Homeschooling On The Down Days
Some days we wake up and our life is far from normal. We are accosted by migraines. Children don’t feel like eating breakfast. We need a little more sleep before we get out of bed. Cuddles are a must. We are far from normal.
These are the down days. The days when it feels like life is barely holding it together. The days when the Seizure Monsters strikes before we’re even functioning good. The days when snuggles are a must and extra sleep is needed to fight a monster we cannot see. The down days happen more often than any of us like.
On these days, homeschooling is hard. There’s no time to think through what’s on a schedule. There’s no plan because you simply cannot plan on the days when life is in full chaos.
Over time, we’ve developed our own way of life and doing things, since Epilepsy and Involuntary Breath Holding Spells, ADHD and Sensory Issues leave us incapacitated and unable to complete even the simplest tasks. Still learning must happen and life much continue as needed.
Every day when I awake, I check on each of my children. I evaluate who needs what done. Does my daughter with Epilepsy need just a bit more sleep? Does my oldest need to take his allergy med or need a few minutes to figure out his plan for the day? Does my older daughter need a few minutes to wake up before she dives into her daily schedule? Does the baby need a little cuddle time before he has breakfast? The list goes on and is different for each child.
Sometimes cuddling tops the list of things to do. Sometimes a seizure happens and I must rush to the ER and leave the bigger kids to care for the littlest one. Sometimes there’s just a seizure lurking which can be fought by resting and cuddling and napping with one another.
Some of our favorite activities when we are down are:
Movies, Reading, Math games, Playing, playdoh, baking together, listening to audio stories, chalk drawing, and just being together relaxing.
All of these allow us to learn while not overdoing it and we can break as we need to.
Each day I go through the same evaluations and make decisions based on what our morning holds. This is how we’ve been able to homeschool from the beginning with multiple special needs children. This is why we homeschool year round, so we can have more days to fit learning in even when we are down.
Homeschooling when you have down days is feasible if you make it work for you. Having a relaxed homeschooling day or sometimes even week is never a bad thing. Learning is inevitable if you provide the materials for your child to do so and can happen even on the worst day. It’s also okay to just stop and take the day off from learning all together. You must do what’s best for you and your family.
God bless,
Dana Lambert-Hodge
This post is part of the 5 Days Of Homeschooling… Blog Hop from
the Homeschool Review Crew!
