Still sick, still learning

Still recovering and still no results. We all have moments of feeling better and then deciding maybe we aren't feeling better. For children this usually means that I've discovered someone has crawled into bed and is asleep. For me, it just means I sit down a lot. I'm realizing I don't think I sit down much during the day because Nefertiti has been settled on my lap far more than usual. I think this means that I have a lap to settle in. I think that the general trend is towards getting better, though. 

Needless to say, while we did a little bit of math on Monday, not much school has happened since then. This could be one of those things that new homeschoolers feel stress about or that non-homeschoolers do not understand. Because as we all know, sickness happens, so you just have to make the best of it.

It is an incorrect assumption to believe that if students are not involved doing book work every day that school "should" happen that they will get behind. The only thing we are falling behind in is keeping up with the schedule I made. We've already talked about how we'll figure out how to work everything in that's on my list. It's actually not that difficult especially when I'm the one deciding what we do on any given day. 

It is also an incorrect assumption to believe that if children are not doing book work that they are not learning. They are learning all the time, well, except if they are feeling rotten in bed because they're sick. Even over the past few days when we've done pretty much nothing, there are still things that they have done that 'count' as learning. Shall I list them? 

• Two classes watched of the Great Courses Ancient Greek history course we are slowly working through. You know, the college professors teaching to adults. The course lectures match up pretty nicely to how I organized our study of Ancient Greece, so when we have a day when I have to be gone to an unanticipated appointment or if I'm not feeling well, I put in one of these to have everyone watch.
• They watched a 3-hour BBC documentary about oceans that I discovered had come on Netflix but had never been watched.
• Everyone has done independent reading. Y. is particularly pleased that she has read nearly an entire book over the past two days.
• G. (and others) listen to recorded books nearly non-stop. 
• G., Y., and L. have picked up their knitting again because that is what I've been doing.
• G. has been baking. Yesterday was a layer cake, today was Cuban bread which we had with dinner. Cuban bread it turns out is very like French bread with only slight differences, mainly in the shape. It was very good. (Both L. and Y. have been sous chefs during these enterprises.)
• As a result of the bread baking, G. and I had a discussion about the different types of yeast and how to change a recipe to accommodate the yeast you have.
• L. is reading a book that involves Irish mythology which has caused her to put numerous Irish folk tale books on hold at the library.
• We went back to our teatime book today because I discovered I felt well enough to read. Since it is a retelling of the major battles of the Persian wars, it counts as history. 
• Since there was a general interest in making food, I found our copy of Fanny at Chez Panisse because I didn't think the younger three had ever heard of it. 
• Dinner time is always good for a heaping dose of current events, even when people are not feeling well.
• Apollo the kitten was played with and argued over.
• Animals were cared for.

And this is what I know of and can remember. I'm sure more happened. All this to say, a few days off... even a week or two... is not going to do anyone serious harm. My caveat to this is if you have children with challenges, such as H. and R. H. is much, much better these days about being interested in things, knowing how to fill her time, and having enough ability to do so independently. Drawing, reading, doing puzzles, folding origami, and playing with toys in the loft are all things she enjoys doing and thinks of doing on her own. It wasn't always this way. For a long time, she needed me to direct her to activities and then help her do them. I'm not sure she is yet at the point where she can be curious about things and then know how to satisfy her curiosity... or even that there is a way to satisfy her curiosity. For that she still needs me.

R. still needs me for everything. She hasn't been feeling well either, which triggers her anxiety. I'm actually surprised that life has been as calm as it has been. It helps all I feel like doing is sitting on the couch because R. has been sitting next to me. I think that closeness has been stabilizing for her. Still, other than repetitive activities she cannot think about her different options and then pursue them. A looser style of self-learning, while many of my children would be just fine, would not be beneficial to R. at all. It will be good for her for everyone to get well and get back to a regular schedule.

I'm really hoping for a good night's sleep tonight and waking up feeling as though I can do even a few things. Sitting on the couch is growing tiresome. Oh, and some test results would also be fantastic.