Here’s a questions I’ve been promising to answer on my blog for about a year and a half:
What do you recommend I do with my babies and toddlers while I’m trying to teach my bigger kids?
You mean besides strap them into their high chairs for three hours and hand them candy and cookies to keep them quiet?
Yeah, I don’t recommend that.
What’s funny about trying to answer this question is that even though I home schooled for several years with little bitty guys running (or crawling) around…I’ve had to rack my brain coming up with the answer to this question.
What DID I do with my babies and toddlers while I was schooling my bigger boys (who were at the time quite little themselves)?
There is no simple answer or formula. I don’t have anything to just hand you. I can’t just say, “Oh, my little guys did X, Y and Z while the bigger kids were schooling.” We just sort of did it. I’m pretty sure it looked a little chaotic half the time. That’s just life with little ones.
I would read history or read aloud books while I was nursing a baby (sometimes the bigger boy would have to hold the book). I would squeeze in school work during the little one’s morning nap.
I would take all of us into a room with toys, close the door so that the little guys were contained and I would do school work with the big boys. That way everyone was safe and happy and I knew exactly where everyone was at all times.
If we were using tiny objects like cuisenaire rods, the bigger kid took them to a table and I kept the littler ones away from the table, hollering my help from afar.
Once the babies were 2 or 3…I had several play options on our school room shelves. These were some of our favorites:
Melissa and Dug Food Cutting Set
Bead Buckets (I’d give my kids a big container of beads, some plates and a spoon. They’d spoon out beads and separate the colors onto plates. You could do this with beans or buttons too!)
Lego Duplos
Wood Peg Puzzles
Wooden Blocks
I called each of these options “Rug Work” and the kids got to pick one activity off the shelf, go to a rug, sit on it and play. These options were only allowed to be played with on the rug and during school time. When they were finished, they put the activity back on the shelf and got something else to play with.
I usually had a Veggie Tale or an educational video each day that I reserved for the time I needed to do more difficult schooling with my bigger boys. That would ensure that I had 30 minutes of uninterrupted work time.
I certainly remember having moments of frustration…feeling like I was trying to read a book around a bunch of craziness…trying to keep my baby from eating books off the shelf and trying to keep the toddler from screaming when he didn’t get his way…all while trying to teach a 2nd grader what a fraction was.
Ultimately, everyone learned to be patient. The big kids learned to be patient and wait until mommy could answer their questions. The toddlers learned to be patient until mommy could get their favorite puzzle off the shelf. The babies learned to be patient…yeah right. The babies screamed until they were fed. The mommy learned to be patient because school time is fun and loud and full of hubbub and hardly ever goes according to her perfect and ideal plan.
The beauty of it is that school time didn’t take hours and hours each day (still doesn’t even with bigger kids). A couple solid hours of concentrated school time (with some diaper changing breaks here and there)…we got it done.
And somehow, we all survived to tell about it!
Hey everyone…share your fun ideas for keeping babies and todders happy and occupied during school time!
We officially homeschool our 5 yr old. I do phonics with the 4 yr old (maybe three days a week).
Some things the whole family does together; our prayers, catechism, music, art some education videos.
When we want to, get down to business it is usually when a couple are down for naps. Since, it’s one-on-one, subjects like math and phonics get done quickly and I can correct right away, thereby finding weaknesses or strengths.
I always tell people that homeschooling does cut the time in half!
I really think learning goes on all day if you put yourself in that mode. For example, I am baking a cake, at the same time I can teach fractions or why it it important to add the baking soda. A walk, can become a nature walk.
I try to work in schooling all day. Reading to them at breakfast, working on spelling as they play in the tub.
I totally agree! Life is learning…learning is life! I love that our kids are learning so much ALL the time!
Amazingly, I find a lot of similarity between homeschooling with little ones around and working a full time job at home with little ones around. The full time job thing doesn’t really get cut in half time wise like home schooling might but that’s OK. I really need to set aside more of the toys that get played with only when mommy is working at the computer. That wasn’t the intent of your post but I took from it what works for me (because it’s Works for Me Wednesday of course!)
