Friday, August 24, 2007

The Sick, the Dumb and the Funny

Well, it was a long week!  Both of my boys are sick.  The older has a really ugly cold which doesn't mix well with asthma, and the younger is just starting the cold.  They are feeling really lousy, and I am pumping everyone with orange juice and washing hands like it is going out of style.  Hopefully, this will have a quick run.  My big teen, even though he stayed in bed two days this week, asked me to keep the educational videos coming.  Thanks to having close to 75 videos of educational stuff recorded off of PBS (thank you, Mom) and Charlotte Mason training in narration, he accomplished 6 hours of World History and 3 hours of GED Math classes to help him stay fresh in math.  Woo Hoo!!  When you have a child who is prone to respiratory illness, it pays to have horizontal homeschooling back-up plans.  He is fighting his first illness early this year, and I hope this does not suggest a difficult year ahead.

On the other hand, we were supposed to do FIAR The Story of Ferdinand this week along with our reading and math lessons for the little ones.  We did a pitiful job of it.  Monday and Tuesday were consumed by behavior problems by all three little ones.  One of my children was in time out so many times I think it probably totaled up to 3 hours!  That helped me get a clean house on Tuesday!  One of the ways I combat sibling rivalry is to make the evil doers do chores together.  There was a lot of sibling rivalry on Tuesday.  Then on Wednesday the three little ones all woke up stupid.  They couldn't remember how to count, what book we were reading, or what narration was -- let along doing anything to their skill level.  It just went on and on.  ARGHHH!!!  Luckily, by Thursday they had returned to their normal selves!  I guess I will just have to bump lessons to next week.

On a last note --  My youngest, Little Red Ridinghood (3), is the one who wants 23 kids when she grows up.  She knows how many 23 is, too, because she counts all her dolls and then counts the blank spaces on her bed for the missing "babies".  Hey, can I count that as early math?  Anyway, she says she's been thinking about it, and when she grows up, it might be okay to only have 20 kids -- as long as she can have a baby elephant!!!

Have a great and blessed weekend,
Dawn

7 comments:

  1. That sounds like me... I tell my husband how many babies we still have room for on our couch!

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  2. 11yods used to suffer from RAD as a toddler so I remember how colds were a double whammy and kept him from gaining any weight he desperately needed. My kids used to be always sick when they were little and they always watched the tv shows I taped from PBS too...Reading Rainbow, Magic Schoolbus and Wishbone. Praying all are well soon.

    Blessings,

    Laurie

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  3. Counting dolls definitely counts as early math! That's precious!

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  4. ...chained together for chores! How do you keep them from fighting during the chore, though?


    Counting the dollies...so sweet! :D

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  5. I hope you are all feeling better by now! And sure you can count it as math. You should see some of the creative lessons I have concocted using unusual activities.

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  6. What is the deal with Summer colds, huh? Both my children had them but thankfully the symptoms left within a few days. I hope you are all doing better now.

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  7. Summer colds are the worst. A great cold and flu fighter is Vit. C Energy drinks. The kind I use is by Nature's Plus-- "Potent C Energy" packets. You just mix them in water. They are 1000 mg of vit. c., plus lots of other vitamins and nutrients. The liquid form absorbs into your system better, too. My girls love them--orange flavored, fizzy drinks. I hope everyone is recooperating quickly.

    I had to actually laugh about your little ones, and esp. about the "waking up stupid". We certainly have those kind of days (weeks). Don't worry. THere's always next week to try again. One of the many blessings of homeschooling.

    LOVE the dolly story.

    Letitia

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