Grade 4, Spring Term, Beowulf Week 2, Day 4 ~ Why Planning Matters

I am still ill. Realistically I know that this is an illness for which I should have sought medical treatment; I am only this ill every few years and generally it means that I need antibiotics. But antibiotics are so hard on my body that it takes me months, if not longer, to undo their negative effects. So I am struggling on, ill, trying to remind myself that a few weeks of being really ill is better than dealing with long-term issues that come from antibiotic usage.

The problem is, I came down ill 4 days before the start of our current block. The day before we were to start I read the LE4 guide for Beowulf and saw that the first two weeks of the block are mainly about intake, and I heaved a sigh of relief and went back to bed.

We're managing, but I didn't get the boys lesson binders filled for that week, or for this week. Usually I print a weekly syllabus and then under each daily tab I put that day's copywork, written math practice, written language arts practice, and timed multiplication drill. The weekly syllabus indicates which book the boys are to read for their assigned reading and which pages/chapters are to be completed.

This means that the past two weeks have been rather freeform around here as I scramble to give the boys practice work, often late in the morning because I have slept in after having spent half the night not sleeping due to my cough/asthma.

It's working, but not as well as it would be if I had done the planning and preparation. This weekend I intend to put together next week's syllabus and papers so that we can get back into rhythm Monday.

Today's lesson work: free reading, Beowulf, math practice.