Homeschool Lesson Planning For An Anxious Child
Nothing can derail a carefully thought out lesson plan faster than a child’s anxiety. This is a behind the scenes look at homeschool lesson planning for an anxious child.
When Anxiety Takes Over Your Homeschool Week
Last week, we accomplished very little of our planned lessons. My son had an outpatient surgery on Tuesday and while it was very minor, he struggled with anxiety and overall mood instability for most of the week prior to it and as a result of it.
It’s hard for me to imagine what our homeschool would be like without the looming threat of anxiety. Both of my children struggle with it, as do I.
I have learned that weeks like this will happen. I have learned that it is part of why we homeschool in the first place.
Most importantly, I have learned not to panic, knowing that we eventually get back on track.
With this in mind, here is my recap of last week’s learning.
Homeschool Lesson Plans vs. Reality When Your Child Is Anxious
Monday
The Plan
- Math: Real Life Word Problems
- YouTube Video – His choice
- Infusion – 4 hours
- Spend some time finding the best homeschool spelling curriculum together
What Actually Happened
- Infusion – 4 hours
- Social story creation for surgery
- New Dirty Jobs Episode
My son woke up feeling anxious and bitter about his surgery (scheduled for the next morning). While we did go on a walk and watch a ton of YouTube videos that had absolutely no educational value whatsoever, we did very little that I would consider homeschooling.
The social story came from an activity in our Learner’s Lab membership. The Learners Lab is is an online learning community to support parents and their twice exceptional kids. I used this activity to guide a conversation with my son about what he should expect for the next day, including what to do if he felt overwhelmed or anxious.
While he resisted it a bit at first, it proved to be very helpful the next day.
Tuesday
The Plan
- Outpatient surgery
What actually happened
- The surgery
- Audiobook
We listened to his audiobook on the way to the procedure and on the way home. That was it for any educational input for the day. He rested when he got home for a bit and then played video games.
Wednesday
The Plan
- Physical Therapy – 2 hours
- Driver’s Ed Module
- Audiobook and Discussion
- Science: Human Body Study
- Figurative Language Activity
What actually happened
- Rock Climbing (we skipped PT in favor of something that he enjoys)
- YouTube Videos – Dr. Mike
Although I was hoping he would be in better spirits, the day after the surgery was actually one of the toughest of the week. Although we had planned to continue our Human Anatomy study, we compromised on watching a few Dr. Mike videos instead.
Thursday
The Plan
- Audiobook and Discussion
- Social Time with friends – 1 hour
- Art class – 1 hour
- Rock Climbing with friends – 3 hours
What Actually Happened
- Audiobook and Discussion
- Social Time with friends – 1 hour
- Art class – 1 hour
- Reading – Time On Rock (he read on his own for apporx. 15 mins)
- Dr. Robins School Of Pre-Med Video
A note about audiobooks: We listen to an audiobook every time we are in the car. For us, this adds up to about 5 hours a week. We discuss plot, characterization and relevance to our world as we listen, often pausing the book to chat. We also google any new vocabulary words we hear (he googles, I drive) and use them in our own made-up sentences.
For more information about how we use audiobooks in our learning: Homeschooling With Audiobooks: Is It Cheating?
Friday
The Plan
- CTCMath
- Driver’s Ed Module
- History – read aloud, Major Events in American History
- YouTube Video – his choice and educational
- Science: Human Body Study
What Actually Happened
- CTCMath
- Driver’s Ed Module
- Read Aloud – Across The Rainbow Bridge (Norse Myths)
- Science: Human Body Study with Dr. Robin and Heron Books
- YouTube: Perseverance Mars Rover Landing- Inside Story
- Rock Climbing
- Signature Practice
After a difficult week, Friday was the first day that it felt like we were back on track (just in time for the weekend…).
Our Flexible Homeschool Lesson Plans For The Upcoming Week
Monday
- Math: Real Life Word Problems
- YouTube Video – His choice
- Infusion – 4 hours
Reference Notes: Every Monday, my son has subcutaneous immunoglobin infusions. Because of this, our Monday routine is very light. We do the minimum and prepare for his medical treatment in the afternoon.
Tuesday
- Driver’s Ed – Finish Module 9 and Quiz
- CTCMath
- Spelling Practice using Spelling Plus
- YouTube Video – His choice, something educational
- Online Voice/Music Lesson – one hour
Reference Notes: Tuesdays are our first full school day of the week. Because my son always feels better post-Monday’s infusion, we typically do a large percentage of our more traditional homeschool work on this day.
Wednesday
- Physical Therapy – 2 hours
- Driver’s Ed Module
- Audiobook and Discussion
- Science: Human Body Study
- Figurative Language Activity
Thursday
- Audiobook and Discussion
- Social Time with friends – 1 hour
- Art class – 1 hour
- Rock Climbing with friends – 3 hours
Reference Notes: We spend Thursdays in lessons mostly outside our home. My son attends a program on Thursday afternoons through a local private school.
Friday
- CTCMath
- Driver’s Ed Module and Quiz
- History – read aloud, Major Events in American History
- YouTube Video – his choice and educational
- Science: Human Body Study
- Creative Writing?
New Easy Homeschool Lesson Plans And Updates, Every Week
Additional Resources For Strength-Based And Interest-Led Homeschooling
Thank you so much for sharing so generously Shawna. The resources and glimpses into your week are so helpful. They give me the inspiration and resources (we love CTCMath thanks to you!) to be a better homeschooling mom. My son and I thank you!! 🙏🏻💕 Hope he’s recovering from surgery quickly and fully.
I am so glad to hear you are finding these valuable. I am a little worried that they are just going to get super boring, but I am happy to share. (and yes, CTCMath is a game changer!)
Thank you so much for posting your weekly recaps. I really do look forward to them every week. I’ve struggled for years now feeling like I’m not doing enough in my homeschool, but you really help me put that feeling to rest. I have eccentric 2E kids. My oldest (almost 10) struggles with a lot of anxiety, reading challenges, and a chronic health condition. I love your slow-but-steady approach and your respect for your son’s physical and emotional health. You give me hope that things will work out. Thank you so much. I hope that your son has a much better week.
I can’t tell you how much this means to me. Thank you!
Shawna, I am so thankful you publish these posts. Homeschooling can be a lonely journey but it’s nice to see someone’s real-life homeschool as it unfolds. It probably takes a huge amount of vulnerability to do this every week, but thank you for taking that leap of faith! This Internet stranger appreciates your work!
You are so kind, Mallory. Thank you so much.