Kids a teeny bit sick--what schooling should we do?

[Alana in Canada]

My daughter is definitely suffering from a sore throat and sneezing. My son says he's got a tickle.

After lying on the couch and doing a bit of reading, they are now playing Uno at the kitchen table.

I figure if they can play Uno--they can do school.

Should I insist?

And should we take it easy (what would that look like? Or do our full schedule--or as much of it as we can? It'll be like pushing rocks uphill.)

[EKS]

The only things that get my kids out of school are throwing up or a high fever or severe symptoms of any kind. I don't cancel school for typical cold symptoms. I might have them do less if they're sick, but they still do something.

[nmoira]

We do fun stuff on mildly sick days: lots of read-alouds, poetry, games, maybe some flashcards, but no written work. Frustration thresholds are so much lower when they're sick, we don't venture to approach them.

[MeganP]

My dc are rarely sick, but I would only cancel for severe illness. I have a friend who, when her dd was in school, said, "If you can't go to school, you stay in bed." In other words, if you're well enough to be up and around, you will go to school, and I've kept to the same philosophy with homeschool, though I would give a lighter day if dc aren't feeling well. For us grammar, spelling, vocabulary, math are generally pretty easy. Those get done every day. Copywork is a major chore, so that would be let to slide. Latin can be tough for them, so again, it would slide. I would do reading for history and science, but wouldn't expect a lot of writing on a sick day.

Hope your kids feel better soon.

[Alana in Canada]

Thank you. It was exactly my wish to avoid the threshold of "frustration" for all of us that was concerning me!

I do NOT want to go there (on any day, actually, but today especially). So, we'll see how it goes. (We do have a lot of writing scheduled today--which we didn't get to yesterday (sigh.) It throws the whole week out of whack.

It's Week 5, Day 2 (of a 4 1/2 day week).

[WTMindy]

I'm a pretty mean mom about this. We school unless someone is throwing up or has a bad fever or something. I can't afford to give up the time.

[Karen FL]

All of us are sick today (sore throats, sneezing, and congstion). DS 9 y/o practiced piano, did Math, & spelling.
DS 6 y/o did Math, Spelling, 100 EZ Lessons, & his dot to dot book.
We also did a character lesson on dilligence.
DD 3y/o did her Wal Mart preschool book.
Then they played with Play Do.
Now they're cleaning out their gecko's terrarium.
Our 9 y/o gave me a lot of trouble. I did discipline him. I expect him to behave whether he is sick or not. I've had to go to work sick before and I had the Lord gave me enough self control to behave myself. :)

[Colleen in NS]

My daughter is definitely suffering from a sore throat and sneezing. My son says he's got a tickle.

After lying on the couch and doing a bit of reading, they are now playing Uno at the kitchen table.

I figure if they can play Uno--they can do school.

Should I insist?

And should we take it easy (what would that look like? Or do our full schedule--or as much of it as we can? It'll be like pushing rocks uphill.)

This was my dilemma today, too!

Ds was miserable with a cold Mon. and Tues., but I still did lessons. I let some things go yesterday. Last night, I started going downhill, today I am miserable as is dd, so I gave up for today. Here, it is NOT worth the frustration levels. We've been lounging around. Me reading, kids building with Lincoln Logs in between naps and resting in the sun outside. Kids just had an ice cream cone, just before supper.

This is what makes me think yet again of trying a "longer than 36 weeks" school schedule, just to spread things out so I don't feel so pressured when weeks get "messed up." On hand, I like things getting done in compact times, on the other hand, I like having some leeway......I can't win with myself! LOL

Hope you are all feeling better soon. Achoo! :lol:

[mcconnellboys]

When I have one down, which isn't very often, we generally still read, do oral stuff, watch movies, etc.

[Alana in Canada]

We did our full day--except for the narrations for Aesop (which got pushed aside yesterday, too). I did all the scribing for my daughter...and she's only done one question on her math lesson, today. Grrrr.

This is what makes me think yet again of trying a "longer than 36 weeks" school schedule, just to spread things out so I don't feel so pressured when weeks get "messed up." On hand, I like things getting done in compact times, on the other hand, I like having some leeway......I can't win with myself! LOL


The only way any schedule works for situations like this is to schedule a "light week" on purpose, for catch up. We are planning on taking a week off in October (right after week 9) but it's Dad's vacation time, so I doubt anyone will want to catch up, then. Then we have five weeks until a three week break at Christmas, which I may shorten to two.

I don't know what to do, either. I do know that days like this make ME very frustrated!