I am trying to figure things out for my 8 yr old son (just turned 8 last week). Currently, our rule is no recreational TV or computer until 4pm. Then, you only get it if you complete everything for the day. Thing that is different right now is that he needs to do a lot on his own. I cannot do much as I am tired and cannot put down the colicy baby much. Right now, I sleep in with the baby. The baby is up 4-8 am every morning. So I fall back to sleep with him when he does and I get 3 hrs of sleep. Then I get up and breastfeed him, change him, dress him, and then try to beg off a shower. IF dh is out of a meeting, I might be able to get dh to hold the baby while I shower around noon or so. Then I get the baby right back. Fortunately, I can talk and such while breastfeeding and holding baby so I can do that with DS. But I cannot do much else. I am often tired and I do not want to commit to homeschool group activities. There is an art class I am going to try to get DS back in to if possible. I might be trying to do karate too. Thank you in advance for your help. I would really like to get back in to the swing of things, but within the confines of what I am capable of. It has been a while since I homeschooled this age level.
our rule was "no tv till after three" now I have one at home so we are a bit lenient, I let ds do a bit of game or tv if he is working through his lessons wiht no apparent problem and all is well. For thhe most part he has to keep the scheduled lessons for that day going and be on break and then only if i sugget it, he can't ask. I have some educational games and thats what I want to be using for that time of day as benifits for him. SO as rewards they are okay.
My older two aren't allowed any tv or computer time unless they get their chores done and their school work for the day is done. They have classes at the charter school M-Thu through out the day and then have to fit in the other assignments that they are assigned as well. It's kind of a long day but since my oldest one is in HS she's gotta get so many credits done before January.
My rule is no tv during the week. Period. If they get bored I can always find chores for them to do...they usually end up playing in their rooms or reading books when they get "bored". TV just dulls their senses and makes them want to be couch potatos. I make sure they also have plenty of paper, crayons, markers, stickers, tape, glue, etc. so they can get crafty if they want to. I understand having a baby and homeschooling is hard. My baby is 8 months old and I am lucky that she is not colicky, but I still have a hard time with juggling everything. Take care of yourself and dont' overdo it. Maybe you could read books on certain subjects to your son while you are feeding the baby. I know it's hard...but try to stick to a schedule. my #3 baby was horribly colicky and my #2 baby had just turned 1. I nearly cried everyday and thought I will never get through this! It does pass. Have you tried changing your diet to see if that effects the baby? I ended up having to put my son on nutramigen formula because nothing helped his colic...except that. It was nearly a night and day difference with the formula. We also found out he had severe food allergies...maybe you can have your baby tested? I hope this helps!
My daughter has the option of taking her lunch to the basement and watching a 30 minute show. It gives her a chance to clear her mind from school work and frankly it gives me a break from 11-year-old girl chatter. :wink: I had three colicky babies and never got any sleep those first months (seriously, by the time the third one came along I just counted on the fact that he/she would be colicky). I wasn't homeschooling then but if I were I wouldn't have any hard and fast rules about recreational tv or computer. It was waaaaayy too hard just surviving those first few months that I definitely would be relaxing the rules just to help us get through. I always had limititations on tv watching but those were such intensely hard months and I was so exhausted. Honestly, in the long run of life a few extra hours of tv or computer a week did them no harm--they're good students and good kids.
I didn't have school during my baby's first several months of life. It made the transition easier. As for my boys they get to play on the computer when school is done. They do their chores before school starts.
I agree no computer games or anything non schoolish until work is done. My problem is me. I get burnt out trying to balance everything and find myself wanting time off. Good luck with the new baby and everything!
I had milk out of the diet for a little while. It did not make any difference that I noticed. Then I had lots of milk yesterday, he seems no worse. So I don't think it is milk. When I first started homeschooling, my 5 yr old was a newborn. But he was a calm and happy newborn so it was so much easier. I also had a 2.5 yr old. Somehow, doing it with one colicy baby is harder than with a happy newborn and 2.5 yr old.
*LOL* I can identify w/ the 10-11 year old girl chatter...it can be incessant, can't it? *ROFL* I only have an only and we have to be fairly strict w/ tv & computer during the ...well, actually all week long! It's way too easy for her to get sucked in AND way too easy for me to let her so I can tend to chores, etc.! Even though I just have one, I remember how hard the baby days can be and agree with Pippen that sometimes, just surviving is the main priority. Don't worry about your ds 8 falling a little behind. He'll catch up! Just do the best you can each day and as the baby gets a bit older and more independent, you'll get back into the swing of things.
I used the same formula as minthia for my colicky and later acid reflux baby girl. It helped tremendously, bc she was sensitive to all the other formulas out there. We recieved wic, thank the lord, bc one can of the stuff was $27!! We did have to buy more than the wic paid for, mayb 4 extra cans a month, but it was a tremendous help!!
