Art as the Mental Reset Your Homeschool Might Be Missing

There’s a moment in every homeschool day where you can feel the shift.

The math lesson took longer than expected. Science involved more prep than you thought. Someone cried over a writing assignment (maybe you). And by midmorning, your kids aren’t absorbing anything new — they’re just surviving the schedule.

We tend to power through: “Just finish this one last subject and then we’ll take a break.”

But what if the break could also be learning? What if that mental slump isn’t a sign that you’re doing it wrong, but that you need a pace change?

That’s where art comes in.

 Cognitive Load is Real (and Kids Feel It Too)

We ask a lot of our students, especially when we teach the big core subjects back to back. Math requires logic, structure, and memory. Writing demands planning, spelling, handwriting, grammar, and idea generation. Science asks for observation, vocabulary, process, and analysis.

These are all important skills, but they all live in the same mental space: focused attention, linear thinking, and constant output.

Over time, that kind of heavy cognitive load builds up and leads to what you might recognize as:

• Diminishing focus.

• Frustration over small things.

• Sloppy mistakes.

• Kids saying “I don’t get it” to things they do understand.

• Or simply zoning out halfway through a lesson.

  
  

This isn’t laziness. This is mental fatigue.

And the antidote isn’t always a snack or a screen break. Sometimes, the brain needs something slower — a different kind of thinking.

That’s what art provides.

Art Changes the Pace — Without Losing the Learning

Art invites the brain to process information visually, spatially, and reflectively.

Instead of memorizing, they’re observing. Instead of outputting, they’re exploring. Instead of producing a right answer, they’re noticing patterns, values, shapes, and form.

And here’s the beauty: Art doesn’t have to take all day to have an impact.

A 20–30 minute art lesson can reset the energy in your homeschool like nothing else. It calms the nervous system and engages different parts of the brain. It creates space for kids to self-regulate while still learning something meaningful. Even better, it restores you, too.

Sitting with your kids as they create can be a lot of fun. You can talk about anything while their hands are busy, you can share your own experiences with art, and you can relax for a bit and just enjoy being with each other.

Real Art Instruction — No Paint Explosion Required

Let me say this clearly: Our homeschool art workbook, Let's Do School Art Fundamentals, is your opportunity to take a break - without wasting your time.

I built it as a true academic subject — one that trains the eye, strengthens observation skills, and helps kids build artistic voice, not just imitate Pinterest projects.

But I also built it to be:

• Open-and-go - no 45-minute supply hunt!

• Multi-age friendly - so you can teach one lesson across levels.

• Skill-building and expressive - both matter a lot!

• Flexible enough to use as a morning warm-up, midday reset, or Friday enrichment.

  
  

Art can be the mental rest that still counts toward learning time. It can be the part of the day that doesn’t drain your kids, but fills them back up and often leaves them more focused for the next subject.

A Place to Breathe in Your School Day

If you’re finding that your homeschool days are starting to feel like one long academic

checklist… If your kids (or you) are losing steam by midmorning… If you need something that’s gentle but still meaningful…

Try inserting art.

Let it be the transition between heavy subjects. Let it be the reward that isn't screen time. Let it be the moment your kids stop racing and start noticing.

That’s not a waste of time. That’s how learning lasts.

The Let’s Do School Art Workbook is a full curriculum designed to bring real art fundamentals to your homeschool without overwhelm or prep.

• 325 pages.

• Built for 3th–12th grade.

• Works across multiple ages.

• $35 for the full printed book with active lessons on every page.

• Made by a former teacher, working artist, and homeschool mom - me! - who knows what real-world art and homeschool schedules actually look like

  
  

👉 Get it here.