Ahhhhhh... looking at your location...
have you noticed behavioral changes
aside from school at this time of year?
What's he like on the weekends with you?
The reason that I ask is that we have learned to just "deal" with the fact that my daughter also has this "winter slump" every year. She is irritable and mouthy, and has insomnia problems-- and snaps out of it about March every year.
It was no big deal when we homeschooled, but it has been a major battleground every year after winter break since the semester end-date is at the end of January.
All she will
voluntarily do at this time of year (Mid-December through the end of Feb) is read a book and work on independent projects. (This year it is hand-drawn animated short-films.)
Everything else is a struggle-- including getting her out of her pajamas some days. Not kidding. The first few years it happened (starting when she was about 3-4 yo) we assumed that it was the excitement of Christmas that led to the insomnia, but that didn't explain why it persisted into February each year. It was really frustrating.
We have had some luck with lifestyle modifications that help S.A.D., but it definitely didn't completely eliminate the problems. We have concluded that it is probably a combination of things: a) let-down about material lacking novelty/challenge, and b) seasonal affective issues. Judging from the past eight weeks, I think that was probably correct. Now that she's in HS coursework, and has more challenge as well as more 'choice' about courses, she seems to have not slipped quite so far into that hole.
I think that the radical improvement we've seen this year is definitely related to the step up in challenge from middle school coursework-- but it was still quite the battle to get her to 'turn it on' in order to finish the semester.
This is what happens to some people when they only get 8 hours of daylight this time of year. Darned northern latitude.
ETA: does this mean that I am not supposed to enjoy Captain Underpants?
