Tips for hs-ing through child hospitalization?

[Lucy the Valiant]

Those of you who have done this - what good tips can you pass along to help smooth out home schooling through 1 child's hospitalization? Estimating 7-10 day stay - 3 older (upper elementary) kids at home who will be sort of shuffled between (loving) grandparents & friends.

 

I will stay with the child in the hospital (it's 2 hours from our home). DH will use / take every chance off work that he can without jeopardizing his job.

 

How can I make it easier for my children at home? For the adults who are caring for them? (Send school-work? Find educational videos? Perhaps some sort of game / small treat each day? special audio books?)

 

Determined to do this as well as we possibly can, but I'm admittedly apprehensive, too. We did this a few years back, but they were all much younger, and things seemed easier.

[Lang Syne Boardie]

I found that even the most willing relatives, whom we all thought would succeed at substitute homeschooling, found the simplest materials and instructions to be entirely overwhelming on top of full-time childcare. In the end, homeschooling for the other children looked like a few quiet hours per day, wherever they were staying, dedicated to....

 

read alouds

time alone to read, draw, write, do puzzles, play Lego, etc.

math games such as Yahtzee

educational videos or documentaries

 

Also, the relatives were more comfortable taking them to a museum or something, than trying to follow unfamiliar curriculum at all.

 

Homeschooling remained my domain and waited for me to return, except for the eldest teen who was able to work mostly independently some of the time.

 

The hospitalized child -- we went through some motions to please the ed. expert at the hospital who maintained that the school routine was necessary, healthful, and important, but we didn't care. We were still in PTSD mode, thankful he was alive, worried about ongoing problems. He was a senior, so he worked at his calculus and Greek lessons a little, and read a few chapters of some classics. Otherwise, he wanted visitors and to play video games. Within a few days of this, I gave him his diploma. He had the credits, and we considered him educated enough.

 

[Splash]

My mother in law made sure they read and did math. Otherwise we just survived. Did in hospital didn't/couldn't do any school at all for entire 35 days in PICU as well as for several months after we got home. Just too sick. Fortunately high schoolers were in classes so just needed support. Rough year and we worked a bit into summer to complete some of their math.

[purpleowl]

I have no experience with this but just wanted to post and say I'm so sorry that it's an issue you're facing at all. :(  I hope the hospital stay is brief.

 

Maybe video chats could be useful for "schoolwork feedback from mom" time?

[mamiof5]

I think it really depends on the person caring for them. Some might want the work to keep the kids busy, some might find it overwhelming. Some people like to read aloud, some others can't do it. I'd ask? If anything else fails, send stuff the kids can and will do independently without fussing. Sorry you are going through this. Hope your child recovers soon.

[redsquirrel]

I am sorry you are dealing with this.  :grouphug:

 

Honestly, it's 10 days? That is two weeks of school. That is nothing, in the big picture.  I would take a 1 month vacation. If you can start up after the 10 days, great. If not, you have a bumper of time to just recover and be together.

 

I would just let the kids be with their family and grandparents, put in a big supply of DVDs and audio books and library books. I know my kids would love it if someone would bake with them etc. Parks and museums and things would prob go over great!

 

Is there a way you can all video chat with skype, facetime etc? 

[abba12]

Usually I dislike it when people say 'just put school aside because life is more important'/educational'. I've known too many families who put school aside for way too many months because of every reason under the sun.

 

But, this is two weeks. And it's a hospitalization. Give yourself a break :) Send some fun things if the kids want something to occupy their time, and I suppose a math lesson couldn't hurt if you really want to, but I'd just leave school alone for two weeks for anyone not old enough to be independent, and have independent students keep on keeping on by themselves. It's not like it's a 3 month ordeal, or something which will happen frequently since it sounds like you're the sort of person who would homeschool through anything. If you find yourself not finished at the end of the year, just work an extra week or two into the summer. 

 

Also, I don't trust my family to homeschool my kids, as supportive as they are their ideas are different. Doing a homeschool day is NOT like doing homework in the evening. Some family members would get frustrated, or begin judging our education when the child struggles with math because they're having an off day. Others would give all the answers and not much would be learned. They wouldn't have the big picture to reference. I just don't think homeschooling is something you can have a substitute 'teacher' step in and do, unless they are homeschoolers themselves. 

[Butter]

In this case, I'd call a school break.  Just having a sibling in the hospital and mom gone is stressful enough.  Trying to get someone else to teach them other children could be just too much.  It's just a couple weeks.

[Pink and Green Mom]

If it were me, and I am not one to say "put school aside for life reasons", I think I would just give the children some books to read and some fun games and leave it at that.  My parents love the idea of homeschooling and have been at my house enough to know the routine but would be panicked if I asked them to actually do the teaching themselves especially of all the subjects.

