Sick, sick, sick during pregnancy!

[Melissa Beth]

I'm wondering what happens to homeschooling for any of you who get sick during pregnancy. Can't move, can't read, can't walk to the kitchen without getting sick kind of sick and it lasts for the whole pregnancy? Do you still homeschool? Is it best to take a year off of homeschooling?

[Kristie in Florida]

I think it'll depend on the ages of your children. My daughter is doing a lot more independent work this year, nearly all independent, because I've been sick and pregnant this whole time. But she is also 12. I couldn't even go into my kitchen for months, sometimes even the whole downstairs, so she learned how to cook. If she was younger I would have had to try to make it work somehow.

[Tenaj]

As you can see from my signature, my older kids had to suffer through many months of me being non-functional during the first four months of pregnancy.  There were many weeks where we only did math and anything they could manage on their own.  Most of the time, I would try to get math done.  The other priority was always if there was a 5 or 6 year old who needed to learn how to read.  I would always try to spend a few minutes working with the new readers but other than that, there were often weeks where very little got done.

 

They look back with fondness on those weeks - LOL!  Lots of TV and reading time along with lots of free time.

 

My younger kids  don't know that joys of those kinds of weeks because now we just keep working.  

 

FWIW, both of my olders are in college now and doing great despite the sporadic times they had during their elementary and middle school years :)

 

I would encourage you to do as much as you can but also not to fret too much about what doesn't get done.   We tended to do more of a year-round schedule back in those days which allowed me to make up for lost  time when I was feeling better.  

[fourisenough]

During my last pregnancy, I hired a math tutor to come in to the house and teach my (at the time) 3rd & 5th graders twice per week. Everything else they did was independent (and I'm not sure if I checked a single paper that year). My third daughter was a preschooler at the time. We ended our school year on April 1st and baby was born mid-May. I had a college girl work half-days from April through August and she just played with my kids. They sewed, crafted, went to zoo, parks, and museums. They had the time of their lives (they still talk about the wonderful things they did that spring/summer). None of it involved a stitch of academic work, but they thrived and blossomed. I probably wouldn't have done that for a full school year, but it was perfect at the time.

 

How old are your other children? A lot depends on that.

[Melissa Beth]

Thanks, everyone! My kids are on the young side: Kindergarten, 1st grade, and toddler.

[KSinNS]

Bedschooling! Seriously, during the horrors of morning sickness, I would cuddle in bed with whoever and work with them here. They love it. I feel fine now that bambino is very close, but Miss T and I still do school in bed. 

[Kristie in Florida]

I absolutely think that you can wait until after the baby is born. Is the kindergarten one reading yet? I happen to believe that play is best at that age, and listening to great stories. If you are too sick to read there are always audio books.

[Um_2_4]

I was pretty sick during the 1st part of my twin preg. (should have been a clue there were 2 :laugh: )and mine were 5 (1st grade level at the time) and 3 (learning to read at the time).

Bed school, some open and go curriculum (ETC, The reading lesson, MUS) and some online curriculum (reading eggs, math seeds, sumdog for math fact practice for the 1st grader) made us through that and the 1st 3-4 months of twinhood (I swear I don't remember much).

Oh and also Magic Schoolbus videos and leapfrog for the 3yo  :lol: .

[calihil]

This was me about this time last year! So sorry you're sick, I know exactly how it is. That little stinker is 7 months old now. He was also my 4th!

 

My oldest was doing K last year so honestly, I just did the bare minimum. Since it's been a year, I honestly don't even remember what we did, it's all a blur! And she's fine this year for 1st so I guess everything went ok. We watched a lot of tv, I tried to get through math every day (we did Horizons, the lessons are short and to the point), and I tried to read to them but I had an extra annoying problem of pregnancy ptyalism (excess saliva), so that mixed with nausea made reading aloud really hard. But yeah, on those really bad days... They just played and watched tv. They were and are perfectly fine and don't even remember it now. :) Hang in there!

[Holly]

I try to keep up with 3Rs.  Other than that, I scheduled lots of audio books and educational videos.  With the ages of your DC, they would be fine with very little schooling.  I would think 20-30 minutes of school (while snuggling on the couch) would be plenty.  Audio books are also great while nursing your baby!  

 

For meals, I felt least nauseous in the mornings, so I'd put something in the crockpot for later.  We also ate lots of meals where I didn't have much actual cooking (like chicken nuggets or pre-cooked ham slices).  It's not the healthiest, but it's all I felt up to.  

[Tsuga]

Thanks, everyone! My kids are on the young side: Kindergarten, 1st grade, and toddler.

 

Can you manage school for one of them, at least reading and math? I wouldn't give up reading and math for the first grader. Every day she reads aloud to you, you read aloud to her, and have her read to the siblings. For math, worksheets graded in bed.

 

K and toddler can enjoy life for awhile. :D

 

Sorry you're feeling so poorly. I kept telling myself that it was a sign of a very strong baby (and it was)...

[smarson]

I haven't read the responses but we didn't school when I was sick.  I'm usually sick until about week 18 and I'm only now in week 21.  It was horrible and I just couldn't wrap my head around schooling - especially when I had to get up to vomit regularly!  Ugh.  We just took a few months off and now we're back at it hard and strong.  But I only have 1 in school and it's only 1st grade.  So we could afford to take the time off and it didn't hurt her at all.  

 

Congratulations on your pregnancy and I hope you're feeling better soon!!  Hugs!

[Hobbes]

Sorry to hear of your rough time! Being sick for that long is no fun.

 

At the ages your kids are, take the time off that you need! Audiobooks (an Audible subscription!!!), non-messy art supplies, pretend play clothes, blocks, etc, will go a long way. If your 1st grader is working on reading fluency, have him/her read to you or to the youngers. Use Magic School Bus when you need screen time, it can be very effective for science concepts. If you have any energy, do a simple 1st grade math, but honestly... I did almost no math with my 1st grader and jumping into 2nd was no problem. All the concepts are repeated and reviewed.

 

Give yourself permission to rest, knowing that starting later is the norm in many countries with excellent academic results. All the best!