Makes perfect sense! Although maybe they could just come play with Aunt Laura’s toys sometime…
I love reading things about homeschooling, but I have always wondered where you get your curriculum and how to know how much and what subjects to teach each day. I would love to do something like this, but I don’t think I am disciplined enough to make it all up on my own. Surely I would leave out something fundamental and my children would be marked for life!!! ;)
I have wrestled with a lot of these same feelings in the past. But, there are SO many resources available to homeschooling parents. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel or even KNOW very much to be able to school your kids at home. I already have a post half-way written on this subject…I’ll try to finish it up and post soon.
In the meantime, read through all my posts in the Homeschool Hubbub category to answer some of your other questions. https://www.heavenlyhomemakers.com/category/homeschool-hubbub
Also, I will say that I have reached a point where I’m not as worried anymore about my children knowing all there is to know before they go to college. As long as they know HOW to learn, they’ll figure it out. AND more importantly, if they learn how to be servants of God, loving and caring young men…THAT’s what is most important.
Your last paragraph is absolutely true!! Thanks for reminding me!
Shelly, I don’t know what Laura uses but this is my 1st year homeschooling my kids & we are using ACE curriculum. It seems like a good starter because it’s simplistic yet the kids are still learning. They offer diagnostics testing whenever you send for it to know where your child is @ in each subject. They also have an accredited school for more $ that would provide an online tutor, helps, records and a real diploma with a real graduation ceremony. While it’s not the most challenging curriculum, it is much simpler to teach and suppliment all the extras with your own creativity & budget. Then they really DO have a well rounded education. ACE also has a $5 packet for record keeping.
I had been told that ACE was the easiest of curriculums by some but my 6th grader needed English help yesterday so we asked for help at church last night from our Music minister who is also a 8th grade English teacher, a blessing! He said my son is doing more difficult work than his students! He was impressed. I want my kids to get the better education than public school, that’s why I’m doing this but it was a huge blessing to know he’s coming along fine, even with the struggles of homeschooling.
Each state has it’s own schooling laws so you’d have to find it out for you. Our Missouri law says the children have to have 1000 hours of schooling, 600 of that at the primary schooling location (home). I have to keep a daily log of when and what they’ve done each day, which is no biggie on the computer. I just do the math for the curriculum, how much they need to do for each subject each day spread across 600 or so hours. There is plenty of room for variance because some subjects will take longer than others.
Thanks so much ladies! I love this info and will continue reading!
I thank the Lord for wonderful people like you all with wonderful advice.
My parents had an ACE school for years and I graduated out of it.
It is a valid complaint that ACE introduces concepts later than other
curriculum but you get a solid foundation because there is a lot of
review. One of it’s strengths is that the below average kid can
keep up with this curriculum and the average kid will excel.
I was one of several in my small school who went through ACE and
had no problems completing college degrees later. We also always
tested high on achievement tests.
Alpha/Omega is the same concept of curriculum by some of the people that
left ACE.
Thanks for your honesty and transparency!! It’s nice to know I’m not the only one that takes a little time to figure these things out ;)
Being as this is my 1st year homeschooling, I am working through all the kinks. My 6th grader enjoys spacing out more than doing his work, which when I would accredit to the curriculum, I know him enough to know it isn’t that. Yet, if he is not doing the self study work, then there isn’t the time to do all the fun things with him. This has been frustrating for me. I am still reprograming myself from public school mentality.
My 2nd grader is done with all her 2nd grade work for the year, in about a week. She completes her work by at least noon, and we then can do more hands on or other things. But this, (and everything else) is a distraction to my son. Yet if I go to another room or have him do some work in his room at his desk, he also gets almost nothing accomplished. And I can’t have my 2nd grader to go find things to do for the next 4 hours on her own. I don’t have little ones, but do find that my 2nd grader either is neglected a bit OR my 6th grader does not get anything done, falling behind. Not because the curriculum is too difficult or too easy but from what I can assess, he’s a regular 6th boy who’d rather be out playing or reading an adventure book than doing math and English..lol
Laura, I agree with you. Somehow you just do it. I have 5 kids from almost 13 down to 4. So I have had my share of years with babies and toddlers. Now it is preschoolers. I know that I did use a play pen and high chair some. They will stay content for a little bit with some new to them toys. Just keep them close by so they can see what everyone else is doing. I also liked Veggie Tales or Baby Einstein. My little ones took two naps a day for a while, so I made use of nap time. But most of my kids stopped napping around 2 1/2 yrs. So then I started to employ an older child to work with the younger ones while I worked with the ones in the middle. Then these guys would switch. But you will get to a point where the older kids can work mostly on their own with some assistance. Once they are reading it takes some of the weight off of mom. But know I am getting to the point where I need to be more involved with my 7th grader. So I am having the kids sibling sit or play again. I just all works out. I have had to revamp and revise my schedule many times. Life is always revolving.
