I have been homeschooling our children for the past seven years. (It is amazing that it has truly been seven years already.) For all seven years I have either had a baby, toddler or preschooler in the house while schooling. There is a delicate balance of creativity and training that is needed in order to keep your sanity and cheerful attitude when homeschooling with these crawling/walking distractions in the home.
From about 6-8 months old we begin training our young one to sit and play quietly on a blanket with a few select toys and books to keep them occupied. It is important that they know how to sit quietly and entertain themselves for a short period of time. We begin with 15 minutes, and gradually increase their blanket time to one hour. I can't tell you how helpful this training has been for homeschooling, as well as times when a mom has needed my attention on the phone or at her home, needing prayer and advice. (We started this practice when we were living in Ireland and I had to attend missionary meetings with my two girls, aged 3 yrs and 18 months, while expecting the 3rd, without Ryan. There wasn't child care, and I needed the girls to be quiet for an hour during the meeting. It was a blessing to me to know they were safe, occupied, and not distracting to others.) This blanket time can be a great help during the homeschool hours.
Obviously, we didn't ask our children to stay on the blanket for more than an hour. A good amount of homeschooling can be accomplished during baby's nap time as well. But as the little ones grow, and become toddlers, more creativity is needed. Here are some of the activities we have used to keep toddlers/preschoolers busy during the homeschool hours:
+ coloring (at the table with us)
+ listening to books on tape from the library
+ playing with play dough
+ watching a 30 min educational show (not in the same room with your hoomeschoolers or you can kiss that 30 minutes of homeschool time good-bye)
+ flash cards for ABC's, colors, shapes, etc
+ puzzles, and magnet games (involving tangram shapes, etc)
+playing on the front porch (always in sight) with the kitties
+dancing to music in the playroom (again, out of sight and hearing of those who are schooling)
+sometimes I let her take a bath, and I move my reading/ work with my homeschooler into the bathroom for that 30-40 minutes.
One thing that multiple older children has allowed me to do, is to rotate a "play" time with the toddler into the daily schedule. So the oldest might get 30 minutes with the toddler, and then an hour later, the 2nd oldest might play with the toddler, etc.
It will be a strange thing to have them all schooling next year. I don't think I will know what to do with myself. Who knows, maybe God has allowed this right in time for my oldest to hit puberty...hmmm...I could be needing a whole new list of creative ideas in the near future! :)
How do you homeschooling moms keep your little ones learning and occupied?
Thus far, in our first year of homeschooling, my two boys (ages 3 and 1) play in their bedroom with the train table. At first it was very hard because they had to learn not to interrupt unless someone was hurt or in trouble, but lately it has become easier. Thankfully, the entire schooling for us only takes about 1 1/2 hours for our 5 year old so thye don't have to wait for long. I also let them (sometimes) sit in on her reading lesson so they get to hear the story, too. Thanks for sharing, Cathlyn!
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