30:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-11T15:51:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/land-mines\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":770,\"commentCount\":39,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/land-mines\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/09\\\/homeschool-daypicmo.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Planning & Organization\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/land-mines\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/land-mines\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/land-mines\\\/\",\"name\":\"Navigating the land mines of the homeschool day - Simple Homeschool\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/land-mines\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/land-mines\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/09\\\/homeschool-daypicmo.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-09-10T10:30:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-11T15:51:57+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ee93a7379a1671c9d7ad116123445524\"},\"description\":\"Whether it's low blood sugar or the need for a nap, Anne shares tips for navigating land mines in your homeschooling.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/land-mines\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/land-mines\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/land-mines\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/09\\\/homeschool-daypicmo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/09\\\/homeschool-daypicmo.jpg\",\"width\":600,\"height\":413},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/land-mines\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Navigating the land mines of the homeschool day\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/\",\"name\":\"Simple Homeschool\",\"description\":\"Never let your schooling interrupt your education.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ee93a7379a1671c9d7ad116123445524\",\"name\":\"Anne Bogel\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ec394a79573c4432b63dd44dfb71cc80ff8d947d42b0149b4708913df7b24fb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ec394a79573c4432b63dd44dfb71cc80ff8d947d42b0149b4708913df7b24fb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ec394a79573c4432b63dd44dfb71cc80ff8d947d42b0149b4708913df7b24fb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Anne Bogel\"},\"description\":\"Anne Bogel is an author, mother of four, a book-loving blogger, and host of the popular What Should I Read Next? podcast. She loves Jane Austen, strong coffee, the social graces and social media. Find her online at Modern Mrs Darcy\u00ae.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/author\\\/anne-b\\\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/author\\\/anne-b\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Navigating the land mines of the homeschool day - Simple Homeschool","description":"Whether it's low blood sugar or the need for a nap, Anne shares tips for navigating land mines in your homeschooling.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/land-mines\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Navigating the land mines of the homeschool day - Simple Homeschool","og_description":"Whether it's low blood sugar or the need for a nap, Anne shares tips for navigating land mines in your homeschooling.","og_url":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/land-mines\/","og_site_name":"Simple Homeschool","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/simplehomeschool","article_published_time":"2014-09-10T10:30:10+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-02-11T15:51:57+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":413,"url":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/homeschool-daypicmo.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Anne Bogel","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Anne Bogel","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/land-mines\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/land-mines\/"},"author":{"name":"Anne Bogel","@id":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/#\/schema\/person\/ee93a7379a1671c9d7ad116123445524"},"headline":"Navigating the land mines of the homeschool day","datePublished":"2014-09-10T10:30:10+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-11T15:51:57+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/land-mines\/"},"wordCount":770,"commentCount":39,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/land-mines\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/homeschool-daypicmo.jpg","articleSection":["Planning & Organization"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/land-mines\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/land-mines\/","url":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/land-mines\/","name":"Navigating the land mines of the homeschool day - Simple Homeschool","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/land-mines\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/land-mines\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/homeschool-daypicmo.jpg","datePublished":"2014-09-10T10:30:10+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-11T15:51:57+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/#\/schema\/person\/ee93a7379a1671c9d7ad116123445524"},"description":"Whether it's low blood sugar or the need for a nap, Anne shares tips for navigating land mines in your homeschooling.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/land-mines\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/land-mines\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/land-mines\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/homeschool-daypicmo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/homeschool-daypicmo.jpg","width":600,"height":413},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/land-mines\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Navigating the land mines of the homeschool day"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/#website","url":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/","name":"Simple Homeschool","description":"Never let your schooling interrupt your education.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/#\/schema\/person\/ee93a7379a1671c9d7ad116123445524","name":"Anne Bogel","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ec394a79573c4432b63dd44dfb71cc80ff8d947d42b0149b4708913df7b24fb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ec394a79573c4432b63dd44dfb71cc80ff8d947d42b0149b4708913df7b24fb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ec394a79573c4432b63dd44dfb71cc80ff8d947d42b0149b4708913df7b24fb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Anne Bogel"},"description":"Anne Bogel is an author, mother of four, a book-loving blogger, and host of the popular What Should I Read Next? podcast. She loves Jane Austen, strong coffee, the social graces and social media. Find her online at Modern Mrs Darcy\u00ae.","sameAs":["https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/author\/anne-b\/"],"url":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/author\/anne-b\/"}]}},"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":339,"label":"Planning & Organization"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/homeschool-daypicmo.jpg",600,413,false],"author_info":{"display_name":"Anne Bogel","author_link":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/author\/anne-b\/"},"comment_info":39,"category_info":[{"term_id":339,"name":"Planning & Organization","slug":"planning-organization","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":339,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":189,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":339,"category_count":189,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Planning & Organization","category_nicename":"planning-organization","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34184"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34184\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}