I'm really struggling with this. I feel so guilty for feeling terrible and having no patience. I wonder if I should just take a day off, or is that wrong to do? Ugh, the guilt is killing me...help!
If I were feeling really sick I would give them all the day off and they could do whatever they wanted as long as it was quiet. If they disturb me they would have to take a nap.
it's easier to take a day off when the kids are sick than when I am sick. So I tried hard to teach when I am not feeling good so I can save the sick day to them. However, I try my best to rest in bed and they read to me. and do wherever they can work on without me. and I help throughout the day with the rest. Not easy I know. Do what you feel is right for you. if you can't teach, then you can't. Rest is the best. I hope you feel better soon.
It would depend on how big of a weenie I was that day. My boys would gather around the coffee table as I was resting on the couch to do school work and still receive instruction.
I take the day more or less off. It would depend on the illness--- stomach stuff means we're definitely off; allergies means we take it easier. If it's an illness where I'm still functional just miserable, then I usually have the kids bring their lapdesks into the living room and do the basics. I also use our Electric Company DVDs and our Disney True Life Adventures DVDs to help offset a total day off.
I have the kids do extra independent reading, work on computer math games, or watch a video related to a science or Social Studies assignment. Sometimes I put in the School House Rock DVD we have. Right now we all have colds but the kids are worse off than I am at the moment and have doing alot of sleep the last two days.
It honestly depends on just how sick I am. If I am a little sick, Ems could do some of the work on her own and I can help some. But once I was so sick for two weeks and I couldn't even get out of bed. Ems didn't do anything at all because she was actually helping take care of the house.
Well, I'm pushing through. I feel a little better right now. We're just taking it easy. We're doing a lot of reading. I couldn't take the guilt of not completing their daily work! We're just taking a little longer than normal to complete it. Thanks for all the replies!
I've been struggling with this myself. I get a lot of "blah" days from allergies, so on those days we go over everything very quickly first thing in the morning so I can lay down and get rest while my son works on his own, and then I just go over the stuff he did with him later on in the day. Unfortunately, my son is not the best at self motivation and so when I am not feeling good, and require him to do more on his own, I do tend to get very short tempered and frustrated, because even though I've tried and tried and tried and tried and tried, for many, many years in private school, public school and now home school, I just can't get this kid to work quickly, or efficiently on his own. On these days, school tends to take him all day long (Literally, he tends to still be working after dinner time, sometimes up to bedtime), compared to 3-4 hours when I feel good and hold his hand through the whole day. For the past 2-3 weeks I've been dealing with knee problems too, so I can barely walk. Plus my husband's schedule for work has been very unpredictable. We just do the best we can. I make him deals, like if he'll fix me lunch, I'll let him sit on the air vent to cool off in the afternoon while I read out loud all his textbook reading for him. I am most likely going to need surgery to fix my knee since the exercises and anti-inflammatory drugs are not helping me at all, and I have no idea what my son is going to do then. I hate letting him take a day off when he feels fine, because it gets so much harder to make him get back on track the next day or so =/
Not exactly the same, but simmilar results... I work nights so every other monday and tuesday I am sleeping. The first few weeks went fine, I even found ds finishing up everything I left for him "too early" but this week! ugh!! he didn't do anything, said he didn't understand. what he did do he didn't do correctly. (kinda backs up his not understanding point though huh?) I leave videos for these days. and lots of worksheets. I also have a folder of stuff that I have hunted up on the internet and printed, that he can do on his own. his choice stuff. That might work for a mommy sick day too. have a folder of ideas and worksheets you can just pull out and let him do. He reads to ME when I don't feel good. (He usually reads to me in the morning when I am going to bed) it is a cute role reversal that he gets to tuck me in. A really great, dedicated, wonderfull, (you know everyone but ME) homeschool mom would whip up a unit study about virus' and bacteria, have some petri dishes on hand for cultures and let the kids figure out which antibiotic to take. She would also incorporate handwashing and human anatomy into a lapbook. HER children would initiate a promtu home ec. lesson on making chicken soup, plus they would thoughtfully do a load of laundry and paint her toenails. (whereas MY kids would whine that they couldn't find the peanut butter for a sandwich...to find out it is downstairs by the TV with the spoon still in it from staying up late watching some horror movie. sigh.)
