Jump to content

Menu

January & school is not a good mix for us


Nemom
 Share

Recommended Posts

We have done a total of four days of school this month.   :huh: Between dr appts & snow days-it just ain't happening.

 

January is always the worst month for us.  Today we are having a blizzard and it is the second snow day for public school so my oldest is home which means no school for us (Sorry-just does not happen when he is here).  It is the second snow day this year.

 

Last week dd and I were suppose to fly out of state to a dr appt.  We decided to drive rather than sit at O'Hare and two other airports with the flu outbreak.  So we didn't get any school completed.  

 

The week before we managed four days but on Friday had a day long dr appt.

 

Crossing my fingers we do not finish the month with a house full of sick people which would mean no school.   :crying:

 

How is your January going???

Edited by Nemom
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We are getting things done--although we have dropped a few days (not usual for us) and co-op has been cancelled a few times.  Mostly it feels like some things are going really well and some things are just a pure slog.  I do have to fight the urge to just call off school and hibernate.

 

I hate winter.

 

But, I agree with the PP, when I notice times not much gets done (pre-Thanksgiving, the week before Christmas), I just plan on catch-up/light school in future years.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We were supposed to start back on the 8th.

I woke up sick on the 2nd with a cold.  By the end of the week, we'd decided to switch the playroom and the school room (so the boys could have a bigger room for their "Man Cave" and have more space to hang out with friends, room for the ping pong table, etc).  I started that on the 5th, with a worsening cough that turned into bronchitis.   I slowly worked on the swap, but had no energy and felt awful, so didn't get a lot done other than make a mess.  Thought I was getting better, finished the move the week of the 15th, only to realize on the 18th I was worse again.  So Friday I went to the doctor and got antibiotics (bronchitis, sinus infection, ear infections) and we started back today.  My brain is still sluggish.  When it's working, I need to sit down and figure out if I can trim anything or if we'll just need to school into June.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We have done a total of four days of school this month. :huh: Between dr appts & snow days-it just ain't happening.

 

January is always the worst month for us. Today we are having a blizzard and it is the second snow day for public school so my oldest is home which means no school for us (Sorry-just does not happen when he is here). It is the second snow day this year.

 

Last week dd and I were suppose to fly out of state to a dr appt. We decided to drive rather than sit at O'Hare and two other airports with the flu outbreak. So we didn't get any school completed.

 

The week before we managed four days but on Friday had a day long dr appt.

 

Crossing my fingers we do not finish the month with a house full of sick people which would mean no school. :crying:

 

How is your January going???

 

I can't imagine this with teens, unless they're going to school through half the summer. But I'd think there would be a disconnect, once the regular after school activities resume after the break, going to TKD and art class and music lessons and jobs without having had school that day.

 

For me, this is one of the things that makes hsing through high school harder than hsing the little ones. Far less flexibility.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

:grouphug: my oldest tend to be the sickest from allergies in Jan/Feb and April yearly. He works through Christmas break (Christmas eve to Jan 2nd) and also on Martin Luther King’s day so that he has the buffer for sick days. We are just on schedule with his outsourced class assignments with that buffer built in.

 

For long car rides, we try to get some “school†in by either playing downloaded podcasts or playing great course CDs from the library. History, foreign language review and some literature could be done that way. My oldest get car sick reading so listening is what he can do on long car rides.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My January is really my best month, so opposite. It's too cold do do anything fun, it's too dangerous to road trip. We really have nothing to do, so might as well pack in the school so we can have more time off later. But we're coming off a light December, so we were ready to hit the ground running. Ask me again once it's warmer and nice outside. Thankfully we haven't gotten sick yet. Dh is a hospitalist and two of the doctors in his group got the flu last week. I'm planning on basically making him bathe in hand sanitizer before he steps through the door.

Edited by Meagan S
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The whole family of 4 came down with pneumonia; two before Christmas and then I thought we were done.  But...dh came down with 103 fever over the long weekend of New Year's and my ds woke up the next day (Jan. 2nd) announcing he had pneumonia, too...just like that, out of the blue.  Now he is on a course of prednisone two weeks after the antibiotic as the pneumonia can still be heard in his lungs...and I've got to take everyone back for 6-week FU chest x-rays, so my dd's is sometime this week...

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We have done a total of four days of school this month.   :huh: Between dr appts & snow days-it just ain't happening.

 

January is always the worst month for us.  Today we are having a blizzard and it is the second snow day for public school so my oldest is home which means no school for us (Sorry-just does not happen when he is here).  It is the second snow day this year.

 

Last week dd and I were suppose to fly out of state to a dr appt.  We decided to drive rather than sit at O'Hare and two other airports with the flu outbreak.  So we didn't get any school completed.  

 

The week before we managed four days but on Friday had a day long dr appt.

