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    Joined: Mar 2010
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    I have been a little slower posting in the last few months, but I'm back again, because you are so helpful!

    I have got 3 children (5-baby) and we homeschool. I am getting pretty frazzled trying to keep up with them all! The older two desperately NEED to be kept busy and active and engaged. Otherwise life is extremely unpleasant for everyone! The baby of course needs to get hold of their things! Me? I need a STRONG cup of coffee!

    Anyway, I am getting pretty tired and worn out. I am really struggling to keep up with things. Experienced homeschoolors,how do you cope with that age when they need more, but they can't really do 'work'? Especially with other children around. How do I get each of them to do something at their own level?

    And most importantly, how do I stay sane?

    TIA smile

    Last edited by GeoMamma; 04/01/12 02:28 PM.
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    Hey!  :) 
    I only have the two kids but I like it that the baby takes a long nap in the afternoon so I can do something fun with the kid and I send the kid to bed at 8:30 so I get to hang out with the baby for a few hrs. at night.  My mom had 3 kids and she swears by making it a priority on getting all the kids to nap or rest quietly at the same time.  You sure you need a strong drink not a stiff drink? LoL

    Don't forget the littles like to work out their Dexterity skills so my games are kept in reserve for times I need them to parallel work.  The baby likes loading checkers into the connect four.  The boy can still get wrapped up into a solitary game of Operation.  

    I noticed by the timestamp you have to get up pretty early to get a moment to yourself.  I just wanted to add to your frazzled state that I felt a little awful that I couldn't give that undivided mommy love to my new baby because I was tired and needed to tend my kid too.  I was told don't worry about it because sure the next kid loses out on a little of your time and energy because you have less than you did with the first, but they get attention from their sibling too.  So if you feel guilty, don't.  And remember to send the kids to their room to play as often as you think they'll get along.  I'll pm you my spin-off on the nurtured heart.  


    Youth lives by personality, age lives by calculation. -- Aristotle on a calendar
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    smile I'm not in the US so actually, I stay up really late to get time to myself! But the concept is the same!

    My kids don't all nap, but they all have 'quiet time' where they are alone in their rooms (Well, not the baby) and have to keep themelves amused. I would be totally gone otherwise - because I am actually kinda introverted.

    I have been thinking about exactly what the issue is, and I think its partly that everything we do is so customised to them. The 5 yo has a massive gap between the level of input he can likes and the output he can produce, and the 3 yo seems to be one of the most contrary children I know! He once told me I gave him the wrong chocolate when we were playing and I was giving him imaginary chocolates!

    Anyway, I think thats it, I don't feel like I can take any short cuts - no prepackaged curriculum, no just watching TV or something. Its just tiring.

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    As a mommy of 4 and my oldest just turned 6, I know how you feel. Make a schedule of what you want the kids to accomplish school wise in the day. Make it something you know can be done in a few hours. I don't know about where you live but we have part day kindergarten here and my kids learn more in a few hours with me than they do in the same hours in public school. Yeah we tried it. Everyone gets chores. And all the kids including my 2 year old go to take a nap even if they just read. That gives me time to regroup. Since they don't go to school I need that break and so do they. During school the younger two get to do art or watch educational videos on the computer with thier own headset. They feel like a part of the class and they pick things up.

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    Have you considered setting up some baskets and tubs with Montessori type activities for them? Each child could be taught the information individually and then allowed to work on it on their own afterwards.
    http://pinterest.com/search/?q=montessori

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    Geomama,

    I am not a homeschooling mom, so I can't help with any specific homeschooling advice, but I remember being *soooo* so stressed out and tired when my EG kiddo was 3-5 years old because he was just so full of the excitement of learning, everything was new (and DEEP), and he was just a non-stop question machine. Most of his questions required *me* to think, or do some research... and when he wasn't asking questions he was demanding that I read to him laugh I also have two dds, all three kids spaced two years apart, ds is the oldest. So we weren't homeschooling, but those years were just nuts! (For me lol).

    I'm not a mom who likes to recommend tv as a babysitter, but fwiw, when ds was 3-5 years old he just absolutely *loved* PBS shows like Nova and Nature, and also loved listening to some of the NPR stuff online like Science Friday. Is there any chance your older kids might be interested in something like that, that will engage their brains and also give you an hour of non-interrupted time for yourself?

    Is there also something your older kids like to do that is an activity they can become totally absorbed into and focus on happily for awhile? Things that worked for my ds were Legos, or giving him a hose next to our dirt pile and letting him create dams and rivers etc. Just anything that one child loves to get lost in so that you can leave them having fun with that activity while you work with another child. JMO, but I felt like the types of activities that fed their creativity and let their brains wander wherever they felt like going was as beneficial to their learning in those early years as the traditional ABCs.

    Another idea - books on tape? (eta - shoulda called them "audio books" - they were still on tape when ds was little lol!)

    Best wishes,

    polarbear

    Last edited by polarbear; 04/02/12 09:06 AM.
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    trinaninaphoenix - how did you handle your older children wanting to do the same as the younger ones? If I set up art for the younger one, the older one will finds it very distracting!

    I love Montessori style activites but I often find they take longer to set up than tthe children will use them for, but I will have a look through the links, thank you.

    Yes, DS 5 loves audio books and podccasts. Hmm, I should try to find some that are about what we are learning about. And maybe even some documentaries. Hmm...

    Thanks for the ideas smile

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    I wonder why you don't have them all do the same thing but at different levels? Why can't the oldest do art when the little ones are doing it too? Our Girl Scouts troop is K-5th graders and we often do it this way...like we will do a craft and I will have 3 versions. I don't even say it's for older or younger, just that if they are beginning level crafters, they need to prove to me they can master the more basic aspects before I will let them move to the more involved versions. Or, if I have an older girl who finishes quickly or likes to help, she can provide more one on one for a younger girl.

    I don't know how your two olders get along, but my oldest LOVES to play school with the younger, who also loves it. I'm not using this formally, but it could be a great way for collaborative learning and strengthening their bond.

    I agree with the suggestion of a manageable list of what you really want to accomplish. Without the distractions of waiting waiting waiting for the other kids, 8 hours of standard schoolwork can be done in half the time, if not less. And don't underestimate the importance of play, imagination, spacing out, and free reading time...

    And what about the computer? There are lots of free to use websites that can make the "school stuff" seem alot more fun


    I get excited when the library lets me know my books are ready for pickup...
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    I have each of my older girls facing a different wall and my babies facing another. I get the girls work set up and then i use a coloring book as a work book for my baby and my 3year old son gets a work book or dry erase board to practice holding his pencil. I spend my day going between the girls and the babies answering questions and telling them they are doing great. I make it seem like the babies are working too. When the girls work on language arts i let the babies listen to the stories too. If the girls get to distracted we take a break till the babies nap time then start again.

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    Hmm, thanks, more food for thought. My children like to work together, but they are sometimes at totally different levels and that makes it tricky. My older one seems unable to wait for my younger one to answer the questions, sigh! I think its the fact that they both really like hands on work that requires pretty close supervision that makes it really tricky. But thanks, lots to think about there...


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