 

I do like your idea of a small gift for each child daily.  I remember when I was around 10 my parents went to Europe for two weeks.  They left both my sister and I a small wrapped gift to open every day they were gone.  Nothing fancy, just little things (a paperback, hair stuff, one of those ball and paddle things we loved, etc).

[Katy]

I wouldn't want skills lost, so I would break it down to this:

• 1 Hour of Khan Academy per day (they can do more if they want)
• 1 page essay on their topic of choice for older kids
• 1 page of a workbook in grammar, spelling, vocabulary, or handwriting, OR one lesson in typing for kids old enough to be done with handwriting and spelling lessons.
• 20 minutes-2 hours of reading, depending on the child's age (they can do more if they want).
• If you do video language lessons, you might continue to have them study that in some way too.

 

Make a daily checklist of work to be done and have them fill in what they do each day.  Then leave it be.

[Alessandra]

Oops! I just re read your post and see you will be staying in hospital. So some of what I will say will not apply. Sorry!

 

I had a situation like that and we just took a break from homeschooling. I was surprized at how totally wiped out I was after a day in the hospital. Sometimes we were on the move, going for tests. But mostly I was sitting, waiting. I bought and ate food cooked by others. No cooking or cleaning. I sat and read or fiddled around on iPad.

 

But I was totally exhausted at end of each say. Stress, no doubt. Oh, and you probably know this, but doctors often makes their rounds early in the morning, maybe 7 am. So if you want updates firsthand from doctors, rather than secondhand, you may have to get to hospital early in the morning. And since busiest visiting hours are usually in the evening, you do not want to leave your kid alone when everyone else has visitors. Makes for a long day.

 

So another vote here for doing only what is essential for physical and mental health. Imo, your kids at home will need extra care and love more than homeschooling. Even the most thoughtful kids can be jealous of the child who is in the hospital, getting all the attention. So my suggestion would be to stock up on some fun (not necessarily educational) videos, games, little surprise things from dollar store or craft store, snacks, maybe a card for your kids at home.

[Valley Girl]

Sorry your family is facing this situation. I'm probably echoing other posters here, but since we're talking about two weeks, I'd see what the older kids could do independently and send them with a list of those things to complete each day (spelling, reading, etc.). For math or science, I wouldn't start anything new. I'd view this period as review time and send worksheets/resources for them to work on that would keep skills fresh. I wouldn't, however, make the workload burdensome.

 

Having a family member in the hospital is stressful on everyone. I'd send enough to keep them busy for a few hours and let them enjoy the rest of the time doing special things with the relatives or just playing, reading good books, and doing hobbies. This way, the kids still have some familiar routine but can still decompress. Plus if you have to play catch up for a few weeks in the summer, you won't be behind in every subject.

 

Best wishes for your kiddo's speedy recovery.

[Lucy the Valiant]

Thank you, all of you - good info and ideas here.

 

We are definitely prioritizing "living through this" over "getting schoolwork done;" that said, we've done this on very short 1-2-day runs before, and I've realized that we need a game plan for this to work. On the days DH can work from home, he cheerfully ignores them, they do their work (sorta kinda mostly), and all is well. When they need to be with other people, the (again, loving and generous) other people often feel the need to entertain the kids, which is sometimes good and sometimes bad (haha).

 

This has been a very helpful thread to me, and I appreciate all of you who have responded. I'm jotting down ideas.

 

 

[G5052]

We've had to do this sort of thing over and over.

 

The best situation for us has been to have them stay with a homeschool mom friend of mine during the day. I gave them the 3 R's only, and she was very good about making sure that they finished that. I didn't want to overwhelm her or distract her from her own children, but she's great for that type of situation.

 

When relatives took them, it was very uneven, even with only the 3 R's to do. My older one finished but was very sloppy with it, and my younger one did very little. Frankly if it had not been for over a month at the time, I would have said to just keep them entertained and leave it at that.

 

We've always had to pretty much school year-round during times like this. As mine got older and have become more self-sufficient, it's gone better of course.

 

Tough indeed!

[Tammyla]

:grouphug: No real advice, but I would allow myself to focus on the hospitalized child and take a break from homeschooling.  Two weeks isn't that big of a break imo.  I think read-alouds are always a great option and very little stress on care-givers not in the hs loop.  Videos and other electronic lessons/options are also easy.   Museums, nature walks, and visits to other local attractions are fun.  The grandparents may have awesome skills they can pass along.  

 

Have you consulted with the friends and grandparents on what they would prefer?  You might even ask the kids.  (I'm not sure of what ages we are dealing with.  My high school student would not want the year to go one day over the schedule and would probably plow through alone, but when he was younger...  :driving: )

 

Huggs :grouphug:  I hope all goes well.