Homeschooling challenges during a high risk pregnancy

I’m still here! Everything is fine, though I’m trying not to get overwhelmed by all that is going on right now.

The boys’ schoolwork is, considering the circumstances, going quite well at the moment. They seem to understand when the situation requires them to work independently, and have stepped up to be the big, responsible boys I always wondered if never doubted they are. When they do their own individual work without me having to “police them,” we all enjoy our common subjects so much more: our session where we work on history, science, Latin, art and logic have become the highlights of the week – the time we all sit down together and read, learn, create, think. Everyone’s day, in fact, is so much more pleasant when the work is done well, and the boys have picked up on this.

Still there are days when we get nothing done, of course, and it’s easy for the boys to fall into a lazy pace, where they – instead of work hard when I’m at a doctor’s appointment – take advantage of the fact that I’m not home and spend the morning playing around. Prof. Husband tries to apply his authority, but often he has to work or he’s at the appointment with me. These are the times that I feel guilty and think, “if they were students at ACS they wouldn’t miss a moment of education because of me,” or, “maybe it’s just not possible to be your children’s educator AND mother.” I know this isn’t true, of course. What they learn those mornings – what they are learning from all this - might not be written in their math book, or even biology book (although some of this is), but I know that every day they learn something useful that they will benefit from one day.

And believe me; we are making a learning experience out of this. The boys are not just learning about the facts surrounding conception and birth, but everything that it entails as well, including scientific research, insurance- and paperwork, cultural differences, etc.

I usually cringe when I see one of these (see image), but the other day it made me smile, because I know that our boys will graduate from high school one day, having learned all of this, along with the Pythagorean theorems, the historical facts surrounding Pythagoras, and the etymology of those words.

Oh, and the boys just watched me finish our tax return, so that's covered, I guess.