How to Homeschool Your Children When you have a Chronic Illness and Pain

I have had fibromyalgia all of my life. Well, maybe not all my life, but there isn’t a time that I don’t remember not having it.

I remember when I was in elementary school and my brother carrying me off from the bus because my legs were in so much pain that I was unable to walk.

My mother finally took me to see a doctor about all of the constant pain I seemed to be in.

Now, if you are from my generation, I bet you can guess what the doctor had to say.

Yup, they told Ma that I was just suffering from growing pains, and I would simply outgrow them.

Not much help.

Oddly enough, I am in my 50’s now, yet I still haven’t outgrown those growing pains.

This year, I was diagnosed with a pituitary gland (brain) tumor. It isn’t cancer, but it does come with some very major health issues. This makes me all the happier to have my online school programs already in place!

Homeschool Your Children When you have a Chronic Illness and Pain even While Bedridden from the Pain

My children grew up knowing that Mama had a headache. Mama always had a headache.

Some days were better than others.

Many days left me bedridden from the sheer pain and constant exhaustion that comes with non-stop pain.

Dreams and Goals to Homeschool Your Children When you have a Chronic Illness and Pain

I quickly learned that I would accomplish nothing without a solid focus on my dreams and goals.

Being goal-oriented certainly has helped me over the years.

One of my major goals in life was homeschooling my twelve children.

This goal seemed almost impossible back in the days when it appeared only the bush people of Alaska were homeschooling.

And after all, they had to homeschool. They had no neighbors for hundreds of miles, let alone schools. Their children’s school books were being brought in on a bush plane!

Still, I set my sights on homeschooling.

One day, I found an advertisement in the back of a country magazine that said everyday people could actually buy books and homeschool their children.

I took the plunge and ordered our very first curriculum.

I had four children at the time, and I literally ordered enough curriculum from this one publisher to last us from kindergarten all the way through high school graduation.

There! I did it!

Little did I know that each one of my now twelve children would have completely different learning styles.

Although I was able to use this curriculum with a few of the children, I had to figure out a whole new way to teach the rest of them.

I spent many hours writing out lesson after lesson that I created for each one of them personally aimed at their learning style.

I literally would write out their lessons and lesson plans by hand because the average person didn’t own those big, bulky printers of our day.

Computers were not found in people’s actual homes either.

One day some random person in a waiting room realized I homeschooled and said, Well, homeschooling isn’t that difficult anyway, is it?

I said, No, not if you don’t want to ever do anything else with your life.

I was busy! Plus, thanks to fibromyalgia, a lot of this was done from my bed. I just moved my bed into our living room so I could be with my children.

Boy oh boy, have things changed over the years!

Today, I literally yelled, Hey, the computer is free! Who needs to finish up their school lessons?

It has been many years since I have had to create my own lesson plans.

I can’t remember the last time that I dotted out a child’s name for them to copy over in order to learn how to write their own name.

I don’t even need to keep a written record of which lessons have been accomplished by each child.

The online school work keeps all of those records for me.

Twenty-eight years of homeschooling my mega family has certainly seen a lot of changes.

Today, a majority of my children’s education is done virtually.

I remember back in the day, the closest thing to a virtual lesson was when I bought Algebra I and II classes on VHS tapes and played them in our VCR!

Are you considering homeschooling?

Online curriculum can help you accomplish your goals of homeschooling your family.

Here is a list of online curriculum that my family has used and loved over the years.

Schoolhouse Teachers

My family’s main online school has been Schoolhouse Teachers for years. There is truly something for the entire family.

I have loved having everything in one spot.

I know that my family will have all of their basics, plus so much more covered under this program.

I can’t say how much I have enjoyed sitting back while a SchoolhouseTeacher has taught my children things like ancient history and geology.

Many nights, we would simply turn on one of the amazing documentaries offered, and enjoy a family movie night.

( I really love all of the movies available!)

Go HERE to read more about Schoolhouse Teachers and my family’s experience with it.

CTCMath

We started homeschooling back in 1993. When my oldest son, Judson, hit Algebra I, we came to a screeching standstill. I scrambled to figure out how on earth I was going to be able to teach this class. I never took Algebra in school. Business Math was my specialty.

Where was CTCMath when I needed them?!?

I found an Algebra course on VHS. I can still see Leonard standing in front of a whiteboard, and speaking in a monotone voice throughout each lesson. We were thrilled when we popped that baby into the VCR. Judson’s first statement was, “Boy, I like this math teacher way better than my last one!”

Me too, Jud. Me too!

As much as we loved our Algebra videos, they just can’t compare to what’s available via the internet today.

We fell deeply in love with CTCMath at first sight. (Site?) (Pun is definitely intended!)

Math courses include everything you could ever need to teach your children, or even upgrade your own knowledge of math. Courses cover teaching preschoolers about shapes and numbers all the way up to teaching your high schoolers about Algebra, Geometry, Calculus, and even Trig! No more worrying about teaching all of that in-between stuff either! There are both printables and online lessons on everything math.

As a side benefit, there’s no longer the boring, monotone voice of Leonard in our living room. Now it’s an amazing Australian accent coming across the house, and who wouldn’t love that!?!

There are so many things that I love about CTCMath that I am not sure where to even begin.

Go here to read more about CTCMath and my family’s experience with it.

Start Your Free Trial – CTCMath

Reading Eggs

 I have a few children with dyslexia, and learning to read had become an enormous burden on both students and mama!

Reading Eggs quickly became a lifesaver at the Foote Family Homeschool!

Reading Eggs enabled us to overcome dyslexia by covering multiple sensory learning techniques, including visual, audio, and hands-on learning through interactive games.

Go HERE to read my full review of Reading Eggs and how our family used it.

Start Your Free Trial – Reading Eggs

How to Homeschool Your Children When you have a Chronic Illness and Pain

Whether you are considering homeschooling your children when you have a chronic illness or whether you are completely healthy, an online school can help you to accomplish all of your homeschooling needs.

Do you want to Homeschool Your Children When you have Chronic Illness and Pain?

Are you completely healthy, but unsure of yourself?

You can do it!

Give it a try!

Many of these online programs offer free trials.

Let me know in the comments if you are going to take the plunge and start homeschooling.

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