Wordy Wednesday: How does one homeschool while pregnant?

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So, today is supposed to be wordless Wednesday (which I love) but for the first time in a long time, I am out of pictures. Well, maybe not totally out, but finding a series to share means I would need to sit down with the portable hard drive and pull something out of the unorganized mess for you guys… and it’s too much effort today!

That’s just how I feel lately. I’m just now starting to come out of the fog that is the first trimester of pregnancy, despite being fully established in the second. You know those women who love being pregnant? Yeah, that’s not me. I love babies but growing them is a whole different horrible ball game. Ha- and don’t leave me a comment about h0w much you love being pregnant, because I may just jump out from behind the computer screen and bite you.

Okay, I wont bite.

But I’ll think about it.

Want to know what is really funny? This is actually my easiest pregnancy to date (number four for the win). This is the first time I have NOT been diagnosed with Hyperemisis, and I have not ended up in the ER for an IV. It’s amazing. And also still hard. The sickness is still there, but I am unbelievably grateful to be a “unicorn” (my words) and still be able to wash my own hair for the most part.

Pregnancy still stinks, which then, by default means a lot of things are kind of stinky around here lately. Homeschooling has been rough. I am lucky that it is summer, so there is some relief for the guilt I feel at doing the bare bone basics. Essentially, we are doing only our reviews that we committed to, and math (because thank heavens for Teaching Textbooks being independent) and that is it.

From the title, I bet you thought I was going to share how to homeschool while pregnant, but I am not really sure how one would accomplish that with grace unless you have easy pregnancies. You know, the kind where you don’t live with your head in the toilet or your bum planted on the couch.

Maybe, in a couple months, I will come back to tell you, with a big, fancy series on how to survive homeschooling during pregnancy, but if I do, it will be long after the clouds have parted, the nausea has passed, and God willing, I will have forgotten how it feels to be miserable.

This post is whiny, and I am truly sorry for that, but sometimes a girl has to tell it like it is.

Pregnancy Sucks.

And now, to the point, Please, use the comments to tell me how your homeschool survives in seasons of difficulty? How do you homeschool when it’s hard? 

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13 Comments

  1. Wow! How thankful I am that you wrote this! I am in the same boat. 12 weeks along with #4 and very sick this time!!! And no, we have not been schooling so far this summer. I couldn’t even imagine having the energy for that. I feel like my life is being drained out of me, and that this is never going to end!!! I wonder when I’ll even be able to cook dinner again. I’m trying hard to remember to be thankful in all things and know (and live) that my Hope comes from above, but I can’t say I’ve been the best example of these attributes. Praying for blessings of relief for you!!!

    Thanks to Cari for mentioning librivox…I look forward to looking into that!

    1. Girl- I so feel you.

      I *wouldn’t* be doing any schooling, only I promised reviews, so they have to happen.

      The rest of it? Cooking, cleaning, laundry…. daily showers…. well, I don’t know what happened, but I am SO not myself right now, and am hardly functioning. Bleh.

      It WILL get better. And SOON, hopefully.

  2. Oh Lordy. I’m 38 and past my baby days; however, we still have days that I just want to crawl into bed because of the tornado going on around us. On these days we have a very unwelcomed visitor. We call him, “Bearlyschool (barely school).” Bearlyschool has been showing up way too much lately. Between summer gymnastics, swimming, work, and housework, Bearlyschool has outstayed his welcome. On these days when the laundry is piled high and we have twelve million things going on, I get my munchkins to at least do one math, LA, and spelling. We then do reading whenever and wherever we can (car, bleachers, bed, bathroom, you name it). Luckily I’m a homeschool pyscho, so Monday I’m kicking Bearlyschool to the curb and getting back on track! In the meantime, have a piece of chocolate cake and don’t feel bad. Someone once told me to remember that us homeschooling mommies forget that even when we feel like we aren’t getting in as much school as we’d like, it’s still more than they would be getting in another setting.

  3. I’m right behind you. A few weeks left in the first trimester for baby #4. I guess I’m okay with not doing much of anything right now (except reviews) because it is summer and I’m a very relaxed homeschooler anyway. I know that we will go through seasons of intense schooling, and seasons of more natural learning where the outside world may think we’re slacking. Yet, my momma heart knows that when they are building with LEGO, or reading, or listening to audio books, or watching documentaries, or going on nature walks, or gardening with their pawpaw, or taking gymnastics classes, or going to VBS, or researching vacations or . . . you know, the million other things children get into . . . I know they are learning and growing. Not everything fits neatly into a schedule or checklist. And that’s okay. Relax, take care of yourself, and know that a new season will be coming all too soon.

    1. I hope you get to feeling better soon too Brittney! You’re right, lots of learning is happening, and I am trying to not worry too much about it. Right now though, the kids are playing Little Big Planet, and I am not sure how educational it is. We’re calling it fine motor skills practice for Little Man, and it IS a cooperative play game…. Later, we’ll read to make up for it.

  4. I have easy pregnancies (sorry!) but even easy pregnancies are a toll on the body. We have dropped to math and LA for the time being, and I’m ok with that. I have my big kid read to the little ones and count it as school for everyone. 🙂 As long as math and LA are moving forward, I don’t really see anything to be concerned about. Content is something that is built up over many years of schooling, and missing 6 months isn’t going to harm anyone. And it’s not as if they get NO content during that time. Learning not to wake a pregnant lady up if she falls asleep on the couch is a really important life lesson!!!

  5. Oh, gosh, Heather…even trying to remember the fourth pregnancy hurts 🙂 The older boys were 5, 3 and 1 & we actually weren’t homeschooling yet…but your question was how to homeschool when it’s hard.

    We belong to an independant distance school and that school has been so helpful in reminding me that learning doesn’t happen in neat little linear sequences. There are times when things go more slowly and times when learning seems to happen more quickly than you even thought possible.

    So, I guess my answer is kind of a non-answer: When things are difficult, we roll with it and remember that we have that grace, since we’re not passing these little guys off to someone new each year. We have time.

    Good Luck – Maybe you could do a lesson series on how to take care of pregnant moms 🙂 (Kidding)

    1. What school do you use? Sounds like a keeper!

      I told my husband we should have a home birth and count it as a unit study. He didn’t laugh as hard as I did.

  6. I feel for you! But for fear of being bitten…I won’t tell you about my comparatively symptom-less pregnancies 😉 I will say the thing that was my life saver was transitioning my boys over to taking personal responsibility for their work. They each have visual charts with what is expected of them each day (Math, English/Handwriting, Piano and one or two literature books). They are expected to get them out on their own and if they need help I am right there, but otherwise they work on them independently. If I wasn’t feeling well enough to read our read-aloud’s then I would play something from librivox. I also let them do a lot of learning through play. Your kids are young enough that they will be just fine with some extra play time. That’s the great thing about homeschooling, our kids are learning all day long, not just at structured “school” time. Hang in there!!!

    1. Having the boys step up would be a huge help. We have task jars going for the oldest, but it sounds like I should get the picture system back out for the little one.

  7. I’m not pregnant now (thankfully lol) but when we have a really busy season (softball is a biggie for us) we just kinda roll with it. The kids do at least one worksheet of math, then we might sit and read different books all day for everything else. I like to read a book to them about weather then have then journal about it. What they would do, what it’s like that kinda stuff. Congrats on #4!!! At least you know pregnancy will end 🙂

    1. Ain’t that the truth! I’ve got the countdown going! 😀

      Thanks for the comment- I’ve been having Bug read to me (since anything that involved screens or words makes the sickness worse) but I should probably get the little kids in on it too.

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