How do I homeschool with younger ones in tow?

Question

I am a mother of five, 28, and a homemaker....and loving it I might add! My only dilemma is that I have younger ones that aren't in schooling age. I have a 7, 6, 4, 2, and 3 month old. I am only homeschooling the older two. It is hard enough to keep kid's attention at that age but even harder when I have little ones that want to get right in the middle! :o) Should I just wait till the little ones have their nap times? Any suggestions from fellow homeschoolers or teachers are most helpful.

Okay, only homeschooling moms or previous ones please! First off, I love what I do and my hands are not too full. Yes, I am able to teach while my kids nap because homeschooling only takes 2 hours. The rest of the learning, such as responsibility of the sort, is easily done during the day. Socialization is easy because we go to church 4 times a week and my kids have friends there and they really love going to sunday school and children's church. So, please, no homeschool haters here. For the others, thank you so much for your awesome ideas! How I could I just pick one good answer? :o) You guys are amazing and so helpful. Every mom can be a good teacher if they choose to do so, but not every teacher can be your kid's mom. I couldn't be luckier to to have the life I have and it is such a joy every day.

Answer 1

We have littler ones too. Even though we are unschoolers now, when we were doing school-at-home, we had work for the littles as well. A four year old could do several things at the table with the older kids, and a two year old would love to have coloring books, paper, crayons glue and scissors to work on at the same table. A three month old will be sleeping lots, but also when she's awake doesn't need all of your attention. Tummy time is important, so have a special blanket that is hers, with some toys, in the room and practice getting her down, or keep her in a sling and just go about your business.

I started most sessions by playing with the little ones, getting them involved with a particular toy (building blocks, legos, what have you) and then setting down with the older kids. I would work with them until the littles needed some interaction, then we'd all work at the table together. The older kids really shouldn't take more than two or three hours to finish all of their work.

Don't be afraid of doing what works for you. Look at the natural schedule you already have. If you want to work during nap times, go for it! If you want to work all together, go for it! Homeschooling is excellent *because* it is flexible and your child can learn and live in a manner that suites your family. Good luck, it's fun!

Answer 2

I'd get the little ones involved. There's no reason why your 4 year old can't start exploring some simple math concepts along with your 6 and 7-year old. Or something that will be great for everyone is to use reteaching as a learning tool. Something that has been a tremendous help for me is reteaching. Basically, when I feel I understand a certain concept or idea or skill, I reinforce it (and proove true understanding) by teaching it to someone else. Maybe once one of your older ones seems to have mastered something, have them teach it (or help you teach it) to your four-year old. Even if the little one isn't quite at their level, he/she will feel involved, and probably get something out of it, and your older two will be practicing the skills they learned along with leadership and communication skills. It could also serve as sibling bonding time.

Something else you could do is have the older two take turns reading to the young ones, or for an English assignment have them write a puppet show or a play and put it on for the little ones. The smaller children could also play the role of "little helpers" some of the time... Setting up materials, getting books off the shelf, putting things away... just little things that will make them feel like part of the activity. Be creative!

ADD: Pay no mind to the person who said to send the kids to public schools. This IS the right environment for homeschooling. In a situation like this, learning becomes a family affair and will start happening as naturally as the children learning a game from eachother and playing.

Answer 3

I agree - do the "work" of homeschooling while the little ones are napping or having quiet time. I found it much easier to get schoolwork done in the afternoon and the extras done in the morning. I will say though, that I think it's difficult to homeschool w/ little ones around. Try giving the 4 year old preschool work to do. If he/she is sitting at the table working on colors, shapes, letters they'll be more likely to sit quietly and listen while you help the older ones. I also use "special" toys for the preschooler during this time (legos, books w/ buttons, toothpicks & marshmellows, etc.) Another idea is to do some workbook pages w/ your older ones before they go to bed. It's quieter, they have your undivided attention and you'll get a headstart on the next day.

Answer 4

I homeschool my 7 year old and also have a 3 year old and a 9 month old. I teach while the baby is taking a nap and the three year old has special toys and games that she can only play with in her room while sissy is at school. she sometimes argues but for the most part she does great. I allow break time after an hour or so for her to come out and play for a minute and have a snack. then when school is over she and i do something by ourselves even if only for 5 minutes so she doesnt feel left out

Answer 5

Since they are all so close, and need attention through out the day I would look into a method called unschooling.

We use it even now that they are older.

We spend maybe an hour a day per child, at least with those who are actively home schooled; and do one on one instruction in the basics, math, reading, and writing.

These three subject we do in a more traditional manner.

Our children now range from pre-teen on up, but it still works best since their outside activities take up just as much time as they did needing mommy when they were younger.