After reading all these replies I am embarrassed to admit my schedule I HS my 2 younger dd's ages 6 + 11. I have a very relaxed schedule for them. I let them sleep in as late as they want. Sometimes they get up at 7:00 sometimes it's 10:00. I don't have any restrictions on computer or tv time during the day. However they do very little of either, which is probley why I don't feel the need to limit it. For tv they usually turn it on to the music channel and dance. For computer they choose to play the educational games and websites I have bookmarked. Most of the time though they do art projects, board games, and pretend play with barbies or star wars figures ( I have no idea how they are into both at the same time). Plus they love to play store or school. They are very creative and I try not to get in the way of that. When I lay the baby down I do their workbooks for math and english lessons. I also give them some independent work in folders that they do as well during this time (spelling, journaling, extra practice worksheets, reading). This will take us no longer than 2 1/2 hours. They are very good though at worktime sitting down paying attention and doing their work. We don't waste anytime, and on tests they have been getting A's. So whatever we are doing seems to be ok. I also in the afternoons 3 times a week will do history/science for about 30-45 min. By this time their friends from the neighborhood are home from school and they all go out and play. I have leaned alot towards the unschooling style with some direction from me for the core subjects. I set up a goal in my planner of what I want them to learn that week, as long as they mastered that skill I am happy. I don't dwell on the amount of time or worksheets it took us to get there. Last year I had a newborn too, so I feel your pain. He was very gasey on regular formula, although he never fussed about it. I switched him to similac sensative and all the gas/loose bowels went away. However, now that he is a year old and on milk we have had it start all over again. I have tried lactaid, soy, 2% and everything gives him gas and diarhea. The Dr. said to put him back on formula. Ugh, just when I thought I was done buying this stuff.
Hmmm...no newborn here....but here's our schedule: Out of bed around 7:30, I make my hubbys lunch and breakfast - the kids are usually getting their breakfast while I'm working on my stuff. My oldest starts school almost as soon as she's finished breakfast, she tries to get all her independent stuff done. My middle does some playtime after breakfast, but usually starts around 8:30. He starts on his independent stuff first too. When they're both done their independent things, (and I help out when they need it), then we do our together stuff. We do our History, and a read-aloud. They do dictionary work based on the words in the read-aloud they didn't know. My oldest fills out a chapter response form where she summarizes the chapter in 2 or 3 sentences, writes the words she needs to look up and their definitions when she looks them up, and also a spot for her to do copywork of her favorite sentence. My middle usually does a handwriting sheet based on the book. Not always, but usually. We take breaks as necessary for snacks, drinks, potty, etc. Mostly they like to be done before lunch so they ahve all afternoon to read and play, etc. BUT somedays, well...we just dont get done that early! LOL Oh well. They usually do spend their afternoon reading, art, crafts, games, sometimes TV, sometimes computer, etc. 4 days a week we're out the door by 4:00 - 3 of them are to get my daughter to the gym for gymnastics. 1 day my youngest has a dance class. The other nights are Karate (one gym night coincides with one karate night so we're really only out of the house 5 out of 7 days LOL ). Our evening schedule is what kills me!!! OH...every other wednesday we're in a co-op that does art, music, gym and science. Krista
5:30 dh wakes (devotional time). 6:30 I wake, pack his lunch and make his breakfast (if pancakes, waffles, french toast - I make enough for everyone) 7:00 Kids wake and dh leaves. They eat then - ds -- takes dog out, feeds iguana, make bed, clean room, sweeps & vacuums dd -- cleans up from breakfast, washes dishes, make bed, clean room I make bed, clean bathroom and clean whatever else needs cleaning or laundry 8 am - everyone starts school Bible Math Grammar Literature Spelling Science - ds Then it's lunch Yay!!!!! 12-1:00 History Biology - dd typing - ds then dd spanish - dd sewing - dd (in the evenings with dad- he can sew better than me, lol) This isn't every evening - depends what project she is doing. Ds is usually done around 2:00 and dd around 4:00 she takes forever - she is very anal about making sure everything is perfect - read and reread. Tuesdays dd is in a womens basketball league and has piano lessons. Wednesdays they both have youth group. Thursdays if done early dd volunteers at a local thrift shop. We also try to exercise everyday if possible. If theirs any tv it is only on until 7:30 am and that is news/weather. Lunch on yucky days we watch the Beverly Hillbillies at 12:00. No more tv until after dinner, even then it sometimes doesn't even come on.
6:00 am up with hubby ( cofee and dev time) 7:00 -7:15 hubby leaves for work, start getting the girls up 8:30 grils start school devotions journal writing girls start their indv. subjects. 12:00 - 1:00 lunch (most days just 30 min unless dad's home than they get 1hr.) finish up the school day done around 2-3 pm girls do chores, then help with what else is needed. they get to watch movies only in the evenings (we don't own a tv so they watch them from my computer) sometimes. They get to relax and unwind and I get a break. I say I get a break bc I need my quiet time, and hubby is studing so the house is quiet when they are watching a movie. If you have computer games and such to help him learn, then why not let him play them during the day! My youngest cryed all the time and was chockly, so I know where you are coming from. Maybe he can do his reading and such sitting next to you.
I set the timer on the microwave for 45mins and we try to get one subject done during that time. (My boys are a little older, so this may not work for you just yet). If they get done with the subject early, they move on to the next one. Either way, when 45 mins is up they get 15 min break to do whatever they want. (I let them totally choose so I don't end up micromanaging every moment of their lives). So, to answer your question, I do allow computer games during that 15 min break if that is what they want; we don't even have TV, so that is never an option This has been working soooo excellent for us, but like I said my boys are a little older. Hope you have a blessed day! (And get some sleep tonight!)
I have never had to deal with a fussy baby and homeschooling, but even when I had to deal with a 3 year old and a baby I learned that somethings had to slide a bit so that I could survive. But that was me, every family has to figure out what works for them at each stage. My family tend to be late to bed late to rise people. I let the boys sleep in until they wake up, usually between 8 and 9, although it takes them awhile to be ready for the day, and me too, LOL. I let them turn on PBS and watch for awhile. Yes, they think it is fun time, but I am amazed by some of the things they pick up from tv shows.
