So, let me tell you the story before I get to how homeschooling looked during this mess.
This is our second year homeschooling, and I started off strong. I even updated this almost every month for a while.
Then, my dad had surgery; vascular bypass in his right leg. The surgery went very well, he went to a local rehab facility to get walking again. After a month and a half they were satisfied and he was sent home.
Problem: he was semi-neglected while there. His wife and I visited almost daily and tried to stay on top of the staff, but he still got some bad bed-sores.
One week after returning home (during that week, home health never came out to work with him) he went to his family doctor and was referred to a wound clinic because of the sore on his left heel.
Gangrene was the diagnosis, more surgeries scheduled.
After 3 surgeries over the course of a week, they managed to save his foot. He had to go back to rehab though, because he had to learn to move around without bearing weight on that one foot.
Needless to say, we went to a different rehab facility.
He was there for almost two months. It was a LOOONG drive from my house, but we were there almost every day, staying on top of the staff and keeping him company as he was bed-bound.
~ Side note: around this time I discovered I was expecting, and if you know my history with pregnancies you know the stress this added to my life. It's a blessing , but also a time of worry and uncertainty.
Anyway, suddently his Medicare stopped paying and they had to send him home. We had 10 days notice to prepare the house and line up equipment and home health care.
We went with a different home health agency than before, and they came out the day he got home to help up work the equipment sent to the house (which was not right for him) and were awesome. Dad was improving greatly under their care.
Unfortunately, two weeks after he gets home this time, as we were getting him up for a scheduled doctor appointment, he became unresponsive. The EMS crew worked on him for over 30 minutes but couldn't bring him back. They said it was a lung aneurysm.
So then, we had to do all the funeral stuff, find his will, and now I am executor of said will and we have a long ways to go.
6 months, my daughters and I were traveling 30ish minutes (one way) almost every day to care for my dad. Dare I admit that "school" was very... well, I'm not sure the right word for it.
Some weeks, I managed to be organized enough to take school work with us to do in the car (because doing work in the room with my Dad watching TV wasn't happening). Other times, I didn't.
We did meet weekly with out CC group, and doing the memory work in the car was a piece of cake. Most of the past 6 months that's all we did.
I could look back and wonder about all that my children missed. My youngest did pretty much nothing, but she's preschool age and has plenty of time to learn her ABCs and whatnot. My oldest did "fall behind" in her spelling and math - in the sense that we just couldn't work on it.
Then, I think about it more.
These past 6 months, though challenging, have been a great blessing. My children spent a TON of time with their Papa. I spent time showing them that, even when it's inconvenient, taking care of family is IMPORTANT. My dad didn't have a lot of family in the area. His wife has health problems, as does her daughter. My sister and half-brother live far away. I'm the most able-bodied one to help.
So I did, and my children came along. They watched, they spent time with him, and even if they didn't learn anything academically I pray they did learn something.
Even if they didn't, I learned something.
See, God was with me the entire time.
He granted me grace and health when my Dad needed someone strong.
God granted my children grace also, because in spite of the crazy schedule and not knowing what would happen, they handled it like champs. You hear stories of how kids behavior changes in stressful times, but honestly my children hardly had issues.
~ What a blessing, and it's not because I'm this awesome mom. It's because God is an awesome God.
I've been blessed to have my children with me and my dad each day.
I've been blessed to not be working and therefore able to be with Dad daily.
I've been blessed with a husband who, though an obsessive neat-freak, didn't fuss when the house didn't get taken care of regularly. Or when food was on the table late, or was some frozen dinner when he's used to home cooking. He didn't complain about many other things he dealt with during this time also.
I've been blessed with friends who, during the week+ after Dad died, just jumped up to send me messages of prayer and encouragement. Friends who stepped in to watch my girls last minute while I did funeral stuff (and took them the day he died while I stayed around the house to help my step-mom).
My church family stepped in to help with food and such, even though he wasn't part of our church.
I can't even mention all the ways I have been blessed.
Most of these blessings would have been different/impossible if I were working and my children were in public school. The fact they were with me and I had the freedom of time to devote, made this whole situation work.
So, yes, academically, things didn't go well.
Another benefit of homeschooling. They can easily "catch up". They learned life lessons that I couldn't teach them otherwise.
So, long post, but let me encourage you of something. If you come across hardships during homeschooling, and you can't "do school" as you planned, that doesn't mean you are failing or your children will never be "at grade level" again.
It means you have the freedom to do what you need to do. Your children will learn from your example.
Do what God leads you to do.
If you don't do the academics for a month, 6 months, a year, it's ok. God's got this.
He's got you, your children, everything in His hands.
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