How am I going to get caught up?

[TammyinTN]

I'm ready to cry...seriously. DS has never been sick like this. He went to the states for 10 days..which I had planned for, then he returned with viral pneumonia. We did two days of school last week --he just felt so bad. Then he went in for a recheck yesterday...strep throat.:confused: He feels terrible. How on earth am I going to get all this stuff caught up and finish by November 30th. We have to move in December back to the states and will need time to find a house and such. We are doing A Beka and they have tons of requirements, assignments and loads of busy work. Should I just skip stuff? I have never had this problem and basically I don't want to screw up my kid.:glare:

 

And on the homefront...I've cleaned everything. I tossed his toothbrush and got new ones, new toothpaste. Dishes got through the dishwasher, I wipe down the bathrooms dailydisinfect with bleach) and clean doorhandles like nobodies business. I washed everything on his bed including comforter and I've wiped down everything in his room. What else can I do?

 

Thanks for any advice and letting me whine.

[Mama Geek]

:grouphug:

You won't mess up your son. His health is more important right now. I missed a lot of time (at least 2 weeks a year) in ps growing up because of being sick. I still went to college and have a reasonable education. (I am not trying to be smart with this answer). You are homeschooling so your son is likely getting a more rigorous education than he would in the public schools anyway.

 

I know I am not in the middle of officially homeschooling my dd, but please know your son's education will be fine.

 

I am guessing that you are worried because of your son's illness. I hope things get better soon.

[NanceXToo]

Breathe.

 

Most public school teachers pick and choose. They don't finish every.single.thing. in their curriculum/textbooks.

 

You don't have to do every.single.thing. either. :)

 

Read aloud to him. Put on some educational shows. Play a game with him. Talk with him. These things are fine for a kid who is sick/recuperating.

 

When you feel ready to get back into your curriculum stuff, start seeing what you can consolidate/shorten/skip/etc and just worry about the basics, and then choose which things you want to add on as you have time. But don't stress over whether you do everything. If it seems like "busywork" to you, don't bother with it! Especially if it's stuff he's already got a good handle on.

 

It sounds like you've already done fine with the cleaning stuff, too. Now go relax a bit. :)

[Ravin]

Just do what you can. If he's sick, he's sick. If you don't finish by moving time, you can pick up where you left off once you're settled in again, or else drop it and start 9th grade work.

 

I'd focus on things most immediately preparatory for high school work (i.e. math) and let things less critical go (i.e. electives).

[Margo out of lurking]

We are doing A Beka and they have tons of requirements, assignments and loads of busy work. Should I just skip stuff? I have never had this problem and basically I don't want to screw up my kid.:glare:

 

If you're using the A Beka books and not the Academy, I would absolutely just skip the busy work. Stick to the basics, math and writing. If your ds has any particular weakness, I'd also continue to work on that. Pick and choose according to what you know about your ds.

 

In lieu of history or science, find something he can watch or read more for pleasure as a substitute while he gets back on his feet. When he's better, he can continue to watch or read instead of rushing to "catch up."

 

You won't screw up your kid. If he were in a ps, he'd have lost this time anyway, just been given a lot of homework and no instruction.

 

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

[SailorMom]

Don't sweat it. He'll be fine. Focus on the math, have him read some good books while he's recuperating, maybe watch some good documentaries. Abeka has a ton of busy work you can just skip completely.

[kalanamak]

When my kiddo is sick, I fall back on history and audio visual. I read to him, read and read and read. He naps on the couch while I have a good Naxos recording going about the great inventors or the story of the Trojan War. When he is more lively we do art. If he is really peevish, I cuddle up to him and tell him stories about his ancestors.

 

We've had some good sick days.

 

:grouphug:

[TXMomof4]

We're doing a VA this year and I was a little overwhelmed with the busywork at the beginning of the year. Spelling and vocabulary were the two that were just time-eaters in my house. They had worksheets every.day. and they didn't need it. The ps teachers who supervise my kids all said to take the tests until they started missing words - skip the worksheets entirely. Then, if they can review the words one day and take the test the next, have at it. The girls are both very adept with spelling and vocab, so we've managed to skip more than 3/4 of the book.

 

Busywork is unnecessary. Especially if they know the information.

 

Also, can you do some of it orally? When we got behind in history, I would read the book aloud and we would work through the essay questions and quizzes together.