Homeschool with toddler and a baby is no easy feat. After a couple years of trial and error, I have finally found the simplest of solutions. Honestly, since implementing my new strategies, I’m asking myself on the daily why I didn’t think of this sooner. I’ll walk you through my specific techniques below. But first, I’d like to share some ideals that may help prepare you for being willing to switch up some of your previous patterns.
Go with the Flow
One of the many rewarding benefits of homeschool is that I get to shape and mold my own day. The people in my home are not the exact ones that attend the school around the corner. Things could have been a whole lot easier had I recognized this sooner.
But I’m here now and you live and you learn. I realize that sometimes my days can feel so different with kiddos at various stages. And that’s why it’s so important for me to just roll with life as it comes.
What I mean is, sometimes there are times when we have long and rough nights. Do I feel my absolute best the next morning? Am I always able to wake up at the crack of dawn, get my me time, have breakfast laid out and a whole basket of activities ready to go? Heck no. There are times when I just have to lay in bed and tell myself, you know what? It was a rough night, so you just get up when you muster up the strength. It can take a whole weight off your shoulders the sooner you realize, it’s okay to give yourself grace and just go with the flow.
Recognize rhythms
This is another one of those things that would have been so great to realize sooner. And that is to figure out the natural habits and patterns of my household. While most households are up and at it by 6am on a school day, that just isn’t realistic for us right now.
The littlest ones in our house usually have the most of their energy at the top of the morning. Meanwhile, my oldest is struggling to hold on to her last bit of the night.
I also find myself wanting to tidy up and take care of household chores after breakfast. Therefore, I’ve opted to have us do chores and then free time right after breakfast. My older two don’t actually start their homeschool lessons until my youngest two are getting ready to nap.
This allows my littlest ones to get out their morning energy, me to feel accomplished and have the house somewhat picked up and my oldest two also get ample free time before diving into lessons.
Take it easy
It may go without saying, but things do not always go as planned. The only way to mentally survive some of the challenges of homeschool with toddler and a baby is to recognize this sooner than later. No , really sit with it and be at peace with it.
I can’t begin to tell you how much of a load has been lifted once I decided to take it easy in some areas where I can’t quite seem to produce perfection. Really, that is a load that no one needs to expect themselves to carry. When you finally lay that load down, I’m telling you, it’s almost like learning to live for the first time.
Homeschool with Toddler and Baby
Now, I’m going to share a snippet of how our day goes. Before implementing this routine, I was struggling to get out of bed before my kids. Now, I still prefer to get up before everyone. And obviously, there’s an extra sense of calm that comes with having that initial time alone. However, this new way of doing things makes it so that whether I wake up earlier or not, I still get to accomplish a lot of my goals.
Keep in mind that there is no specific time for most of this routine except when it is actually nap time and time for my oldest two to begin lessons.
- Mom wakes up.
- I do some cardio and then journaling.
- I start breakfast.
- Kids begin to wake up.
- We have breakfast.
- Clean kitchen.
- Everyone begins chores.
- We have free play and or outside time.
- At 12:30, I begin to prepare my two youngest for naptime.
- My older two simultaneously begin independent lessons.
- We work together 1-on-1 with whatever lessons help is needed on. This takes 2-3hrs. Lunch is somewhere in here.
- When naptime is over, we are mostly done with school.
- More free play.
- Tidy up.
- Have dinner.
- Prepare for bed.
I love this routine because it isn’t rigid and or strenuous on me or the kids. Everyone gets time to do things that they want. Even if I don’t wake before my kids, I can get breakfast on the table and throw on a cardio video while they eat. The lack of urgency to start school as soon as breakfast is over with really frees us up to squeeze in an extra bit of pleasure into our mornings.
Even I get to have the satisfaction of doing some extra tidying around the house while all of the kids entertain one another. Honestly, it’s a win-win. Now I can’t imagine doing it any other way.
Keep it simple
At the start of the school year, I have so many plans for all the fun and exciting learning experiences we’ll undertake. While keeping lessons fun and interesting is very important. However, in certain seasons of life it is equally important to just keep it simple.
For us, we have 3 days where our main focus is Language Arts and Math. The other 2 days are when lessons are a lot shorter, and the focus is Science and Social Studies and sometimes Art. On these 2 days, my kids enjoy some time away at the coop that they attend. By keeping a lot of our lessons fairly simple, they have opportunities to go to a coop that provides them with ample space to have creative expression.
There will come a time when we are able to add in more intricate assignments and experimental lessons. But for now, keeping things simple have been the most beneficial for us.
Key Takeaways: As a homeschool mom, you have the benefit of being the Mistress of Your Schedule. This means that you have the opportunity to break free from the confines of society’s time and create your own meaningful way to utilize time in the way that best suits you and your family. This could look like school on the weekends or lessons before bed. You have the option to decide.
So, what about you? Have you mastered homeschool with your baby and or toddler? Share your thoughts below. Thanks for reading.
XOXO,
Janeek
Check out this post on beauty hobbies for moms next.
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