I am delighted to introduce you to a dear blogging friend of mine, Rebekah Thompson from Surviving Toddlerhood. You may remember her from this episode of the podcast or from her article in the very first issue of Spirit-Filled Woman Magazine. Today, she is sharing with us some of the insight and practical tips she has learned as a homeschooling mama of four boys. May you walk away inspired and encouraged by her words!
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One question that I hear frequently from mommas who are just beginning their homeschooling journey is “What do you do with the littles while the older ones are doing their school work?” Now, I wouldn’t consider myself the most experienced homeschool momma out there, but I was homeschooled all of my school years, and watched my mom deal with several ages and grades at once, and I have been able to put into practice many of the same ideas that she used as she balanced life with school aged children with also raising and caring for toddlers and infants. So today, I wanted to share some of those ideas with you all.
If we haven’t met, I’m a momma of four boys ten and under. I have a couple in grade school, one who is dabbling in preschool, and a busy toddler who tries to keep up with his older brothers in all that they do. Another thing that you should realize before we get into specific tips is that I am a very relaxed homeschooler in some regards; we homeschool year-round and because of that, we shoot for three to four school days per week. We keep things simple and low key {if you are wondering how to simplify homeschooling, here is how we do it}. We don’t school at the same time every day, nor do we complete every subject every day. I really encourage you to check out the post linked above if you are interested in learning more about our schooling style.
Keeping Littles Busy While You Homeschool
We do use most of these tips to keep the littles busy while I work with the older boys, but not all of them. Some of them are just ones that I have observed working well for other moms that I know, so I included them here for you, as well.
- Have special shows that are allowed during school hours.
I usually like to keep some educational movies set aside for this purpose. I like the Leap Frog DVD series, The Nature of God DVD series from Zondervan, or animated Bible stories.
2. Have blanket time.
Blanket time means your little one sits on a blanket with some special toys or books for a set amount of time. Usually it is best to start with a short amount of time- say five minutes- and work your way up from there.
3. Sensory bins with beans and/or rice.
I have boys, so they like to use their construction trucks with the beans or rice; they also enjoy using lots of measuring spoons and cups.
4. Water play.
Fill up a sink with soapy water and let your little ones go to town with spoons and cups. You could put some food coloring in to give them something new, or add a drop of child safe essential oil for some aromatherapy at the same time.
5. Bath time.
I have two that love baths, so if our day is getting hectic or it is close to nap time, but I can’t put them down yet, I’ll often have them get in the bath. Some days it only gets us twenty minutes to put in some concentrated work with a child, but many days the younger two will stay in the bath for thirty to forty-five minutes. I don’t do anything special with their bath time, but you could always get different shaving cream tricks, tub paints, or something else to make the bath time more exciting.
6. Dusting and washing windows.
Little ones love to help out! I find that my four-year-old who really dislikes consistent chores loves it when I give him random jobs like dusting, washing windows, or wiping down the counters. Bonus for me, because I don’t like dusting or washing the windows. 😉
7. Playdough
Biggest playdough tip: let them mix the colors. Just do it. Give them the playdough, and let them play. I find that we usually somehow end up with less playdough each time it comes out, either pieces on the floor, or left in the tools, or something else, so I have started asking for replacement boxes at Christmas or birthdays. On Amazon you can get twenty containers of playdough for a decent price, and by asking for them at multiple points throughout the year, we usually always have a fresh color and can easily replace the old stuff that is either dry or mixed into a yucky brown color.
8. Painting
This is a hard one for me, because it is messy, but this will get you some time for schooling! Washable paints are going to be your best friend. Maybe keep a couple of your husband’s old t-shirts for smocks to protect your littles’ clothes.
9. Have them sit with you while you have read aloud time.
Whether it is science, history, or just your new read aloud from the library, the whole family benefits from listening to what you are reading. Invite everyone to have a seat with some blankets, or maybe busy work if your child listens better that way, and read away. I love the book “The Read Aloud Family” by Sarah Mackenzie, it is full of ideas for connecting with your child over what you are reading/learning, questions to facilitate conversation, and book lists for all ages.
10. Do intensive work during nap time.
For my family, it works best if we do our intensive work during nap time. Like I mention in this post, we are pretty relaxed and don’t have too much intensive, hard school work yet, but nap time really works well if we are working through a new math concept or have a lot of reading to do.
11. Send them outside.
This would depend on where you live, your comfort level, and your parenting style, but during better weather, I send my four-year-old and almost two-year-old outside. They get fresh air and Vitamin D, are easily entertained by the cat or just tromping around, and seeing the younger two outside give the older two initiative to get the work done quickly so that they can head outside, too.
12. Use flashcards and little workbooks to include the littles if they want to “do school”
My four-year-old frequently asks to “do” school, but he doesn’t have the attention span or the desire to do a lot yet. Little workbooks and flashcards from the dollar store give us a starting point and encourage learning, without actually burdening him with too much information.
While keeping little ones entertained while homeschooling bigger kids can seem terribly daunting sometimes, there really are multiple easy ways we can do just that!
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Rebekah Thompson is a wife, homeschooling boy momma to four handsome little men, birth and postpartum doula, and blogger. She loves writing about what she is learning in this crazy season of life with littles at her site appropriately called Surviving Toddlerhood. She gets through the hard days with Jesus, coffee, and lots of chocolate, and is the author of The First Six Weeks: Thriving Naturally on Your Postpartum Journey.
