Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Homeschooling with preschoolers and toddlers~

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If there were one thing I would say is difficult as a homeschooling family it would most definitely be occupying a preschooler and toddler while trying to teach my other children.

Do you see that picture above?  Don’t let it fool you.  It only looks like that during our homeschool days…oh, about 10 percent of the time! 

So what is a homeschool mom to do?

After struggling with this during our last school year, I determined that we would find something that helped to occupy the younger crowd but allowed me to teach at the same time.  And since I have a very active two-year-old boy, I knew that it would mean that an older person would need to be there to engage him and keep him happy.  :)  Since I am expected to teach at the time, I asked my older children to help.  And they gladly obliged.  (Who wouldn’t want a 30 minute break from his/her schoolwork?)

Here is how we have our days scheduled:

 

Time

With Mom

With Little Ones

8:30 Emma (2nd grade) Grant
9:00 Preschool Time Mom
9:30 Emma (2nd) Bryce
11:00 – 12:00 Older Boys Emma (30 minutes) and free play until lunch

A few notes:

  • While one child is with me and another is with the little ones or when I am teaching preschool, the other child (children) is/are doing independent seat work.
  • We take an outside break from 10:30 – 11:00.  Trust me, we all need it by then!
  • Usually Bryce is needed to entertain the little ones a little longer than 30 minutes but he is usually a head of the game with the completion of his school work.
  • If it appears that I don’t spend much time with the older two boys, you must remember that (1) they are more independent with their school work and (2) they spend time with me after lunch when the little ones are resting. (And Emma gets more time with me too!)

DSCN6230 Before the week begins, I take four empty, plastic shoeboxes and fill them with different things such as dominoes, pom pons, small containers, foam letters, things to scoop with, etc.  I give the older children some ideas as to how they can be used but they also have come up with ideas of their own.

DSCN6083 Scooping & counting  pom pons and painting H with Big Brother

We also have a folder full of worksheets about preschool topics – letters, shapes, colors, numbers, etc.  The older children have really enjoyed teaching the little ones using these worksheets.

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If they happen to finish all of these activities and it is not time to switch, there are games and blocks to pull out too.

DSCN6181DSCN6189Finding letters with Big Sister

  DSCN6153Listening to Big Brother read Hop on Pop 

So far, this has been the best way for us to keep the younger ones occupied and having fun without spending too much time in front of a TV.  Of course, this works for us because we have older children in our family.  If they were all young, I would have to take another route.  (Which I’ve done before but I honestly don’t remember what I did!)

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We have found that happy, occupied toddlers & preschoolers = a happy homeschool (and a happy homeschool mom).

2 comments:

  1. A high five to you!

    I only have one little tot and she seems to need more attention than my first grader!

    You have left me with some great ideas.

    THANKS!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm amazed at how much you do and how well you have things organized. It sounds like your older kids are great - very mature to be taking on teaching the little ones and keeping them busy - it will be a great skill for them to have in the future, I think. Not to mention it's a good thing to help mom out anyway! :)

    I don't know where I've been - I thought I was subscribed to this blog, but that you just weren't posting on it. Somehow I missed out, and just now realized you've been active on it. I love reading about what you are doing in your homeschool!

    Thank you for your comment on my post earlier today - I always feel good when I see you've left a comment, and they never fail to brighten my day. Thanks!!

    ReplyDelete

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