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What Did You Do Before There Were Older Kids to Help?
By Kendra | November 4, 2009
From the comments:
What did you do with the little ones before you had an “older kid” old enough to be in charge of them? My oldest is eight and is often the one I need to be spending the one-on-one time with. But the one and just-turned-three-year-old cannot be trusted to their own devices and the five-year-old is not responsible enough to watch them. The one-year-old does not watch videos (not something I choose, he just is not interested)…the three-year-old would but they would disrupt the eight-year-old since our living/dining areas are open to each other.
♥
Oh yes, I do remember those days! This is the season of your life when you’re going to have to turn to unorthodox methods and do what works.
When there are more little people than big, I tend to turn to an afternoon school schedule, or at least tackle the one-on-one stuff when the little ones are napping or resting. It all depends on the little person, too. Some of them are quite content to sit and look at books or color while I’m working with an older child, others– not so much.
Ask yourself what you can accomplish during the morning time all together. For me, that tends to be chores, a nature walk, an exercise time (mine have even liked doing a workout video with me!), some memory work, art, Bible time, singing, cooking, and reading aloud. Do you see how much of that really is educational? Then when you’ve got a quiet couple of hours in the afternoon, get to work on the subjects that take focus: math, history, science, grammar, etc.
It’s unorthodox, but who cares? My husband often reminds me, “This is the benefit of homeschooling”.
Make sure you’re prepared in advance for what’s ahead. Set the table for breakfast the night before, and make it be a no-brainer: muffins, peanut butter on toast, cereal, baked oatmeal, crockpot oatmeal, applesauce. Set out the kids’ clothes, too. Plan absolutely everything in advance that can be planned, and get it down on paper so you don’t have to think about it again.
Be flexible. What works this month might not work next month. This was one of the hardest lessons I had to learn, because after I’d spent time making lists and charts and schedules, I wanted things to stay exactly as planned. But then inevitably something changes; the baby drops her morning nap, I get pregnant and am sick for months on end, my husband has an emergency patient at 6 p.m., the older boys start water polo or get part-time jobs, and on it goes. Nothing is static.
Remind yourself that this is a season. Pray and ask God to direct your steps and make it all come together. Ask Him what you should be doing right now and what you can drop from your agenda. If He calls you to it, He will make a way.
~Kendra
Topics: Educating at Home, Life with Preschoolers | 14 Comments »
November 4th, 2009 at 3:53 am
Ditto the unconventional. Ours are aged 5, 3, 2, 9 months and “just started cooking”. Our 5 year old is a bright cookie who is reading at a year 2 level (SHE wanted to start reading when she was about 3.5 and never looked back)
In order to give her the one on one time we:
make good use of naptime – even though I sometimes need a nap myself!
sometimes let her stay up a few minutes later than everyone else.
Make use of weekends when there are two adults available.
Daddy does some of the “school” stuff sometimes when he gets home.
Most stuff, we combine everyone and do it all together and we keep the need for one on one in schooling to a minimum. I am also pretty strict teaching my kids to sit in a chair or on a blanket with an activity until I call them which can buy some time. Even the 2 year old is capable of this, although it did take some time to teach them initially. I find it invaluable when I need to do some cooking or have some time directly dealing with a child for some reason.
November 4th, 2009 at 4:28 am
Great reminders Kendra! Even though I have now three older ones (12, 10, 9) who are great helpers it’s nice to have the reminder of the “seasons” of life! I was just thinking the other day about how I got along a few years ago before I was comfortable with the oldest picking up a baby, etc. Wow…it was difficult but God got us through it!
November 4th, 2009 at 5:52 am
Thank you so much for addressing this issue! And reassuring me that I am not crazy for having an afternoon schedule of the important, academic stuff! I am sure my teacher friends think I am a little crazy but like your husband said “this is the benefit to homeschooling!”
November 4th, 2009 at 6:49 am
Kendra,
Thanks…that was my question. We’re still trying to work around this, but being pregnant I’m needing a nap with the little ones in the afternoon myself. Sometimes even when I’m not pregnant, as I have lupus (SLE) and the flares are quite unpredictable. At the moment I have my oldest do her math and geography on her own during naptime, then try to answer questions when I get up again…not the best solution, but at least she’s getting her work done one way or another!
November 4th, 2009 at 7:08 am
Catherine- Whatever works is the best solution! For various reasons I needed to get our history done in one day this week, so we did the last lesson at 8 o’clock on Monday night.
November 4th, 2009 at 7:14 am
Thank you for the helpful hints! We’re in the same boat with 4 that are 7 and younger. I keep thinking, though, that I would really love someone else to clean the house!
November 4th, 2009 at 11:32 am
I love this idea! I have done this at different seasons here as well, and most of the time it has worked well.
But initially I did find that my boys had trouble with math in the afternoons… seemed to take twice as long and produce a lot more tears! Maybe that’s just us? Not sure, but I thought I would mention that at the suggestion of a friend we started letting the boys get up a little earlier than my littles in the morning and work on math while I get ready for the school day, start breakfast, wake up little people etc. They grab a glass of milk and head to the schoolroom. That early in the morning the house is quiet and they are not tired. They are just able to think more clearly, and the added bonus is that they feel it is a grand privilege to get up a little early.
Anyway, thought I’d share what we found helps with math.
November 4th, 2009 at 12:10 pm
Thank you for this! My girls are 6, 3, and 1. I finally figured this out over the last few weeks. We do as much as we can together in the morning, then the 1st grader and I get down to business during naptime (except today I fell asleep with the little ones but we still have a good hour to work) I needed to hear that I wasn’t crazy for doing so much school in the afternoon, but what else are you supposed to do when it’s all littles.
November 4th, 2009 at 2:17 pm
Thanks for the encouraging reminders of this time being a season (we have a 6yo boy in 2nd grade, 4yo boy diong pre-k stuff & reading, 3 yo girl, 18mo boy and another boy due in 7 weeks!). We cram most of school into the afternoons while the younger 3 are napping/quiet time. Need to plan out more to do together in the mornings – I really like your ideas. It is a busy and intense time of life, and after a difficult morning with 4yo attitude I was encouraged and refreshed to read your post today. I am very thankful for God giving us our 4, soon to be 5 little blessings.
November 4th, 2009 at 4:54 pm
My dh’s answer to this question, and we used to get it a lot: “Always have your teenagers first.”
November 5th, 2009 at 6:15 am
Cathi,
I love that!!! Thanks for the laugh this morning!
Dawn
November 5th, 2009 at 9:20 am
I am wanting to supplement my kindergarteners math, reading and handwriting I would love any and all curriculum advice. He is doing really well in school, but I want to keep him ahead of where he should be. Thanks Smythe
November 8th, 2009 at 5:02 am
Smythe, our public library is great at putting together supplemental packets on any subject. (Of course you may want to go through it before exposing your son to it since it is after all a public library and who knows what might be in there.) They also have kits already put together for numbers and letters, too. You might want to check into it…they don’t advertise that they do this so you may have to ask about it.
November 29th, 2009 at 5:47 pm
I JUST now have older ones to help…and I never knew how great it would be! I got alot of greif for the age difference of my kids, but I love it and recommend having older siblings before having kids…haha….