One of the biggest challenges in home education is when you have younger children that need attention, while the older ones are learning. My third son was a very active toddler and pre-schooler when my oldest was in high school. I can clearly remember how frustrated we became trying to find a few minutes of uninterrupted time to do our school work. It was truly a very trying time and I am glad it has passed.
Here are some of the strategies we tried.
1. All the children were on separate schedules. My oldest daughter would watch the younger ones while I taught my oldest son, and then they would trade, so I could teach her. This worked but stretched the day out.
2. We had a large box of toys that my younger children could play with while we studied. It was only used at this time and I tried to keep it stocked with new play things.
3. When the weather was good we would work outside while the young ones played on the swing set.
4. Hire another home schooled pre-teen/teen to "nanny" a few hours a week.
5. The younger kids had a strict quiet/nap time. They didn't have to nap but they did have to play quietly in their rooms.
6. We started school at 7am while the younger kids slept. I tried to get math taught before the younger kids needed breakfast.
7. Have school on Saturday morning, while the other kids played with Bloodhound.
If you have survived this hurdle or have a general home schooling helpful blog post you'd like to share, link up below.
Please include a dire link to your post, not your mine blog web address. Here is an example of the link to my post: http://hammockhomeschool.blogspot.com/2011/08/how-to-home-educate-with-younger.html
Also, please link back to me. I want to meet your readers, too.
