Balancing Hospital and Schooling: Part Two

There are times currently when my son has to spend prelonged periods of time in hospital, and my previous post discussed how I continue to teach him through illness and in a different environment than his normal one at home. This second part of the topic will cover how the learning journey continued going forward at home for the girls when I was not with them for days/weeks on end. 

There are several reasons why I teach all year round, rather than following more traditional set holiday times throughout the year which falls in line with schools. One important reason however is the anticipation of long spells of illness within our family. It is not just be frequent hospital visits or long hospital stays, which can interrupt our learning journey, but also when my children fall ill even with the simplest cold they are made incredibly poorly and subsequently it can take far longer for them to recover than normal, and the resulting work flow is put on hold until status quo resumed once more. The overall work goals for the year reflect this inevitability and are therefore made infinitely more achievable to reach without pressure or stress by teaching all year round. I never intend to stand over my children sat a desk and berate them for not having reached targets before the 'summer holidays'. Despite the past year they have had to endure, we have met their yearly education goals which is amazing .

Once I knew the rough months of the transplant and pre operations, I finished the yearly topic of castles in a timely manner in April and did not intend to revisit the subject until the August review. My objective was to pare down the curriculum during May-July, so to make the girls learning journey desirable during a time when I was away, learning instead with their Dad, auntie, Grannie and Nana. 

The basics stayed, they chose a different short book every morning, taking it in turns to read to each other, helping each other through it, and they had writing practice. They also completed a variety of maths and English workbooks. Nana brought some new crafts with her and they had some sewing practice, creating puppets which they then used to create plays, and act them out. Nana would also take them out along the canal and through local woodland daily, and they would make up songs to sing about their surroundings, with barges sailing past them, and feeding the local horses out in the field. 

Due to the fine weather there was plenty of garden time daily as well, spending time with their friend next door. Dad had stocked up on exciting Science labs, and new Lego sets, so the girls were learning the discipline of following instructions, with the reward of creating a new object at the end of the task. They also did a lot more cooking with Dad and started their music theory, with a new keyboard, much to Sophias joy. 

There were countless arts and crafts sessions with auntie and Grannie, and a free rein of the school room and mummy's teaching drawers. I had painstakingly sorted and labelled all the drawers so to make things easier on everyone to find what they needed. However needless to say my system was wrecked after the seven weeks. However it meant they were being utilised and the girls had such a lot of fun, practicing their scissors and ruler skills, learning new crafts including foil art and enjoying painting sessions. 

The girls were especially excited as Xanders stay in hospital coincided with the lowering of covid risk and the re opening of society which allowed them the opportunity to embrace socialisation within the community for those seven weeks. They went to local children's playgrounds, and to bounce trampoline warehouses etc and they loved reuniting with their peers in these social gatherings. We knew that strict isolation would have to take place for six months after Xanders return, for the sake of his full recovery, so the girls took full advantage whilst it was relatively safe to enjoy their social surroundings. 

As you can see this learning experience was very different for the girls from their usual learning environment, and it was one where precious fun memories were made, they were stretched, they learnt plenty of new skills, and revisited ones like socialisation which had been dampened by the covid pandemic as it had been for all the children. They had been missing their pre covid playgroups and library group sessions and this was a lovely opportunity to reconnect with the outside world.

I think it is important to remember that in  times of adversity, the concept of home schooling is so flexible that it can move freely along with the circumstances, without hindering the children's progress. It may require teamwork from outside the nuclear family, like we organised, but then that serves only to make the learning time more memorable for all the family. You have the luxury with home education to think outside the box and use the difficult scenerio to your advantage. 

I wish you all good health and the best of luck in your education journey and as always I hope these posts give glimmers of inspiration. Those families who face constant ill health/hospital life for either in the adults or children, I hope this gives you reassurance that you're not alone in what can feel a terrifyingly lonely and long journey. Home learning does not have to stop in these hard times, it can change its course slightly to weave alongside the circumstances. I strongly recommend you to reach out to your local online home education groups for extra support as well. There may be other parents going through similar circumstances who may have advice, or have regular meet ups either in person or online that your children may be able to attend.