It's bound to happen at some point during your homeschool year – moma gets sick. What now? Hopefully, you have a plan in place. Today, Laurie, of Grace Filled Moments shares her plan for homeschooling when sick.
Today I'd like to share some of my tips for homeschooling when moma is sick. I'll be using these tips this coming week because at the time of writing this post, I have a nasty cold!
1. Break Out the Learning DVDs
I have collected various learning DVDs over the years. We have the entire series of The Magic School Bus on hand. I got it on sale at a great price. There are four seasons now available on Netflix. This will be a life-saver this week for our homeschool.
We have some Drive Thru History DVDs that we will use this week too. Dave Stotts keeps my son's attention through his wit and humor while exploring different periods of history. There are series for Ancient History, American History, and The Holy Land. You can find episodes on YouTube. This will be a welcome addition to our homeschool this week. I'll pick episodes to help reinforce what we have been learning in Mystery of History. We will pause our reading this week since I'm sick, but my son will continue to learn through this great series!
2. Create Two Schedules
Don't be caught unprepared. Trust me I know because this nasty cold has caught me off guard. Now I am scrambling trying to come up with a schedule for this upcoming week because I don't know how long I'm going to be with this cold. I already have a weekly schedule that I print out each week that lists what we will be working on in our homeschool. I will have to lay that schedule aside this week, so today I'm preparing my “sick schedule” that we will use instead. I thank the Lord I'm not so sick that I cannot homeschool at all. My son needs routine in his life, and I don't want to disrupt our homeschool routine although it will look slightly different due to my current sickness. Always have a back-up plan.
3. Take Advantage of Learning Games
There are tons of ways you can turn games into learning games for your homeschool. A deck of cards can be a fun way to quiz math facts. Take turns drawing cards and adding the numbers or multiplying the numbers together. I'm looking forward to doing this with my son this week to see what facts he has truly memorized through our daily math work. One other fun game I made up for our homeschool is writing numbers on our whiteboard in a circle (I can get 6 good size circles on our whiteboard), then calling out a math problem, and with his Nerf gun in hand my son will aim and fire it at the answer. He LOVES this game. Just use your imagination, or check out my Math on the Level Pinterest board for more game ideas.
4. Virtual Educational Field Trips
What a great time to take a virtual educational field trip! We both might stay in our pajamas for this one…lol! I have some great virtual educational sites pinned on my Homeschool board on Pinterest that we can use for our virtual educational field trip one day this week. I am really excited for the possibilities this will allow us!
5. Call In For a Sick Day
Of course, there are some times when you simply have to call in for a sick day. Aren't you glad you are married to the superintendent of your homeschool…lol! During these times, give yourself some mercy and time to recover. This time is a wonderful opportunity to develop your child's heart in servanthood. Enlist their help around the house to take the load off of your shoulders. They need to learn homemaking skills too, so while you are not feeling well give them daily tasks appropriate for their age.
I hope my tips for homeschooling when moma is sick have been helpful to you. While being a homeschooling moma who is sick isn't fun, it is an opportunity to think outside the box and make up a plan to have on hand when the inevitable does come knocking at your door.
How about you…do you have a plan to fall back on in your homeschool when you get a nasty cold?
Laurie is a daughter of the King, wife to a wonderful husband, and a mother to two beautiful children and one waiting in Heaven. Her desire is to be filled with the empowering presence of God which enables her to be who He created her to be and to do what He has called her to do. God answers this prayer by giving Laurie grace-filled moments in her journey called “life”. You can find Laurie blogging at Grace-Filled-Moments. You can also connect with her on Facebook and Google+.