i am really struggling with my 2.5 year old son, any tips please , when i am schooling my nearly 6 year old daughter my son is always wanting attention or watching tele and my dd gets the hump 'why is he watching tv and not me its not fair' i try to keep him distracted with ben 10 so i can give her attention and i end up with her upset!!! plus i have a 11 month old crawling around! how does everybody else juggle young children and still educate successfully am i missing something????? thanks hope it all makes sense
Duct tape. Works for everything! LOL JUST KIDDING!!!! For the most part I used to try and do schooling when the littles were sleeping. Or at least the bulk of it. And if there was anything that they could "join in" on...I'd give them a coloring page or something that was the same subject. Right now, my 3 year old sort of Plays while the other two are doing their seat work. Sometimes she wants to join in, sometimes she doesn't. I try to have something available for her to do while they are working. Now, I don't have a little little anymore (baby). It does work out. He's probably feeling like he's not part. He's really not to young even just to sit with you and color.
The napping idea is golden. I also have set up boxes of toys, or puzzles, or activities that ONLY come out when I'm schooling. I also (and this is harder than it sounds) silently give permission for the younger ones to make a holy mess. I find I get more done if I just keep on with school lessons and clean it up (and have them practice straightening up with me) after. edited to add: When we are doing lessons, no one watches any TV or plays any video games. This took some doing to get going, but now it's the norm. I also used to let me moys trade off doing educational computer games. No more during lessons. The distraction/rivalry factor is not it.
YES YES YES on this one. TV is not anywhere near on during school. EVER. Well, okay, if a video IS part of schoolwork. But not frivolous TV.
Lil ones I have a 2 year old (almost 3). While I HS the 8 and 11 year old there are a few different things that have worked for us....so far. 1. I teach her as well. I do flash cards with her first thing while they do their Bible lesson. We do shapes, colors, and some numbers and letters. This takes about 10 minutes, but that is a long time to a 2 year old. By the time we are done with that, she is ready for a break and will go play with toys in her toy box or "read" one of her books on her own. 2. When we all sit at the dining room table to work, she does also. I bought her some cheap work books from the dollar store and some coloring books. I will say "Morgan do your work" and she does! She wants to be like the big kids. When she is done, she brings me her book to me "show me her work". 3. When she is tired of "working" she will watch kids shows in her room for a little while. 4. Nap time is golden. She naps after lunch and that is when we do our serious work which is history and science. No disruptions.
thank you for your tips, i have thought about duct tape! will try the no tv rule, and colouring book with him. its just more stressful than i thought! mt3x
he is 3 in january, but gave up nap times about 6 months ago! and the baby only sleeps for about an hour a day so no break here!
NO, SHE'S NOT!!! It's been a while, but it CAN be done. First of all, forget that "He gave up naps..." stuff. I believe very strongly in kids napping. I also understand that some kids don't "need" to nap and won't fall asleep. However, as a mom, YOU need that nap time! My children are almost 9, 12, and 14, and they STILL have to go to their room for a half-hour of silent reading time DAILY. This is MY "Mom Time". (Hear everyone who's been here longer than 3 months sigh, "Here she goes again...." ). Mom Time develops naturally from Nap Time. I would make BOTH of your children go to their rooms. Even if your oldest one is a pre-reader, she can look at books until the timer goes off. If your baby won't sleep, you can start with making him lie down for just ten or fifteen minutes. Add more to it as they get older, but gradually build up to a half-hour. Since mine went straight from napping to this, I really didn't have to "train" them into it as I assume you would. During Mom Time, YOU aren't permitted to do ANY school or house work. It's YOUR "relax" time, much needed to keep your sanity. I would always keep an extra paper on hand for my 2YO's. That way, if the little one would wander in and want to "do school", too, I had an extra worksheet on hand for them to scribble on. One day, I realized she was looking at her sister's page, and was actually scribbling on the CORRECT PICTURES ONLY (!!!) She wasn't quite three at that point. As stated before, I never used the TV to keep the little ones occupied. As said before, you can keep big beads and string (or you can color manicotti noodles and string those!), a box of buttons to sort (if you have a child that wouldn't put them in his mouth!), empty cereal boxes are great for cutting because they're stiffer (My husband came home once, all upset to find her sitting in the corner, scissors in one hand and little snips of paper covering the floor. "Do you know what your youngest daughter is DOING?" "YES! She's busy developing her fine motor skills!" LOL!!!) Sorting shapes and colors, and (h-hm...) playing with pots and pans. Try to do a search. This question seems to be asked every six to eight months, as it is really a reoccuring "problem"!
