Homeschooling When Mom is Sick

Today, I am happy to introduce Lyn, my lifesaver, from Super Mom the Illusion. When I put out a distress call for help this week while I am sick, she was quick to answer and provide a post that I wish I had read a few weeks ago. Her advice will help you be prepared for days like these that I am experiencing now.

When I heard Penny wasn’t feeling well, I wasted no time in offering to guest blog for her. As a homeschooling mom, I know what her day probably looks like, and I knew it was the perfect time to share about what to do with your home school when mom isn’t feeling well.

I’ve created some practical ways of staying on top of the school day when illness doesn’t allow for the usual lessons. Plus, it’s good to just have a day of activities that allow mom and kids to take a break from the book work.

Have a sick day plan

The first thing to do is create a plan for what your students will do if you aren’t feeling well. I suggest making a folder that has ideas in it for age appropriate activities. Learning doesn’t always have to look like learning. So even the play times and lazy times of watching movies and playing video games can be educational.

This folder might include things like a list of games to play such as Sorry, Yahtzee, Scrabble, Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders, etc. (depending on how old the kids are), watch movies such as Anne Frank, The Hiding Place, writing prompts, math drills, and books to read. Then, the children are prepared to go to the folder if need be, and everyone sort of knows “the Plan.”

Plan meals your child can prepare

Teach your younger children how to make simple food items like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. A loaf of bread and the PB&J on a table with a plastic knife will enable them to help themselves when lunch time comes around.

When I was on bedrest with my second son, my older son loved to make us our lunch while daddy was at work. He took pride in helping mommy, and it taught him some much needed skills he would later use in the military (finding food and eating anywhere!)

Teach a kind bedside manner

Finally, when mom is sick, seize a great opportunity to teach your children to be compassionate, caring, and nurturing.

After I had my wisdom teeth removed a few years ago, my youngest daughter asked me all the in’s and out’s of caring for my mouth after the procedure. She made a point of knowing that I needed table salt and warm water after eating, when I needed to take the antibiotic, that it needed to be taken with food, and how many pills I got. She was almost five years old and knew not to take any medication unless Mommy said it was okay, but she would bring me the pill bottle and I could take my medicine.

These are just ideas to get you started. A good school and home runs on contingency plans, the good ol’ “If-Then” plans. That is just what this is, training your child to think, “If Mom isn’t feeling well, then I can do this for school.”

May your next sick day run more smoothly than it ever has!

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Lyn Parker began writing in elementary school where she found her passion for creating worlds where she would like to live and travel.  Her desire to write was put on hold as she began to raise and homeschool her eight children and has graduated four of those students through homeschooling.  Lyn resumed writing in 2005 when she decided to return to college.  She graduated in 2008 from the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley with a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism and a minor in writing.  The passion the Lord has given her for writing has been the motivation Lyn needed to pursue writing her first Christian fiction series. The Breakthrough is currently available in paperback and on Kindle via Amazon. She is also a contributing author at So You Call Yourself A Homeschooler and has her own column at Choose NOW Ministries: On Mentoring Teens. Lyn, her husband and six of her children reside in northern Colorado.

Connect with Lyn on Facebook.

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More ideas for homeschool sick days

• Consider this list of suggestions for homeschooling when you or the children are sick.
• Have a flexible lesson plan system so your year is not derailed by a week off from school.
• Find supplemental homeschool material on Netflix to keep the children occupied when illness makes traditional lessons difficult.