Our family has been dealing with illness pretty much since the beginning of this year.  We have been sick three times since January which is very unusual.  Normally if we get sick it's once a year not three times in three months!  So, we have dropped most of the extras that we were doing in our schoolwork and have been sticking to just making sure the basics are getting done each day.  Even when we're not feeling up to par we can still manage to get a little reading and narrating done. 

We've had days where the children will read a history chapter, narrate to me and then take a nap on the couch.  Since my throat has been raw I haven't been doing any reading aloud so those book choices are either waiting until I am feeling better or we have opted to use an audio book from the library to read to us for a while.  Math seems to be the most difficult subject to tackle while dealing with illness.  It's hard to concentrate on wrapping your brain around a new math concept when you're not feeling well.  So, we've been working on reviewing what we've already learned and doing flashcards to keep basic math facts fresh in our minds.  Since we do school year-round we will simply finish up our math texts during the summer months. 

Before you start to think I'm an ogre who forces sick children to do schoolwork when they should be resting, I just wanted to mention that we only do what the children and I are feeling up to doing which means some days no schoolwork at all gets done.  But, most days, my children manage to do at least a little something.  Even if it's just reading a bit in a "free" reading book.  (My daughter has read all of her brother's free reading books for next year while recuperating!)  "Free" reading books are ones that they are allowed to read at their own speed during their free time and on which I don't require narrations.  Although, they usually enjoy the book well enough that they tell me about it anyway. 

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