Tips for Occupying a Little Sibling

One thing about homeschooling in our house: 

If the YOUNGEST isn't BUSY,

NOBODY is WORKING. 

Keeping the homeschooling humming is not too hard as long as I don't forget to keep the 4yo from being bored. Here are a few of my tricks:

Me Too!

Last but not least, I am going to talk about what it takes to school a preschooler. Preschool is a silly word for a homeschooling family, but I use it because everyone knows what I mean. My soon to be 4yo is not one to sit quietly on the sidelines while her older siblings have all of mommy's attention. She Loves to be in the thick of things. When we do book work, I make sure she has her own stack of activity and coloring books. When she sits down I make sure I assign her a page and give her complete instructions even if it is, "You should color these however you want." I make sure to read books with her often and have a set of BOB books she is working with on sounding out words. It doesn't take long. Once she realizes I am not ignoring her she is usually content to go get a toy to play with. Sculpting clay or paint is another favorite for her. The most important thing for me is to NOT resort to screen time if I can help it. A house rule is that screens (unless used for learning) stay off until 4:00pm daily. Everyone here is at some level of learning (even mom and dad!) and meeting those needs daily is what homeschooling is all about.

Back in the Swing of Things

School is in again! Routines are back up and the kids are reading, writing, and 'rithmatickin' away! I've made up daily sheets for my kids and hung them on the refrigerator to help us all to remain focused. I really like getting all core bookwork done before lunch with science, history, and languages left for the afternoon. They seem to take direction better from a preset schedule than a mother who could be just making it up to keep them busy. They like a plan and perhaps more importantly, an end. I've also discovered that the earlier I get the daily chores and violin practice out of the way, the happier my oldest is for the remainder of the day. For a child who vows to love playing violin, she sure gives tons of grief over practicing it! My youngest has surprised me too. No longer will she be content to play or color while the others do their schoolwork. She wants in on this mommy monopolizing activity called school! And she is being quite specific in her demands. If the others are doing language arts she wants to work on her letters. Math means it is time to bring out her own numbers book and counting games. Although she still plays quietly while we are reading from our history book, she insists on having her own coloring pages and doing a project too. I love it!