One morning on my daily walk, I was fretting and stewing over what I could possibly do with my one-year-old during school time. I was feeling some despair with a new baby on its way. I couldn’t see any end to the disruption of babies in my home school for many years to come. I was praying and scheming at the same time: I could wait until the baby’s nap to teach school, I could rotate the children with baby-sitting chore away from our schoolroom, I could get a playpen . . . all solutions that didn’t feel right—babies needs their moms!
What to Do with Baby?
Question:
This will be my first year to homeschool my 6-year-old. What can I do with my baby while I teach? The baby is one year old. I did read your Best Homeschool Secrets (thank you for the valuable tips), but I don’t have other children to help me babysit, and the baby is too young to play alone for more than 5 minutes. Besides, my baby only takes about an hour nap once a day. What did you do when your babies were young? Help! [Read more…]
Managing with a Baby
Question:
I am homeschooling 3 boys (11, 8, 5 years with the new baby in tow). My 8 year old is emotionally immature and gets things slower. My 5 year-old is advanced for his age, and works well in group situations. I am considering sending my 5 year-old son to the public school Kindergarten for 3 hours a day, hoping to relieve a little stress and use that time to focus on the older boys with their studies, as well as take care of the baby. One hesitation I have is, if I allow my Kindergartner to go to school now and choose to homeschool him later, will it cause confusion if he wants to continue in the public school system and not want to homeschool again? Also I wonder if it may cause my 8 year-old to feel jealous, because he has expressed an interest in going to public school sometimes? [Read more…]
Homeschool with a Baby
Homeschool with a baby? Yes, it presents about the same likelihood as taking a family vacation to Mars, teaching your dog to talk, or abolishing Santa Claus. Depending on the temperament of your baby, and the number of non-reading children who need instructions read to them during homeschool— you are in for one unique experience. This is tough stuff!