So when one of your kids has a major injury

[Laurel-in-CA]

that sidelines them for several months at a time, how do you adjust expectations? My dd broke her arm at a horse show this past weekend and had it surgically repaired yesterday. We're looking at an 8-10 week cast and then physical therapy. It is her left arm, but she'll be typing one-handed for awhile, KWIM. Of course, right now she's on drugs and will be for a few days until the surgery pain subsides. So....what would you adjust???

[GVA]

I don't think there's any hard-and-fast rules. You do what you can and back off if you think the schoolwork is interfering with their need to cope with the medical problems. Right now is not the time to do school, but you should be able to gradually build things up again if her recovery goes well although there may be hard periods again when she gets the cast off, ramps up physical therapy, etc.

I know several local families who homeschooled kids through a year or so of radiation/chemo. I don't know how they got anything done going back and forth to the children's hospital, but in each case the kids came out of it well physically and academically.

[transientChris]

My dd had shoulder surgery on her right shoulder near the beginning of 10th grade. SHe was out of commission for schoolwork for a few days. FOrtunately for her, since she is hyperlax, she was able to start typing and writing within the week. If she hadn't been, I would have had to type things for her (for her outside class) and would have done things orally for her home classes.

[DeeFL]

We've had some injuries (hope your daughter is doing okay and will recover fully) and I eased up till they were feeling better, physically. As far as writing, typing, etc...well, we did what we could. Some things we did orally, some just with extremely messy writing, and some things I wrote out or typed for them.
I didn't want to completely forgo everything, but also extended a lot of grace with how things were accomplished.

[gingersmom]

I would give her a month off.

My daughter (when she was younger) broke her elbow and needed 2 surgeries to fix it. Then she was in a cast for 9 weeks.

I would just think she needs some time physically and emotionally to adjust.

[Jean in Wisc]

that sidelines them for several months at a time, how do you adjust expectations? My dd broke her arm at a horse show this past weekend and had it surgically repaired yesterday. We're looking at an 8-10 week cast and then physical therapy. It is her left arm, but she'll be typing one-handed for awhile, KWIM. Of course, right now she's on drugs and will be for a few days until the surgery pain subsides. So....what would you adjust???

My son has spinal fusion in January--11 vertebrae. He took a month off because he could not sit and look down or work at a desk--even reading was tough. We just moved that month into his summer to catch up.

I'd say you can give her whatever she can do and catch up later. If she cannot type, then maybe she can do her work with pen and paper. Just how much would she not be able to do? As long as she is right handed, I'd think most of her work could be done--perhaps research papers or such could be moved into next year and something else could be put into this year's schedule--or just flip them into the end of this year instead of doing them now. My ds sometimes chooses to write his papers out by hand--I have him double space them.

Just a thought or two--

Jean

[Laurel-in-CA]

Thanks for the ideas, ladies. Her surgery went well, but it will be 2 weeks until the stitches come out. I am thinking of giving her at least that long until we start daily subjects again. The challenges here are that: a) she's a senior and b) we're with a charter school. That means she does need to finish classes on-time (or so) and on-schedule (or so). The charter has course descriptions with objectives (e.g., paper on 3 branches of government, etc.) that have to be finished by semester end--mid-December--every class has a semester paper required. They also get ADA money for each day she's "in school" so will be encouraging me to count days as soon as she can read coherently, etc.

I am going to look into using United Streaming for videos related to her english (BritLit) and psychology, as well as American Government. Her painting class at the senior center...we'll see; I think I can in good conscience count virtual art museum tours and videos about painters for that class. Consumer Math can be done pencil and paper, definitely.

[kpupg]

So....what would you adjust???

We've had numerous broken arms here ... do as much as you can orally.

I read below about your charter school obligations -- contact those folks and explain the situation to them -- work actively with them to adjust as much as possible. You will not be the first medical issue they've encountered.

As for my kids, after the initial adjustment period, they were able to write OK -- not pretty, but OK -- even my son who had his arm strapped to his torso except when bathing could write decently with a clipboard and a little practice -- so try it. Typing with one hand probably will be torturously tedious, but maybe not for your daughter -- give it a try. Also try her dictating and you (or whoever) typing it in, then have her do revising/editing. Try lots of stuff to find what works.

God bless and prayers,
Karen

[Margaret in CO]

We went through 8 months in a cast/brace, with ankle surgery. The biggest problem was the constant PT--it took sooooo much time. She really lost a month of school, with many trips back to the hospital. We just did what we could and let the rest go. I can remember when I had a cast back in junior high--I just dictated to my mom and she typed.