For example on Monday we will do math, and history; on Tuesday science, and language arts; Wednesday math, and a project; art, or something else.
Thursday review, and individual instruction where needed.
Friday, well the house cleaned, and groceries need to be done.

Each day there is at least two hours of schooling; the book work type of schooling.

You can include the 4 and 2 year old in these, and other activities around the house.
When doing language arts with the older ones, spray shaving cream on your counter top, and let them make letters, or other designs, they'll love it, and it is simple to clean up.

When doing math get colored beads, and let them sort these out by color, and size, put a number on the jar, and a picture then say put this many beads in this jar.
This is little people math; M&M's work great too, and they like those much better :)

Include them in all household chores, from sorting laundry to setting the table, and doing dishes.
Learning happens all day, even if it is only learning how to follow directions.

Let the little ones watch Magic School Bus video's, cuddle up, and read out loud, ask questions on the end about the story; this is called reading comprehension.

Get some simple Dover coloring books, or print sheets of the Internet, and have them do these when you are working with the older ones.

http://www.dltk-kids.com/world/
http://www.dltk-kids.com/coloring.htm
http://www.dltk-kids.com/

Take the month of December off from formal academics; there are cards to address, cookies to bake, plays to participate in, so much to learn, and do this month that all you need is a book about traditions, and of holiday (Christmas) stories from around the world.

Place a pin on the map of the countries that you read about, show them where they are.
When you receive Christmas cards do the same with a map of the USA, talk about how far that is from your home, can you walk there? do we need to drive, or fly?

Let them cross of the days on a calendar leading up to a special event, let them draw a sun, or cloud on the day to mark the weather.
We can go on for days, have fun together.

Blessings, and good luck.

http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/
http://www.unschooling.com/
http://sandradodd.com/unschooling
http://ulfaq.home.comcast.net/~ulfaq/ULfaq.html
http://www.unschoolingamerica.com/

Answer 6

Wow! You are truly a "Supermom!" Keep up the good work! My suggestion as to how to teach your 7 & 6 year olds with your little ones around, I say just let them get right in on it! Yeah, it sounds a little crazy but the younger ones will learn a lot faster if you let them stick around when your older two are doing school work. And the younger ones will probably start "playing school" with the younger ones and try teaching them themselves! So the old ones playing "teacher" will actually reinforce what you taught them by teaching their younger siblings! It's really cool how that works!

Don't listen to those telling not to homeschool! You are doing the right thing for your children! It's an amazing blessing for your family that you can stay home with them!

Answer 7

Here is a great site with activities for preschoolers:

http://www.redshift.com/~bonajo/preschool_activities.htm

Also, try having special toys and/or "workbooks"/coloring pages for the little ones to do while the older kids are doing school. Only get them out during school time.

Do literature and read-alouds with everyone - or make them part of bedtime.

Do some schooling in the car while you're on errands. Storage clipboards or lap desks w/ white boards work wonders!

Have some educational videos for the young ones to watch while the older ones need your attention. Leap Frog, Signing Time, Baby Einstein, Sesame Street, etc.

Answer 8

I've homeschooled with little ones, we just work around them. When I'm paying attention to the little ones I give the older ones independant work like their worksheets or projects to work on and just check up on them.

When the little ones are napping or in the evening or on weekends when their dad is home, I would sit with the older ones and go over their basic skills.

We also would go out a lot as a group on field trips, and the toddlers and preschoolers can be given coloring sheets or blocks or some other projects to keep them busy when working with the older ones.

I found it's best to just adjust our schedule and activities to our own needs rather than trying to immitate a traditional school at home.

Answer 9

I have a 2 and 3 year old. My 3 year old is reading on a 1st grade level so we homeschool to keep her interested in learning. My 2 year old learns right along with her sister. My 2 year old can count to 20, knows her ABCs and the letter sounds. So she is taking it all in while we do it all together. My kids are closer in age, so it might be easier for me to do. You can also look into unit studies. They are very flexible and adjust nicely to a wide range of learning levels.

Good luck

Answer 10

It requires creativity!!

Instead of a full hour to 2-hour block, work in 15-minute spurts, or do things where it only takes you a minute to show, then they practise on their own.

A lot of moms do like the nap-time schooling.

Your 4yo can still have his/her own activities to do: colouring pages, dot-to-dots, cutting activities, etc. Basically, any preschool/kindergarten-type activity. Even the 2yo might like age-appropriate activities to do at the same time.

Also, just focus on the basic reading, writing and math. Fit in the other subjects in other ways. At 6/7, they really don't need to be spending a whole lot of time on their work each day.