This is a topic I have seen around often- in a Yahoo group I'm a member of, in several newsletters, in blogs and discussion boards. "What do I do with my toddler/preschooler while my older children do school?"
I am not an expert with this by any means, but I have had a 2 toddlers and now preschoolers for the past few years as I schooled my older children, and I want to share some of what I have learned.
First of all, the easiest time to school with multiple ages is when the little ones are babies. When my third child was born, I had a four and three year old. We were doing kindergarten stuff, and I had a baby. I thought, "What is so hard about this? I don't understand what other people have been saying is so hard?" But when the new school year rolled around, and I had a "real" five year old kindergarten student and my baby was 6 months old and mobile, I quickly changed my tune. Even that was not so bad. She still napped and I could get her to sit happily in the pack and play for a short time. When the next school year rolled around, I had a sixteen month old and an infant. The infant was no problem. I wore her in a sling or placed her to bed for nap. The sixteen month old was another story. NOW I knew what "they" meant.
I tried letting her wander around the room. Nothing was safe. Markers, crayons, pens, and pencils- if she could find them, she would use them- destructively. I tried putting up a baby gate so she was restrained in the room next to us. That produced long hours of screaming while she tried to scale the gate. I tried sitting her in the high chair with crayons. That lasted for all of about 5 minutes until she started throwing the crayons off the tray and screaming to get down. I tried schooling while she napped. The problem was, she only napped one short afternoon nap, and I was so dead tired from keeping up with four children all morning that school was the last thing on my mind at that time! What worked the best was keeping her as busy as possible in the room where we were. holding her when necessary. I invested some money in some "school time" toys that she could play with in the school room. And we hid the crayons and markers. By the next year, when #4 was one, they were better about playing together and entertaining each other. It still is a matter of keeping them close by and entertained to keep them out of trouble, but it is getting easier.
Here are some things I do with them at the table in the school room:
Play do
Pattern blocks
Puzzles
Magnets
Color sheets
Color and cut sheets
Easy worksheets
Felt people
They also really enjoy using the computer and playing preschool games. I like:
Sesame street
PBSKids
Noggin
NickJr
Starfall
Edgezone
When I have something I really need the older kids to focus on, or when I really need some peace and not another mess to clean up, I let them watch PBS. They watch either Barney or Word World. This is a treat because we don't turn the tv on very often. I think if you keep the tv on all the time as a distraction, not only are you doing a disservice to their learning, but it loses its effectiveness as a distraction. On the other hand, if you have a carefully chosen show that they look forward to watching, they will stop what they are doing and actually sit and pay attention.
Perhaps the greatest help in this area for me has been to change my perspective. A wise woman who was my LaLeche League Leader and who homeschooled counseled me when #3 was born to change my perception of what school was. Real learning happens all the time- not what we sit down and do from 9-12 at the table. Life is school. Relationships are vital to learning. (That's a Charlotte Mason idea.) And learning and living within a family is just as important or more so than academic learning. So, if you don't get school "done" because the toddler cut her hair (personal experience) don't sweat it. They'll learn that math another day. Just think how much they can learn from watching your reaction to what happens.
Comments
Oct. 6, 2008 - Thanks for reminding us what real learning is.
Posted by cath031972
I loved your tip that real learning involves life and relationship and not just 9-12 teaching... it was such a great reminder to look at the bigger picture.
Oct. 6, 2008 - Thanks for the ideas
Posted by MommaElspeth
I'll be needing them next year when I'll have a 5.5yo, 4.5yo, and 18mo.
Oct. 7, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Anonymous
Hey Leah!
Thanks for all of those sites. Amber loves to play on the computer and all we knew about was the PBS site. She is gonna have so much fun today!!!
Hugs,
Michelle