 

Crossing my fingers we do not finish the month with a house full of sick people which would mean no school.   :crying:

 

How is your January going???

I have one in public school this year, too, and I am hating public school right now.

 

So I think January is bad for all school, home and public.

Emily

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm in my first year of homeschooling, so it's my first January. We still have lots of hits and misses, but the even my 'misses' are decent days overall.

 

I think that starting with 7th grade, I haven't absorbed a mindset of too much flexibility. We are still working remedially in a lot of ways, and I need to be high-school-ready at the end of grade 9. (Canadian system: 7-9 is Junior High, 10-12 is High School.) So, even when we have trouble focusing, or feel a bit unwell -- it's about switching to gentle educational activities, lower expectations, and being kind to ourselves as we learn. We don't really contemplate not doing school on a school day.

 

I haven't noticed anything particularly hard about January-ness, except for some emotional resistance to resuming certain less desirable parts of what we do. So, some conflict and a few meltdowns while getting used to the fact that it can't all be fun and games -- but we're more settled now. (It was similar in October, once the September shine wore off.)

 

Weather-wise, we have a long winter with variations between bitter cold and mild days. January had some bitter days that kept us from wanting to be out much. Those were productive days: possibly because it's not that unusual?

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Today was our 4th day this month.  :svengo:

 

In my defense, we've been painting and fixing and such, and they've helped a good bit.  Then snow happened. 

I report our school year as the full 12 months, but still...

Edited by CES2005
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Blizzard warning lasted until 10 pm last night.  Roads aren't clear and there are spots of black ice.  Decided to keep older son home or at least send him late today.  I've witnessed how these high school kids drive in snow and know there is a lot of accidents trying to get to school.

 

DD and I will have to get done what we can today.  It may actually give me a chance to regroup and figure out where we left off if we ease in slowly today.  

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Winter is when I plan to do the most schooling with her. Having to be indoors due to bad weather, you have to do something. Teach her to cook and bake during this time also. DD5 but wants to do it all.

 

During spring and summer school will be lighter because she will get a lot more outside time.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This month has been atrocious.

We had a death in the family. Followed by horrible sickness that took 4 of 5 kids. Followed by round two on one kid.

 

Then my oldest was offered a ride to visit her best friend 10 hours away for a week. They've maintained best friend status over a long distance for two years-so she went.

 

I am really hoping we can get back into a good grove next week. We took off the end of November and all of December to have a baby. I have a feeling we'll need to do school through the summer... and the past tells me that's not likely to happen very well

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This month has been atrocious.

We had a death in the family. Followed by horrible sickness that took 4 of 5 kids. Followed by round two on one kid.

 

Then my oldest was offered a ride to visit her best friend 10 hours away for a week. They've maintained best friend status over a long distance for two years-so she went.

 

I am really hoping we can get back into a good grove next week. We took off the end of November and all of December to have a baby. I have a feeling we'll need to do school through the summer... and the past tells me that's not likely to happen very well

 

So sorry for your lose.  

 

We've tried school in the summer the last two years and it didn't go well for us either.  I think I need the break more than she does.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We are doing pretty well. January means two things around here: cookie sales for scouts starting up and time to enroll and begin study group for National Latin Exams. That stuff coupled with our regular routine stuff like dance classes, co-ops, scout meetings, and church things keep us on a pretty good schedule. We don't live anywhere with terrible weather. We have had cold spells, but rarely get snow here. Some years ice will slow things up, but not this year, so things have been rolling along. 

 

Both kids have a math test this week. We have study group meeting here today for latin which means I will be on task to have a plan ready to go. We usually work pretty hard and fast through about March. Then when spring break time hits we are ready for nice long one. Cookie sales will be over after a whirlwind, latin exams will be a memory, etc. Then it is a struggle to finish up the year. :) 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

One good thing that happened is while we were traipsing to CVS all month to get medicine, I discovered the area's smallish grocery store makes fantastic homemade soups and have started being a regular there!  :)  And I've been very proud of my senior who is working very hard to keep up with his online classes despite being down with pneumonia this entire month.  Sometimes adversity can bring out strength of character that we never even knew we had, especially in our family when it is combined with faith that God will see us through!

 

Here's hoping that next month will be brighter for all here (so what if we're talking February...that notoriously difficult to push through homeschooling month...maybe it's 'January' instead this year and February will go by like a breeze... :laugh:)!

 

Brenda

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

High five- me too!

 

ETA- and now non-ill sibling is protesting that fact that he must do school while sick child sits and watches The Good Dinosaur as a crime against humanity.

 

:laugh:   Yep, I didn't allow the sick one to watch for that reason.  Just made the other two be quiet, and am breaking up their seat work into two parts instead of a long morning session.  This wiped 5 commitments off my calendar this week; not sure if I'm happy or sad about that...

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...