homeschooling your bunch; it can be done

By Tricia Morgan, Reston Mom

Iʼm a homeschooling mom of 3 - soon to be 4. Hope is 6, Maddie is 4, Amelia is 1 and the new baby arrives in November. One inquiry I get pretty often is in regards to how I handle teaching Hope (who is completing 1st grade this year) with little ones under foot. Honestly, this is a difficult question to answer for other people. First, because so much of what happens in a homeschooling household is determined by the particular philosophy/method employed. Secondly, our particular routine has seasons. It seems to shift and change and adapt just as the children themselves are growing and changing. And also, a great deal is dependent upon the personalities and temperament of the children as well as the parents - obviously there can be huge and dynamic differences here from household to household. All I can do is share what works for our family and be honest and say that we are still figuring some things out as we go. 

Maybe the best way to begin is simply to take you through a day this spring.

6:30-7 a.m.- Weʼre up! Baby gets a diaper change, and we all head downstairs
7-8 a.m.- Hope and Maddie either watch a few cartoons or play while mom feeds herself and Ami. Then mom gets time to read to or play with Ami.
8 - 9 a.m.- Hope and Maddie eat breakfast while Ami either plays or joins us in her highchair. Mom will read books chosen by the girls during breakfast. Afterwards, Hope and Maddie get dressed while mom cleans up from
breakfast and dresses Ami. Then everyone heads out the door to enjoy the nice weather for a few minutes and give Ami the opportunity to toddle a good bit.
9 ish- Ami goes down for a nap. Hope, Maddie, and Mom begin with a morning devotional. Following which Maddie will play or look at books quietly while mom starts Hope on her math lesson/assignment. Once Hope is working, if mom hasnʼt showered yet, sheʼll do that now. Around 10 a.m. there will be a break for snacks. Hope and Maddie play for a few minutes. Hope returns to her other curriculum assignments ie: handwriting, individual reading, etc.... and mom will work with Maddie on reading or preschool activity eventually Ami will wake up and she will play until Maddie and Hope are ready to join her.
11 or 11:30 a.m. is lunchtime. Often mom feeds herself and Ami while Hope and Maddie play. Then she prepares lunch for the other girls and calls them in. During lunch, mom reads more books or everyone goes over memory work together.
12ish p.m. - This is usually when we do science. Maddie often joins in because she likes the experiments. Ami tags around or plays. If the lesson is more complicated, we might wait until Ami takes an afternoon nap.
1:30 p.m.- Naptime for Ami and Maddie. Hope finishes curriculum that requires momʼs help and then has quiet time to read and have a snack. Mom uses this time to pull stuff together around the house or relax or pull out stuff for dinner or whatever following naps, we have the rest of the afternoon to meet for play dates with friends, run errands, take special trips, do art/craft projects, bake, play outside with neighborhood kids or do whatever we like.
5:00 p.m. - Dad is home from work, the family eats dinner together.

Iʼll do my best to answer some questions that might have crossed your mind:

So, you have a pretty consistent schedule from day to day?
Yes, and it really helps a lot. The kids know what to expect. Actually, Monday is my husbandʼs day off and so it is reserved for family day - no school. We are part of a supplementary program that meets on Wednesdays and that pretty much takes the place of our home schedule that day - so really, we are only teaching according to this kind of schedule 3 days a week - but those three days are consistent and for the most part, we do manage to do everything we need to.

Still, within our schedule there is a lot of organic movement - from mom between children; answering questions, giving hugs, helping with tasks...just being mom to everyone as well as the teacher.

What do you do to keep the younger ones entertained/busy while you work with the oldest?
Nothing. They are expected to be able to entertain themselves with the toys and books that are provided in our home and to be respectful of the other family members. You may be thinking “yeah, right. That would never work for us!” Which may or may not be true - but again a couple things factor in - one, the temperaments of the children. Two, training. Since it has always been thus in our home, the girls have never known differently. Iʼve never been the kind of person who could/would entertain my children or give them my undivided attention every second. Even Ami at 1 yr. is aware that sometimes she has to wait and is capable of playing nearby by herself. That said, I also have worked hard to ensure that each of my children feel loved and secure and do get time with mom.

Again, I must say that we go through seasons. I remember when Maddie was a little younger, I used to let her watch an educational video sometimes so I could get a shower in or work with Hope. Now it is a bit easier, because while I work with one child, the other can help play with the baby.

What about teaching with a newborn?
I had a few months of this last year and will go it again this fall. Itʼs really not bad since newborns tend to sleep a lot. I just give the kids a break when the baby needs to eat. I couldnʼt ever manage to get used to wearing a sling/baby carrier - so the baby usually just hangs out with us where ever we are in their portable swing/chair or gym or on a blanket on the floor. Honestly, itʼs not the schedule that makes this difficult, itʼs the being so tired.

Does it get easier as the kids get older since you can overlap curriculum?
In that sense it depends. Since we use a classical methodology instead of a thematic approach, for instance, there is a lot less overlapping. It does however become quite a bit easier as the kids get older. They are more able to focus their attention for longer periods of time. They are capable of working individually on assignments. They become more responsible for themselves overall - if you teach them to become so. I find that one of the biggest bonuses of the girls getting older has simply been that they help me out more - with each other, with little chores around the house. I donʼt have to micromanage or oversee every little detail anymore. They get dressed, brush teeth, clear plates, get snacks, help with the baby, and more. I canʼt tell you how much time this frees up when it is all added together and I donʼt have to be there hovering and helping.

Iʼve been candid here, but keep in mind that this is just what Iʼve learned from our particular personal experience. I think that each family that chooses to homeschool will just have to move through each season with what works best for them, like anything else. If your family isnʼt like mine, that doesnʼt mean it wonʼt work for you.

Tricia is a Baby Bunching mom to three (soon to be four children).

Comments

[Natasha]

Thanks so much for sharing! I may or may not be homeschooling when my oldest starts school the year after next, but the outline of your days helps me see where I could tweak our schedule so that I can get some "me time" in during the day (showering, eating etc.) I don't know why it didn't ever dawn on me to feed myself and the baby first before the older kids so that I could make sure that I had a chance to eat without getting sidetracked (for the most part at least!)

[Amanda]

Great post! As a fellow homeschooler (only to pre-scohol ages right now), I love seeing what other moms are doing and also hearing that the family enjoys it :)

[Cara Fox]

Thanks for sharing with us how you do it - I've often wondered how homeschoolers with multiple kids (especially lots of young ones) do it. Schools in my area are horrible and we are doing private now, but with three kids and outrageous tuition I've been wondering lately if I should suck it up and homeschool. I finally decided it would require a personality transplant on my part (I'm not very patient and get frazzled easily sometimes when it comes to teaching), but I do feel like we do a lot of the more "organic" type learning you describe and my kids pick up more at home than I think they do. When I look at school schedules and the amount of "down time" that is wasted, I wonder if I couldn't teach them just as much at home in half the time, leaving them more free time to just be kids and have some more hands-on/experiential learning opportunities! Anyway, it was great to have your perspective - thanks for guesting!

[Linda]

Thank you for posting this Tricia. We also have considered homeschooling and I did for about 4 months when I pulled my oldest out of school for an incident that happened. Your breakdown of the day certainly makes it seem a bit more managable. I imagine it's about routine and consistency and once everyone is into the groove it works better.

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