It is the time of year when visitors come to call. One uninvited guest is the flu bug. The flu bug flies in and destroys a home for a week, sometimes more. I have a family of six. The flu could set my house in a state of illness for a month.
One advantage to homeschooling when the flu comes to call is you don’t need to call off school. You can work around the illness, work through the illness, or just take days off without actually missing anything. Yes, it often puts your schedule behind a bit but your child will never truly miss school. Besides there are plenty of activities a child can still do while sick. A child can read, play a few computer games, do some practice review math, or watch a documentary. Of course all of that will depend on the severity of the illness.
Homeschooling gets a bit more complicated when it is mom with the flu. When mom has the flu the entire house is affected. You know the saying, “If mama ain’t happy ain’t nobody happy.” While we are not intent on making our children and families unhappy while we are sick it is inevitable that our sickness will cause issues. It will be hard to keep up with what the kids are doing. It will be hard to keep up with household duties. It will be hard to take a nap.
So what’s a sick homeschooling mom to do?
Plan ahead: When you plan your curriculum for the year take the time to plan one or two sick folders. As homeschooling moms we do not have substitutes. If you have an older child or family member that will help that is fantastic. If not, put together some activities in a folder to keep your children busy during times you are sick. This does not have to serious work. You could use skill building activities, an assignment to research a particular topic, brain teasers, reviews, coloring sheets, etc.
Home Econ 101: Have the kids trim down their school to reading, math, and English. Those are the topics that most need attention and to be kept up on. Then assign children, age appropriate of course, chores around the house. You can assign dusting, laundry, sweeping, lunch, dinner, etc. This will teach them taking responsibility when a family member needs help and how to do certain chores. Keep in mind that this is a teaching experience for them and to keep them busy. So if they are not performing perfectly, no worries. If they are performing well then you will feel better in no time with a house maintaining some order while you are down and out.