Jackie makes some really good points I hadn't considered, even though I do/did them when appropriate. First of all, even as my kids outgrew needing to sleep, they still needed that down time. Even now, there are days when I require them to lay down. They may take one or two books, but the rule is silence. It's a quiet (not just sound-quiet) time. They rest and refocus. Doing this can have a remarkable and positive impact on late afternoon/early evening behavior. Second, whenever I print out an activity, I always print out enough for all my kids - even the toddler. He sees himself as an equal and wants his time with crayons, pencils, and even scissors, too. (FWIW, he's much better with scissors than his brothers were at that age.) He's busy (good), calm (better), and not into something he shouldn't be (best).
oooh I like this thread being that I have a 13, 7, 6, 5and TWO four year olds... Now, what color duct tape works best? In all seriousness.. this is a huge battle for me. Not the duct tape part.. but the what to do with the others when I cannot instruct them.
I didn't take naps til I was pregnant with my 3rd. Now I lay down with that one (now age 3) and he usually falls asleep for an hour - and so do I. My 18 mos old is in her crib. I put her down at the same time, and I always put several books and such in there; I've put in 3-4 books with all my kids since they were old enough to turn pages. They get gnawed, but they quickly learn to amuse themselves when they wake up - and start that reader lifestyle. Meanwhile, my 5 and 7 yo have "quiet time" in their rooms, with several library books. I'm *all* about quiet time. One day, I might even stop napping and get up and DO something - but maybe not. I need the recharge.
http://www.homeschoolspot.com/showthread.php?t=13650 Here is a link to a thread i started for my little girl. What I do is she has her own worksheets/folder. I have some cheap o workbooks from Walmart/ walgreens. I make packets of "worksheets" for her to do, jsut like her big brother. 2 worksheets from the workbooks ( mazes, and one on numbers) 1 typing paper where I write a capital and lower case letter from her name, then write her name out on the bottom. She says the letter, sound, and spells out her name then traces the letter with colored pencils. I have done this with first middle and nickname. Our last name is next. She doesn't have them memorized but can tell you them all, and if you start spelling them she can finish it for you. 1 page with a shape drawn on it, or other picture for her to color/cut/glue. Sometimes on colored paper other times on white. I ask her questions about what is the shape/ color etc. I sit down and take about an hour and make a ton of these packets, like 2 months worth. She uses one a day. Most of the time she goes through them, then ends up cutting them to pieces. She is great with sissors, and using the pencils. She knows the letters, sounds, and numbers to 9. She counts one to one, and primary colors and shapes. I think all because of this "work" I have also made up game sets for her here are some links for those. She only plays with them while we school. http://www.preschoolprintables.com/filefolder/turkey/filefolderturkey.shtml http://www.redshift.com/~bonajo/preschool_activities.htm#Dolly http://www.first-school.ws/theme/holidays.htm http://www.wholesometoddlerfood.com/school.htm I want to make sure you know that I do not force her to do anything, she does this because she wants to be like her brother. She ask to do school even on the weekends. I take a few mintues while her brother is working on something to engage her in the activity she is going to do next. But after a while she knows what to do and does it all by herself. I can listen to her talk and say the right answers while helping her brother. We have rule that while brother is schooling no tv, no loud noises, and only quiet play. Outside play is the best. She plays on the swingset right outside the window so I can watch her too. I am always looking for new ideas though so I will keep up with your thread as well.
I so know how you feel. I'm schooling my 6yo and have a 3yo and a 6month old. A lot of the time, between the two younger distractions, we don't sit down for more than one subject at a time, so school ends up being spread out over most of the day. Sometimes I'll get lucky and my over-active 3yo will be happy for 15 minutes or so to colour or play-doh or something similar. I just figure I'll plow through until the littles are older, and we'll all make it somehow LOL
thank you for all your replies, i did the tele ban during school time and they can watch it during breaks which has worked really well will be implementing quiet time, and am working my way through the links to print bits off for ds. this morning when dd1 was doing maths ds was playing with the unifix cubes, just now got to work out what to do with a nearly 1 year old clingy baby??? i know i ask a lot but this is all so new to me and it is such a steep learning curve for our family! mt3 x
Your questions are ones that many of us had to deal with at one time or another, so don't worry about it! Wisdom is asking how others have dealt with the situation, and not trying to muddle through totally on your own. Some of our ideas will work for you, others will not. So feel free to ask away, and don't worry it! I honestly don't remember how I dealt with a clingy little one! Can she spend some time in a bouncer, or is she too big for that? Will she go into a playpen for a short time, maybe ten to fifiteen minutes?
As I was reading the thread, I realized that I didn't hear my one year old behind me anymore. I called his name, and out he popped from the dog's Vari-kennel. I suppose he was offering his suggestion of what to do with busy little ones while you're schooling the older ones.
