We are so blessed. Sprite and I have incredibly good health and are very, very rarely sick. But a few weeks ago Sprite got sick — over 100 degrees fever and taking naps in the daytime sick. Not wanting to eat or get out of bed sick. (She’s fine now, thank you very much.)
During that time I started thinking about another huge benefit of homeschooling — sick days. With regular school, Sprite would’ve been seriously behind after missing four or five days due to illness. But homeschooling allowed us to be flexible, move our schedule back and even keep on learning during the recovery period.
Obviously when she was miserable, we didn’t do school. But on those days when she felt crummy but was bored to lie in bed, we could get quite a bit of school done.
Here are the adaptations we made:
- We moved to her bed for school. That way she could lie down and feel relaxed.
- We took frequent breaks from academics. This made the school day extend far into the evening. But it kept her from being bored too.
- We did lots of reading, finishing three to four weeks of our scheduled read-alouds.
- I modified some assignments to be completed orally instead of Sprite’s having to write down the answers. Talking was less strenuous than writing.
- But when her throat hurt too badly to talk at all, I just read to her. No narrations required. She simply listened.
- She spent more time on the wireless laptop, visiting some civil war sites I bookmarked for her.
- She listened to Your Story Hour CDs.
I had some second thoughts about what I was doing. I mean, if she went to public schools, she’d be home all day with no expectation to do any school work. Was I being mean? But then I realized that I was actually helping her to pass the long, boring days and distracting her from her discomfort.
I wasn’t a slave driver. We didn’t accomplish all I had originally planned for that week before her sickness cropped up. There were plenty of undone tasks on the checklist. But we also used our time and Sprite’s energy wisely.
So how about you? What do you do when your children are sick? How do you adapt homeschool?
That’s so funny… two of my three were sick today and I was thinking about the whole “how much should I put off and how much should we do” question.
If my kids are really sick (with high fevers, etc…) and all they want to do is sleep then that’s all they do. I figure they’ll make up the work faster if they get well quicker instead of trying to push through it and end up staying sicker longer.
But on days like today it was tricky. No fever, sore throat and general blah feeling. So we ended up doing school and we ended up doing everything but I did slow us down and we were doing things into the evening. The biggest thing is letting them sleep in and starting much later.
But I still felt like a meany for pushing but it was one of those “gut” calls that is really just asking the Lord for wisdom. They were fine to do the work but I think I probably could have done a much better job in the gentleness department.
Thankfully the Lord’s mercies are new every morning and I get another crack at it. Hopefully everyone will be feeling better too.
Glad Sprite is feeling better 🙂
.-= Lainie@ Mishmash Maggie´s last blog ..Leisl’s Science Corner: 1.3 A Chemical Reaction =-.
As we say here at home, “sick but not bored”. There was a time all kids were sick but still prodded me to read aloud to them and they listened to Diana Waring and Story Hour cds when my throat got sore, too. They also tried solving some sudoku or crossword puzzles.
.-= Maria´s last blog ..The Night of Power =-.
Same thing here! 🙂 I love that we have the flexibility to do still do school as it’s appropriate with our sick ones, or even when WE are sick. 🙂
.-= Jolanthe´s last blog ..Those Pesky Phonics… =-.
We have the same deal: read aloud and listen to audio dramas or music. Games come out too when people feel like sitting up.
My three kids range from 18 months to 11 years, so it gets hairy if I am the one who is sick: that’s when the big brothers supervise not – too – dumb – videos and I listen for bumps and yells.
.-= Christine´s last blog ..I Need Grace this Week =-.
We have so many outside activities that when the kiddos are sick – it enables us to get so much more accomplished than we normally do. It forces us to slow down which is a good thing. 🙂
.-= Makita´s last blog ..Letterboxing – Hitchhikers & More =-.
Mine are still young enough that most of school means reading books. Lots of books, so that continue while they’re sick. We just hold off on the more active parts.
.-= Ticia´s last blog ..Running in the Park =-.
One of the many wonderful reasons to homeschool! 🙂
.-= { jamie }´s last blog ..Birthday Party! =-.
The only time we don’t have school is when the teacher is too sick. Otherwise, we adapt as you have done. We probably don’t get as much done, but we do get somethings done. Plus, with more than one student, usually only one is sick at a time, I have to keep going for them.
Glad she is feeling better.
Jenn
.-= Jenn4him´s last blog ..Funny Things One Sees in a Barnyard =-.
My daughter has terrible allergies (we have an appt with an allergist next week), so we’ve gotten good at figuring out how to do school when she’s not feeling well. It is a little more slow moving, but we still get enough done. Yes, lots of reading aloud and letting her read to herself and usually she feels good enough to do lots of other little things.
On a side note, do you know if anyone else is having trouble with your feed? It is not feeding into my Windows Live anymore and everytime I click on your feed link, it says there is an error, so I can’t re-submit it. Just wondering…I’m still visiting you online!
.-= Melissa´s last blog ..Classical Music Journal =-.
I think that is a wonderful way to spend sick days! And it’s definitely better for her than being bored.
OT like Melissa, I haven’t stopped by in a while b/c I usually click over from my e-mail subscription. Are you having problems with your feed?
.-= Marsha´s last blog ..beware the librarian =-.
Too true Jimmie! I do the same thing for my homeschooler. I also do it with my 2 public school kids if it isn’t “high fever” sick. My son who goes to ps, his cousin is in the same grade, so we get his work sent home with him, and do it the next day.
Thanks for sharing 🙂
.-= Stephanie´s last blog ..Wordless Wednesday and The Blessings of Boys =-.
That’s great, glad she’s feeling better and impressed that you were able to get so much done even during a “sick day”. Thanks for forwarding me to your “prettier” blog – love it!
.-= Rachel´s last blog ..Plant Parts Art =-.
I just posted a question about this on my facebook page last week! I like hearing how other moms handle it. I usually just read to my kids, and my older one will write or do spanish…the subjects she enjoys more. Though if the sickness lasted more than a couple of days, I’d have to rethink that!
.-= Angela Mills´s last blog ..Michaelmas! =-.
I need to keep this in mind the next time my kiddos are sick. I tend to have that public school mentality where sick day = no school day.
.-= Jennifer´s last blog ..The Secret Garden =-.