How to homeschool thru morning sickness

I’ve done a lot of homeschooling through morning sickness between 13 pregnancies (9 living children). My advice:

1. Don’t worry too much about it. The kids will learn even when you think they are not. Consider using things like science shows and documentaries (preview first of course. Some that come to mind are Brain Games, How It’s Made, Magic School Bus, Mythbusters, Planet Earth, Jack Hanna’s Animal Adventures). Grab an audio book so you don’t have to read aloud when you feel sick. Look for a history audio book. Also, picture books from the library – nonfiction – will be great and accessible by your boys with or without you.

2. You don’t need to check copywork, just ask them to do it. And keep it short so they can give best effort.

3. Do you have a math curriculum like Math U See that has dvds you can use to help teach for a while?

4. Try a few things to ease nausea  – ginger (candied, tea, or just the smell), peppermint (candy, tea, essential oil worn or diffused), eat higher protein and eliminate nearly all sugar. I would eat a tablespoon of beans whenever I could get something down. Sea bands may help. Also, if it is interfering in daily life enough your doctor/midwife may prescribe Zofran to help. The only down side to that is it can increase your sleepiness, so I would only use this if the nausea is really bad.

5. Be willing to do lessons at odd times of day/night to take advantage of moments when you feel well enough to teach/check/oversee.

Remember, growing this baby is hard work and this timing isn’t a surprise to God. Neither is the morning sickness. He’ll magnify what efforts you can make mothering your other children to be much more that you are doing. Congratulations on another sweet baby coming to your family!

Pre-cooked meats aren’t the most nutritious, but so much easier on me when I had morning sickness.  Anything I could pop right on a pan and slide in the oven was great.  Crockpot meals helped,because my sickness hit harder in the late afternoons and evenings.  Eating about 250 calories at a time, for meals and snacks worked well for me.  I lived mostly on yogurt, almonds, and bananas with my youngest!

For schooling, we did lots of videos and books on cd.  Fit in 3Rs and chores when you feel at your best.  Save books on cd or videos for when you need to rest.  One mom I read about had a folding lawn chair she moved from room to room.  She’d sit in the chair and direct her kids to cook and clean, giving them instructions and help from the comfort ofthe chair!  The kids would prepare meals and clean their rooms while she sat. I thought this was a great idea.  Also, lower your standards for what you accomplish each day!  Get just enough done to get by during this time.  Cook easier meals.  Find ways to make things easier…when I had just younger ones, we had a clothes basket full of toys that we’d pick up a couple times per day.  Even a toddler can help with this system.  Declutter if you can.  We cut back on the number of outfits per person, and it’s really helped me keep up with laundry!  Fewer toys means less work picking up too.  Put extra items in the basement for now if you don’t want to get rid of them permanently.