BellaOnline Forums Education Homeschooling Soooo Sick!

Help!!!

What do you guys do when you get s sick that you can't teach?

I was down the early part of this week with a literally "knock-out" migraine! It started Sunday night as a nagging little pain, and although I tried taking my normal meds - I woke up with a roaring one Monday (Labor day) in full force. I went through my full regimen, but nothing helped, and of course the doctor wasn't open, so it was still there Tues, except worse; so by then they had to give me the Nubaine injection that puts me out for a full day, and I was still on Percoset on Wednesday!

Needless to say, Michael basically just did his computer math stuff and read a few chapters in "Romeo & Juliet" because I was in no shape to direct him at all!

How do the rest of you guys handle getting sick? We don't have substitutes we can call in! <img src="/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/computer.gif" alt="" />

Actually it can be turned into a great lesson on self motivation <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

You won't be there forever so him learning to carry on on his own, not full time of course, but every once in a while can be a boost to his self confidence and part of a life lesson that really can't be planned.

If you are really worried when you are feeling better to plan out lessons a week or so in advance and hand him the work and list.

I was just talking with a friend about this the other day, because my mom is worried about my son not being taught because I am sick. You can't stop learning.

I agree, and what's really the big deal anyway? Isn't part of the appeal of homeschooling the flexibility of being able to take some time off whenever it's needed and not having to follow a strict regimen or time table?

I haven't started homeschooling my daughters yet, but we plan to next year. We're letting them go to headstart this year since we're about to have another baby. Already, though, I feel the oppression of following all these rules and schedules that someone else made up. I'm a recent SAHM and my husband works from home, so our schedule is our own and it will be nice when we can all enjoy that freedom again.

My son, being Asperger's, is fairly regimental about certain things. When he heard he was supposed to do 4 - 41/2 hours of school a day every day, he took that very literally. He sits there watching the clock and times out how much he is supposed to do.

I have tried explaining to him how we can work more or less on certain days as long as we work an average of 4 - but this is just part of being on the autistic spectrum, he is having a hard time with being flexible about it. And it completely freaked him out that I was not available to guide him this week. My husband did stay home for 2 days, but really didn't know what to tell Michael to work on, so wasn't much help.

Over the next couple of weeks I guess Michael and I are going to sit down and plan out about a month's worth of lessons, so that he'll have an idea of where we are going in case this situation comes up again. I am also looking at purchasing a language program that he can work on without me. And since his real Dad (who lives in MS) was a history major, I am going to see if he can put together about a week's worth of lessons at a time for Michael to study - that way he can be involved in Michael's education, too (and in the area where I'm the weakest.)

But maybe this experience will help teach Michael how to be more independent and flexible - 2 things he has serious trouble with; and he needs to learn before he graduates H.S. in just 4 years! <img src="/images/graemlins/king.gif" alt="" />

I purchased that Homeschool Tracker Plus software and plan out a month's lessons in advance. I can always move things around if its not enough work or too much and it gives my daughter a fair idea of what she's expected to do. I set it up that way so she could work ahead if she wanted to, but had minimums due on a daily/every other day basis to keep her on a somewhat "real world" schedule.

Would he be okay with having a schedule set up one way and then changing days around? If so you might try setting it up a week or month in advance and putting at least 2 days on the calendar that have different activities like 2 hours of reading a book, writing a summary of two news stories from the paper/online and relate it to your current history lessons (geographical or political perspective), and some other activity that would fill in the last bit of time to meet his 4 hour expectation. That way you have two days you can swap if you're not feeling good (and they make nice changes from the everyday schedule if you don't need them!)

Michelle, when I taught school, I kept a "substitute lesson plan" in my desk for subs to use in case I had to miss.

It was mostly the kind of stuff that would be skill practice--writing essays, researching some questions followed by a short paper, analyzing a map, or even describing subject terms--something that wasn't particularly dependent on what we were studying. Or, something I knew I would never cover much in class but wanted to touch on. For instance, if you are doing a government unit, have a sick day lesson plan on functions of a particular federal dept -- one you would normally not focus on, like the Interior or Veterans Affairs or whatever.

You could also pick a few subjects Michael particularly likes and come up with a few in-depth research questions that he could research. And, you can always do a type of "Current Events" -- have him search online or in the newspaper for interesting articles and write a summary and opinion on the piece.

And, I also suggest having long-term projects that he can always pick up & work on. Bug & rock & leaf collections, a photo exhibit of architecture in your neighborhood (have him take pics & then find out about the architectural features)--same for trees and cars and whatever else--pick something he likes or something he needs to learn about; a science experiment or project, and art projects are always good--(I would say music, too, but if you have a migraine, maybe not!) and life-lessons stuff, like checkbook balancing (use the back of your bank statement to make worksheets and create a few imaginariy check registers), practice filling out job applications, income tax forms, grocery buying (keep two or three ads from stores & a list of food items & have him compare prices), and the like.

Anyway, whatever you do for sick days, if you make sure to cover something similar (skill-wise) before, it will go much better. That way, it's skill practice or extra time to do projects or something and he's not left to flounder. I'm sure the further you get in the school year, the more comfortable you'll both be with it, too.

Oh, and coming up with the plans--it might be a great idea for Michael to take the lead in choosing what to include. He can come up with some of the questions/topics/worksheets/ideas and then you put it away in a packet for when it's needed.

Good Luck! I know you'll do great anyway.

sounds like michael did just fine to me. You wouldn't make him go to school sick, and even teachers get sick days, so you do too!

Remember, you have 365 days to do what the schools do in 180.

Meg