My first year I had troubles, I tried doing the bulk of the work at nap time, or I tried having alternate activities for the young ones while I worked with the older one.
But now that I am on my fifth year of sit down work with my oldest, I stopped worrying.
In general, my children work independently on whatever it is they need to write/compute/clean. Even the 4 year old. When anyone has a question they come to me. I just have to be able to go back to work when they are satisfied. Which means they are more productive than I am some days!
I still use nap time to read to the kids, which is the bulk of our history lessons.
Right now, my oldest is doing laundry (home ec!) my daughter is whining because she doesn’t like multiplication (sorry no day is perfect), my other son is practicing money and numbers, because he felt like it (his ‘work’ is done). And the toddler is coloring. oops make that the toddler wants me to sing while the older girl is sitting in my lap to multiply. know any multiplication songs?
I really needed to hear all these things. I am struggling to homeschool my kids with a new (1 mo. old) baby in the house and feeling really guilty about not getting everything in the lesson plans accomplished. We are doing a lot of our activities orally while Mommy is nursing, but even then, things have really changed from pre-baby days. I have to remind myself and be reminded that all of life and play is learning and quit the guilt trip about not being perfect! Thanks for the post, Laura!
Kimberlee, you took the words out of my mouth…I mean fingers. :) We are there too. I have a 2 month old and struggle with the guilt of not doing it all perfectly. Laura, this post was so helpful!
Some simple things:
Playpen time
Room Time
Nap Time
Quiet Time alone when napping is outgrown
I love the rug time idea, too, which we will need next year when my littlest will be entering the terrific two’s.
My older child starts school earlier while the younger ones play. When the 2 year old takes a nap, my middle child starts school. This means at our house school is mostly done in the afternoon. Another thing I have done is give my the little one crayons and books or paper in his high chair. He feels like he is in “school” too (which he is). For me it is important to remind myself that it is ok to not stick to a schedule.
Carmen, your last sentence is what I have been working on as well. I have all the scheduling books out there, and while they are very helpful, I have put a lot of pressure upon myself to follow them to the letter….resulting in much frustration on my part. I am learning to not be so hard on myself, to let God order our days, to have a flexible plan, but not get upset if it doesn’t go exactly the way I thought it should. As a perfectionist, these are hard lessons for me to learn, but I’ve asked God to help me work through this.
You covered it pretty well, Laura. And since my youngest is almost 8yo, I would be hard-pressed to remember much of the daily grind.
I still count it a Day if they’ve done math, because generally reading goes on (whether I’m reading aloud… still, because we love it… or independently once they ‘click’ with reading they can’t stop reading .everything.they.see.everywhere.all.the.time.)
And for younger elementary especially, learning to read and the basics of math is about all you need. You can read together about science and history. You can have them tell you something to write down, such as a letter to Grandma. They can do penmanship or copywork. And you have readin’, writin’, and ‘rithmetic. With LOTS of real life in the mix.
Naptimes are good. So is continuing a “quiet time” when they are past napping. Playpens are good. A friend said they were often for the baby’s protection from the toddler ;-) not just the baby’s containment. (She and I both have ‘stair-step’ children.)
‘nuf — gotta tutor someone =)
If you have toddlers, you should check out 1+1+1=1 (http://1plus1plus1equals1.blogspot.com/)! She does a weekly Tot School (“school” for toddlers) post and people share what they did for the week too.
oops, it counted the “)” as being part of the address, take that out and the link should work
hi laura,
i have “lurked” on your blog for so long and have gleaned so much encouragement and so many great ideas. thank you!! i thought it was time that i introduce myself. =) thanks for sharing all that you do …
emily
I will check back to read all the responses (since I have a 21-month-old). :) Lately we have been able to occupy her at the table with play-doh, crayons and paper, and more recently, our new felt board. I made cut-outs for her to attach and she loves it. She’s also a big fan of our dry-erase board…just wish she didn’t write on our walls and hardwood floor with the markers. lol She also enjoys building with blocks and transferring objects between 2 containers. Thanks for the input!
