With winter comes cold and flu season. Let’s face it, when subjected to the confines of a classroom full of other sneezing students, your child is a target for airborne enemies, and more than likely, before the season is over, will catch their own case of the bug. It simply comes with the territory. When this happens, it, of course, means staying home from school, but it also means they have to catch up on what they missed once they are well, and especially in elementary school when they are learning the all- important basics, it’s vital for them to stay on track.
An open line of communication with your child’s teacher is imperative. Be realistic, while your child is sick, they are not going to feel like studying, any more than you feel like working when you are ill, so please do not run by the school and bring their study material to them. Do, however, upon your child feeling better, speak with their teacher to determine what they have missed out on during their absence. Once this has been determined, and if what they missed was significant enough, devote a half an hour to an hour each evening after school until they are comfortable with being back on track. Once again, because it is elementary school, spending this amount of time each day should allow your child to catch up on one day’s work each day.
Now it is time to make the determination just when they are well enough to return to school without running the risk of infecting others.
Once your child’s fever has subsided for a 24 hour period, and they are giving the appearance of feeling better and showing signs of restlessness, they are more than likely ready to return to the classroom. Of course, you also should have testing to be positive that your child is no longer contagious, depending on what their illness is. Once you have confirmation, there is no reason to have them miss out on more school than they need to.
Much of when they are okay to return to school is up to the parent’s intuition. You know your child better than anyone, and you know their normal habits like no one else does. If your child prefers to be wrapped in a blanket while lying on the couch watching TV, they obviously are not well enough to toss on a school bus. Use a common sense approach. If they are doing the typical things they normally do, and once again the fever has subsided for 24 hours, chances are they are well enough.