Well< When I worked out of the home I had a bad habit of not stopping until I was near death, had no voice or brochitis that sort of thing... so At home I rest on the couch and make the kids come to me as long as I am able. School becomes a little lighter I enlist one another to help with questions if I am drifting off to sleep.. and if it gets too bad with younger kids you call hubby home! I had a major migraine before I could not see, could not stand or anything so I had kids call dad and tell him. havent had one of those in many manyyears now , and got a normal brain on the cat scan too! HA!
Tmom, cool that your brain is normal now. I've never had a migraine but from what it sounds like I imagine it would be awful! For me, I try to continue teaching as long as I can, if I can't then I try to switch it up that day. We would watch science videos, history videos, educational stuff and do what we can from the couch. If it was that bad, I'd call it a day. I try to keep with my kids guidelines: if you're well enough to play then you're well enough for school. If you have to lay in bed and need rest then you can take the day off.
If I'm not able to function or just plain "sybil" then for everyone's sake, make it a fun "lesson" day.... puzzlebooks, dvd's, computer school games, and don't forget, the History channel!!! "A really great, dedicated, wonderfull, (you know everyone but ME) homeschool mom would whip up a unit study about virus' and bacteria, have some petri dishes on hand for cultures and let the kids figure out which antibiotic to take. She would also incorporate handwashing and human anatomy into a lapbook. HER children would initiate a promtu home ec. lesson on making chicken soup, plus they would thoughtfully do a load of laundry and paint her toenails. (whereas MY kids would whine that they couldn't find the peanut butter for a sandwich...to find out it is downstairs by the TV with the spoon still in it from staying up late watching some horror movie. sigh.)" GnS - I love it! You just described us!!!!
I head right to edhelper.com and print the daily activities and the girls write in their daily journals. The girls love mythbusters so I try to see if there is going to be any on that day. They try to anaylze what will happen before they work out the problem. i take it easy and the girls like the change
Well, call me a wimp, but flexibility is one of the reasons I love homeschooling, so...if I'm feeling bad enough, we take the day off. Like today, for instance! LOL Eli injured himself badly enough at a playground yesterday to end up at the ER. PTL there were no broken bones; he just got banged up pretty badly. Poor kid cries out in pain when does more than hobble around this morning. And I am stiff as a board for carrying him as far as I had to yesterday...that child is heavy! I also have a major writing deadline to meet today (and last night's migraine kept me from working late), my autoimmune disease is flaring, and I just made the executive decision to take the day off. (Our principal approved! ) I am just not going to worry about it. Last week, our public school kids had two half-days in a row because of teacher conferences. My friend told me that her kids watched a movie and basically goofed off both days that they were in school. Funny how those count as "school days" for the PS kids, but my kids watching TV and lounging around today counts as an absence. Regardless, we'll catch up next week. As I said, I'm just not going to worry about it. Add an extra hour to each day next week and we're still on task. I say if you need a day off, take it. We still get more done by the end of the year than the schools do, IMO.
I do "lite" school when I am sick. We try to do reading and math. That is my lite school. Other then that, they watch educational videos and we may read some simple books. I get too cranky to be a good teacher when I am sick and will not help the process, I would be harming the process, so I do lite school... the other subjects are super easy for me to catch them up in, the math and reading are not, so those are the ones that I try to ALWAYS do no matter what else happens.
flex days The great thing about homeschooling is you can have flex days if you miss on Monday work on Saturday instead, or work to make up during the summer. Ever since I have been taking garlic pills I have been staying really healthy lately its amazing I used to catch everything my husband brought home from work he was the carrier but now I take a few extra garlic pills when I feel something coming on and walla..gone. Now the only time I will get rundown and need a day off is during my time of month. those days are great for movie unit studies popcorn, cozy up on the sofa yah love those netflix. Sam
Sam, that's a great point! One way I do that is to not take 'snow days' that our school takes off if we have missed many days that we need to make up or I tack those days to the end of the year. but I only do this is we miss a big amount (like missing a day here or there I don't worry about unless I feel we're really getting behind, but we missed 2 weeks last year when my Dad passed away so I picked them up here and there throughout the year).