Rug time is such a great idea for children from 1yr on up. I have a four year old and I thank God for Playdough! She is only allowed to play with it during school time. She has her own little table and because it is something “new”, she plays with it for a much longer time.
Hey Laura!
Great response. I am always at a loss when people ask me this question. I guess because I never try to get my littles to “do” something while we are schooling. They are just a part of our day and I am needed by them as much as everyone else. I have 10 children total, but my last 7 were born in 9 yrs. So I have had lots of yrs with toddlers and babies around! LOL!! I quit trying to have them entertained elsewhere. They either sit on my lap, play with toys, or listen along.
Thanks for such a practical and REAL answer to a question that perplexes so many moms. Dawn
Laura,
Great list of ideas!
In the 11 years that I have been homeschooling, I have always had a little one to deal with along with big kids. It was a struggle some days but we just worked on school during naps. I have worked with my older ones to be patient or to help each other if they are struggling and I am not available to help. I also have taught my older ones towards being self-learners in some subjects and that has taken some of the strain off and being able to complete a day of school.
Two years ago, I did a series on my blog “Homeschooling with Little Ones” and I took the time to explain some of my methods of homeschooling with little ones through explaining some of what I do with my preschooler/kindergarten age children. :)
Here is a link to that series: http://glimpseofsonshine.blogspot.com/search/label/Little%20Ones%20Series
This is such a great post – your ideas, Laura, combined with your readers’ will be a wonderful resource that I wish I had had back in the day! I have six children, and my youngest is thirteen, but I still remember well many of the things I did when I had babies and toddlers. Some readers spoke of schedules, and not feeling tied to them, and I couldn’t agree more! But I strongly encourage every mom who is frustrated and worried about not covering what she thinks she should to try using a schedule, flexibly, for awhile. If the schedule helps me stay on track 3 days out of 5, even if it wasn’t perfectly followed for even those three days, then it helped me get more done. More importantly than helping me not overlook anyTHING, a schedule helped me make sure I wasn’t overlooking anyONE. I scheduled in “play blocks with the baby” and considered it just as important as math with the 10th grader. I also taught lots of lessons while nursing, and quite a few while changing diapers! In addition to joining us for lots of read-alouds and activities, and continuing quiet time after they outgrew naps, my preschoolers were scheduled as to when they could play with their special “school-time” toys, to do simple chores during the school day (that I had already taught them to do), and I scheduled one 1/2 hr TV show each day – Mr. Rogers. The two most important things scheduling the babies and preschoolers did for me were filling their emotional tanks regularly, and providing a predictable structure for them. Even if their scheduled activity took only 5 minutes out of the 30 it was scheduled for, it provided a marker for them throughout the day which caused them to usually be content playing for that other 25 minutes, knowing that it wouldn’t be long before everyone would interact and shift activities.
One more thing about a schedule: when you have babies and toddlers, expect the schedule to change regularly. Anytime they shift feeding schedules or nap schedules or start potty training or someone starts a class (outside the home), everything will change. It doesn’t mean you failed at “following the schedule;” it means that schedule won’t work for you anymore.
Thanks for the great tips! My husband and I are missionaries in Bolivia and we have a one year who I am constantly trying to find new creative ideas to keep her busy. Unfortunately, most of the ideas I have come up with involve making a big mess! I would like to homeschool her when she old enough and I imagine we’ll have more little ones by then too. I’ll keep these ideas in store until she’s a little older :)
Chloe just turned 3 and John is 18 months. Right now Chloe does 1 hour of “school” in the mornings at the table and John has “blanket time” with some books and a few small toys.
Because they are onl 18 months apart, I expect that by the time we are ready to do “real” school, John will probably want to join along.
I was thrilled to read about how others do it since I never know if and when the next little one will arrive :)