“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28
I don’t generally talk about this often on here. I have noticed that on TikTok my algorithm is now geared to a lot about chronic pain. What I have found is it encourages me to see how others deal with a life of pain. I hope you see any mention of my pain in the same way.
Mellie is now 10 and so for 10 years I have been dealing with daily pain. Some days are worse than others but all days I still thank God for the breathe of life. I’m grateful for the opportunity to be homeschooling Mellie.
But, how do I homeschool on those days I have no motivation?
There has been a couple of days this school year, where I get up to start my day and realize it isn’t happening. I return to bed and that’s that. Those are so rare though, that my family is always surprised when this happens.
Days like yesterday when I was hobbling around meant that school needed to be accomplished not in her room at her school desk but rather in our recliners where I could get more comfortable with my joints. We so enjoyed our day even though we were in the midst of the living room traffic.
Homeschooling is meant to be done differently than what you see in the schools.
It is to be tailored to not only the needs of the child but the needs of the family.
For me, this means doing school first thing in the morning when my pain levels are still low. As a family we get up and read God’s Word together every morning at 8am. This starts all our days off properly and hopefully is teaching our children the importance of being in the Word.
I get up a couple of hours before this to prepare my heart and mind for the day and I enjoy the quiet in the home.
My best hours are the morning ones.
After our family devotions, Mellie will get her breakfast and we get going. Yesterday, we got going in the living room with her online math course. She and I always do History, Science and English together. Her Bible course is going through a broad Old Testament survey and I can just be near her to help as needed. Once we get those four courses accomplished we can move on to her “fun subjects.” I read and she works on spelling games, penmanship and then coloring.
Our book this week has been Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin.
It has been a very very good book so I’ll do a review soon.
We are generally done school by 10am. Yes, I hear the gasps but when you stay focused and organized, school CAN be done in a couple of hours. I believe that the rest of her schooling is then done throughout the day in things like music practice, chores, playing outside, helping with the cooking and so forth.
So, schooling isn’t just sitting at a desk but we are schooled (taught) in so many other areas of our lives. Yesterday, she spent a VERY long time sewing leg warmers for herself. Yes, we live in Florida but I do not quelch creativity. She took an old knit top of her sisters and cut off the sleeves to create her leg warmers. Mellie also sewed a turtle using flat pieces of fabric. She said it is to keep on the floor of the kitchen to pick up any spills of water. I love that Mellie saw a need and she came up with a solution. She was schooling herself.
So today as we finish up our four day school week, let me just say when her course work ends her real schooling is just beginning!