Tricks For Homeschoolers to Handle Your Anger5 min read

Homeschooling does expend a lot of energy, and having our patience tested continuously can be taxing and one of the main reasons for pent-up anger and frustration. Like all human beings, we are prone to these impulsive emotions when the situation gets the best of us. The most common trigger for this could be when neither you nor the kids are a morning person and the day starts wrong and hectic. Kids start to throw a tantrum and fight with siblings for petty reasons, and as a topping, the car breaks down as you are in a hurry to go somewhere. Feel like giving up or just resorting to shouting? Feel like you’ve had enough? Well?

Don’t ever give up and resort to your primitive instincts. Impulsive decisions are taken due to anger, frustration, or despair rarely yield fruitful outcomes, and one must give it a practical and calm approach. Planning and decisions always require a calm and patient mind which can be challenging in a hectic homeschooling environment. Unfortunately, sometimes anger gets the best of us and drives us to make hasty and unplanned decisions that may harm both parties in the long run.

How to manage anger?

Undoubtedly, anger is one of the most stressful feelings to control and master over among human beings. It is natural for homeschooling moms to get angry after repeatedly listening to kids complain over assignments and fighting with siblings for the silliest reasons. In extreme cases, this could invade personal space and deprive everyone of the much-needed alone and peaceful time.

No matter how much the person or parents love you, being with the same person and listening to the complaining repetitively can be highly taxing on our minds and could lead to the festering of negative feelings like fear, guilt, and anger. Trying to handle many impossible tasks at a time can lead to the failure of all tasks, just like pottery that’s stacked on top of each other, and one instability will break all of them. It introduces self-doubt and questioning self-worth, which can be disastrous for your confidence and decision-making ability. These obscured emotions can result in responses that may lack the love, affection, and understanding imperative while making a schedule-related decision for homeschooling your child. Even during these testing situations, do not forget to enjoy the gift Homeschooling offers; that is the peace of mind.

Anger management Strategies

Undoubtedly, everyone has some rough patches in the homeschooling journey, and one must always be prepared for scenarios like this to lessen the emotional impact. It requires a bit of introspection to try and analyze at what times emotions take over and at what time they become overpowering. Then, make sure you use that analysis to plan a course of action to avoid that saturation point. Do not be afraid to cancel a plan if things don’t work out, but be sure to turn it around for the better and make the day a memorable one for a good reason than just anger-fuelled havoc. Finally, use nature and art to calm the room and environment.

Tips to follow when things go against you

1. Slow Down: This is necessary to get out of the hyperactive and hysteric chain of thought that could be devastative in the long run. Try counting slowly to 5 or 15 or 30, whatever number it takes to help you realize and calm down. Acknowledge the current situation and discard those intrusive thoughts. For example, in the heat of the moment, you might forget to consider that either you or your kids, sometimes both may not be a morning person, but you anyways went ahead and planned a daunting schedule. It could lead to a bad start to the day, and both of you will end up cursing each other.

2. Breathe: Mindful breathing, with proper counts for the in and out cycle, goes a long way in relieving the high blood pressure resulting from anger and hypertension. It also helps deal with hyperventilation due to stressful situations. Enjoy your favorite activity while you are at it to help enhance the results.

3. Mindfulness: Acceptance is the first step to dealing with a complex and impossible problem. Denial gets you nowhere; instead of acceptance helps you analyze the situation better and helps us allow the fact that we cannot control everything, but we can perfect the aspects within our reach.

4. Never act impulsively: Do not give in to your anger and lash out impulsively, which hurts the relations and bond with children. Once you calm down, a wave of guilt may hit you and help you realize that it could avoid, but the damage has already been done. Avoid this situation as the damage may be irreversible.

Like any other learning process out there, Homeschooling is not perfect but can be worked on if you are determined enough. Be sure to join in the coops and circles that encourage Homeschooling and help you discuss techniques that help you stay calm and self-motivated for longer times. Whenever you feel low, don’t hesitate to search for some TEDx motivational talks.

You can look up some vlogs that document and show the positive sides of Homeschooling to remind you of the reward and benefits of this process. You were brave enough to take this homeschooling decision, and I’m sure you are brave enough to continue it.

Nature is one of the best healers and can do wonders when fixing a bad day or simply seeking sanctuary from a busy schedule. Listening to the calming noise of rustling leaves and a flowing stream will help you concentrate on the task at hand.

Playing board games with family is another way to relax and understand your kid simultaneously, which will further help you design a schedule better suited for both of you in the least excruciating way possible.

Art is another way to calm down and express yourself as your creativity runs unrestricted.

Do not be afraid to apologize, although it should never come to this point, do save this for the worst times. If you have an unavoidable breakdown, do apologize to your kids and communicate what went wrong and how it can avoid later on. Trust me, and this will go a long way.