We're coming out of a rough season. For the last 8 weeks or so, I've barely been able to get out of bed because the nausea and exhaustion during the first trimester of this pregnancy has been so bad. But, during that time, life continued to go on around me. My boys still needed to be cared for during the day. We're still homeschoolers. The dishes and laundry can pile up for someone else to take care of, but my boys need me. No one can take my place.

So what did we do? We cut back to the homeschooling basics. I consider that to be the 3 R's:

• Reading
• Writing
• Arithmetic

We took some days off completely, but in general, Monday through Thursday we were doing the 3 R's. Here's that looked like for us.

Our Homeschooling Basics

• Reading: Jonathan reads one chapter in his Bible each morning. He just completed Genesis and started Exodus this week. He also always has a fiction book or reader of some sort that he's working on. Lately, that's been The Boxcar Children Series. He's in book #5 right now. Jonathan knows that there's no “screen” games without reading at least one chapter in that book.
• Writing: After Jonathan does his Bible reading, he writes in his journal. Sometimes this is copy work, sometimes this includes narration/composition because he writes something he learned or a question he has about the reading. See more about how Jonathan is journaling through his Bible reading. 
• Math: Jonathan is in Light Blue Series Grade 2 of Math Mammoth. We do one lesson each day, except Fridays.

During this period when Mommy felt sick and couldn't do much, we at least did these basics. Sure there were lots of movies and puzzles and blocks and “screen games” too, but the basics were accomplished. Many times, those homeschooling basics were done in my bed. Location really doesn't matter so much!

What are your homeschooling basics? What do you try to accomplish each day even if nothing else gets done? Share with us!