Does anyone homeschool their children?

Is it possible to homeschool with two children and an infant?

  • My children are in 3rd and 6th grade. I want to homeschool them next school year but i am going to also have an infant. Does anyone else have this kind of scenerio? and how is it ...show more

  • Answer:

    It's not that hard to do especially while the baby is young. It does become a challenge when the baby gets a little older 1-3 years. I put toys in a basket and my youngest is only allowed to play with those toys while school is being done. Now she is 4 and we have workbooks for her (mostly for play). For it has worked out fine! We have not had any problems with getting the work done and keeping the baby entertained.

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Lots of homeschooling families go through scenarios like that. When the baby is first born, life is usually crazy for a while, but with older children around, you should have helpers who can ease those first few months until the baby is sleeping through a good part of the night and developing a routine. I would spend a good part of the time before the baby is born training your older children to help more with household chores, teaching them to prepare simple meals, do laundry from start to finish, etc. These are good life skills but will also help a great deal when you have an infant in the house. It will help if you use curriculum where the children can do some of it on their own or with minimal help. Educational videos, DVDs, computer programs, etc. can be a great help to keep the older ones learning when mom is too exhausted to do anything but nap. Also try using books such as "The Story of the World" (a history series) where you can read the lesson aloud (or have the oldest read it) while you are feeding the baby; you can all discuss the lesson together and the children can even write something in a notebook about the lesson, if you want. Doing the lessons together like that will help make it easier on you and they'll both get something out of it--though obviously the older one will get out of it than the younger one. The harder part will be when the little one becomes a toddler and wants to be up and running around and wants attention just when you are trying to teach the others. It can be done, but it takes some planning. Again, it helps to use curriculum for at least a few subjects where you can all do it together--reading aloud is great for the older ones but the toddler can enjoy it, too, especially if you occasionally turn it to his level (for instance when a small number is mentioned, stop and count to it with the little one; or have them all try to pronounce certain words aloud--something the little one can try, too). You may find that doing some lessons while the toddler is napping is a good idea (and try to keep nap time going as long as possible--encourage the new baby to "read" books while lying in bed when the little one seems ready to quit napping). Also have a few special toys that can only be used during lesson time--so they'll keep the little one occupied. And try to have toys similar to the older kids lesson materials (a toy computer the little one can use while the older children work on a real computer, or a magnadoodle for the little one to scribble on while the older ones write in workbooks, or a coloring book for the little one to use while the older ones write in their notebooks, etc.) Try joining a local homeschool support group (try looking on Yahoo! Groups for one near you). You'll likely find a number of parents who've gone through these same issues who'll have tons of helpful advice for you if you only ask. Good luck.

hsfromthestart

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Online Education

When I began homeschooling, my daugher was 8 and her brother was 5 months old. By the time she was 11, her brothers were 3 and newborn. At 14 she was preparing for college, younger brother was doing 2nd grade work, and my youngest, who I hoped would be doing some work with his older brother and starting grade K, was developmentally delayed and it was a challenge just to get him to learn basic behavior control. Point is... it's never perfect; but you work things out as they come. Your schedule is your own... so you can make it work if you want to, but imposing a rigid, traditional structure will probably be difficult. You might want to adapt a more go-with-the flow lose structure. Work around the baby's naps. Give the kids independent work while you go tend to the baby. Have the 6th grader help the 3rd grader with some things, or give them projects to do together. Unit studies are a great way to keep work activity high but structure low... if the kids work on the same unit it can cut your work in half. For example, if they did a dinosaur unit, they can both use the same dinosaur flash cards, work on the same dinosaur projects, watch the same dinosaur educational DVDs, both work on their own folder/lapbook; but you would give the older one something more, like a research paper, and the younger one something easier, like a paragraph or two. It might be hard for a while because homeschooling is a new lifestyle that requires a bit of floundering and a transitional period anyway... even without a newborn. But just don't have too high expectations that everything will fall into place... consider your first year a transitional period and be willing to be flexible and don't be hard on yourself. Get arbitrary concepts like "ahead" and "behind" out of your mind, it's not a race.

Mackenzie

Anything is possible if you are organized enough. Good luck.

beentheredoneit

It depends more on your own education level and teaching training and experience compared to the number of pupils you have.

SandraLAVixen

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