Reminder of one of the reasons we homeschool

Fall began early this year but I have begun to notice my kid’s allergies are being triggered later and later. It is the last week in September and Maddie’s allergies are making her feel miserable. It is another reminder of why we have decided to homeschool our kids.

Since Maddie was a baby every time fall has rolled around her face has turned into one giant bruise. Her eyes, cheeks, and nose are outlined in deep blue and purple. The doctors call them allergy shiners. When she was three I mentioned these bruises to the doctor and told him it is hard for Maddie to pay attention or hold her attention for any length of time. The doctor look at me in all seriousness and said, “if you felt the way she does you wouldn’t be able to pay attention either”.

We homeschool year round in math because it is one subject that has to be gone through slowly. Math is also a subject that is hard to get caught back up once we have fallen behind. We follow a similar pattern in our schooling that farmers and pioneers would have followed in the olden days. We start back to school in the middle of July when the bugs and heat have brought the kids back indoors. When allergy season starts up we take a break from sit down work. In place of sit down work, we spend more time in the kitchen, attempt science experiments outside that we can’t do once winter comes, and we break out creative crafts.

Once the first frost comes and kills most of the allergens in the air is when we will get back to our sit down work. Winter offers us plenty of time to their sit down work. Winter storms are cozy days we stay in our pajamas, drink hot cocoa, and work hard to get our sit down work done.

I plan for us to be done with sit down work around the beginning of March for the same reason we take chunks of fall off. Spring allergies have the same effect on Maddie as fall allergies. Spring is also an amazing time for getting out in nature and watching the world begin to wake up from a cold winter’s sleep. A weekly trip to our local state park shows us the gradual changes happening around us. We begin to plan our summer garden by planting our seedlings and daily taking care of them.

Sit down work is a very small part of the learning that goes on in the lives of my homeschool kids. My kids have begun to understand the practicality of sit down work. They have correlated that sit-down work allows them to function in real life. They still do not love to sit down work but because they understand it serves a perfect it is tolerated in appreciation for its function.

We have our essential oils ready, local honey stocked, and the bathtub is ready for a good warm soak. We’re ready for allergy season!