Question:
I am going through a difficult pregnancy and cannot manage all the subjects, preparing lesson plans, trying to get them to do their schoolwork—I’m just so tired. Any help?
Answer:
Pregnancy and birth: can there be any more pertinent lessons that these?! There is some real life educating going on that you may not be aware of. You can increase the value of it by discussing it with the children, showing them pictures of what the baby looks like inside from library books, DVDs and the internet. There are actual photographs of the fetus day-by-day on the internet and on phone apps. Have the children keep an ongoing “Our New Brother/Sister” notebook with a page a week about what the baby is developing (eyelashes, etc.) and drawings. Make the most of this fascinating and very important “unit study”!
Rebekah blows you a kiss!
As far as homeschool, I would advise you to do what my friend calls “Plan B.” There is Plan A, which is the ideal way you hope your homeschool will run, and then there is Plan B, which is the best you can manage under the circumstances on rough days. My way of doing Plan B is to read aloud to my children while I am laying on the couch, usually having one of my children rub my aching feet. Then we (or they) play some math games (on my side from the couch), or I have them read their
reading books aloud to me, one after another. I have the older children help the younger children write in their school journals. If I can manage it, I have the children do a math lesson.
When I cannot cope any longer, I flip on an educational video while I take a nap. I try to get a wagonload of books, recordings, videos, magazines, and more from the public library every two weeks with my husband or older children’s help, to keep them reading and learning. I try not to put the load on my older children too often; I am more likely to let the littler ones play and let the big ones read and study. One note: I have found that supervising homeschool is often easier than “free play,” which can turn into fighting, getting into mischief, and boredom.
Knowing that this is simply temporary and for a very important purpose makes it doable. Time will pass and your new baby will be here, and you will get back to normal and homeschool will run smoothly again (relatively!) You’ll jump back to Plan A. Do the best you can even in difficult circumstances! That is a very important life skill that your children will learn by watching you!
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