Falling Back On The Tried And True

For those of you who follow my blog, Pass The Flu Bug Please, you know that our family faces many medical ups and downs. Some are very easy to combat and still others drain us of everything we have in us. Some are related to the children's health while some are related to my own.

When we are facing problems there are times it would be easy to throw in the towel and not accomplish anything. Honestly there are days that this does happen. However, we know that while that is ok sometimes it's not ok all the time. So what do we do on the days that it just seems so so hard to even get out of bed let alone get motivated to teach and to learn? We have found that relying on the basics- reading, writing and math, will help us get through a tough spot. If we concentrate on these subjects we don't feel overwhelmed nor do we feel like we have to get every single subject in. We feel like we are still accomplishing work while not adding more stress.
Reading is always a good choice when we are feeling bad. There are so many subjects and topics we can choose from. We can read something fictional or a biography. We can read something funny or read something captivating. While they are reading I know my kids are reinforcing correct grammer usage (most of the time, with some books this doesn't happen) and rules for writing. Reading can be done anywhere... on the couch, in the bed, outside... it's one of the greatest learning tools we have!

When the kids are writing I know that they are practicing penmanship, spelling, their grasp of cause and effect, and proper grammer. I can assign a simple creative story for them to write, they can practice writing spelling words or perhaps a more indepth book report. We can work in science or history while they are writing without having to do these subjects separately.

With math if we are too sick to start new concepts we can always do worksheets for review work. The kids are reinforcing the concepts they have already leaned without putting too much stress on them. They feel like they are still making accomplishments when everyday life just seems to hard.

When things are tough medically I know that we won't get as much done on schoolwork. Having a few tried and true methods to fall back on not only helps keep us on track and learning but it insures that we won't be overworked, overstressed and resentful on top of hte already big load we are carrying on our shoulders.

It's a very delicate balance at times but we've found sometimes school in tiny doses is one of the best medicines to help us get through our medical problems.


You can learn more about the medical problems that Michelle and her family face at her blog, Pass The Flu Bug Please.