homeschool schedule with pregnancy/new baby

[Elizabeth86]

I decided on a 4 day week for this school year and it has felt much more pleasant for the whole family. I'm nervous I will regret it when we are doing school in the summer though. For this month and next I kind of have to do 4 days because Im feeling miserable in my first trimester. Im also unsure about how much time to take off after baby. Dh will be home 4 or 5 weeks so he could help with school. Just wondering what worked for you when you have a new baby.

[MotherGoose]

I took off a month. They did keep doing coop. In my opinion, it's not the baby that's the problem, it's the toddler!

[Elizabeth86]

I took off a month. They did keep doing coop. In my opinion, it's not the baby that's the problem, it's the toddler!

True. The toddler is making me crazy right now.

[2_girls_mommy]

After our last I had a 4th grader and a 6th grader and a fulltime preschooler babysitting child. So we got right back to activities out of the house that I took them all to- dance and gymnastics classes, co-op for the kids- I had dh take them, so I took off 2 weeks from that, and scouts- again dh took them. I took off a few meetings from there too. They did homework from co-op which covered science and latin to keep up with their classes. They also had random assignments from art and other classes that we would follow up on at home. I had them keep up math as well as they could at home, with me staying out of it. By that time in the year we were well established in school routines, so they could keep up with that much on their own. I tried to do some reading aloud to everyone in between baby care and driving them around. And I tried to do some preschool with the babysitting child since I was getting paid to do so. 

 

I got back to teaching co-op classes by the 3rd week. And we finished off the year with a big history project since we had taken a couple of months off from that. We just really finished off the year with a bang for the last 2 months of the year. 

 

I found pregnancy much harder to school through than after the baby for me. I was so exhausted and mentally not there, lol. My brain was much clearer after the baby than before. 

[RootAnn]

It was fairly easy to do light schooling after about two weeks, depending on how much baby & you are sleeping, how many kids you have, how old they are, how independent they are, and how much help you have. (How's that for variety?) I could do couch-schooling:

- me in the middle w/nursing baby, one kid on either side with a math book

- me doing read alouds or content subjects that just need me to read (like Story of the World) and ask questions

- kid reading aloud to me while sitting next to me

Etc.

 

With my late fall baby, we added a subject each week until we were up to full schedule. I don't have any late winter or spring babies. If you have lots of help, I'd make sure I got at least one nap a day & help with house cleaning before I went back to full-time school. I don't know how old your other kids are - and that makes a big difference!

 

Also, anything can happen near the end of your pregnancy, so play that by ear, too. You might end up doing less the last week or three depending on how you are feeling. I generally tried to keep up with math & reading when possible.

[Meadowlark]

My baby is 3 weeks old, and I feel like I could definitely do school now if we were going that route. But, she is sleeping well. She's quite fussy during the day though so I would anticipate lots of interruptions and chaos for awhile. But, it'd be doable.

[Hobbes]

We always do a 4-day week and so far it hasn't meant that we need to school in the summer. I can't see the ages of your kids, though.

 

I also found that we did well getting going about two weeks after baby came. My husband usually takes two weeks off, then I hit the ground running when he goes back to work. I eased back in, focusing on the 3 R's first and then adding more as we got comfortable.

 

I find newborns easier to deal with during school than, say 8-18 month olds. The frequent naps, baby-wearing, and nursing meant that I was pretty able to sit with kids and do schoolwork. I also much prefer babies out than in - I feel better with a newborn than pregnant. I think that would be a factor in how soon you can get back into things.

[Hypatia.]

True. The toddler is making me crazy right now.

Yes! Yes, yes, yes!

 

I've had a newborn several times after we started homeschooling (2010, 2013, 2014, and coming up again in October) and it's always the toddler that has made things more challenging. I can do math with a baby on the boob, but it's so much more difficult to figure out why the 2 and 4 year olds are suddenly suspiciously quiet.  :huh:

[Elizabeth86]

For those wondering about my kids. The baby will be the 4th. In April my kids will be 6, 5, 2 1/2 and newborn. So far I always do well after having my babies right away, so hopefully all will go well. My kids arent a bit independent except the baby, but that is not a good thig hahaha. I guess I will just have dh do something with the 2 1/2 yr old during school to help things run smoother.

[Elizabeth86]

We always do a 4-day week and so far it hasn't meant that we need to school in the summer. I can't see the ages of your kids, though.

 

I also found that we did well getting going about two weeks after baby came. My husband usually takes two weeks off, then I hit the ground running when he goes back to work. I eased back in, focusing on the 3 R's first and then adding more as we got comfortable.

 

I find newborns easier to deal with during school than, say 8-18 month olds. The frequent naps, baby-wearing, and nursing meant that I was pretty able to sit with kids and do schoolwork. I also much prefer babies out than in - I feel better with a newborn than pregnant. I think that would be a factor in how soon you can get back into things.

Can you tell me what your 4 day week looks like? What months you do school and when you break?

[MotherGoose]

 

For those wondering about my kids. The baby will be the 4th. In April my kids will be 6, 5, 2 1/2 and newborn. So far I always do well after having my babies right away, so hopefully all will go well. My kids arent a bit independent except the baby, but that is not a good thig hahaha. I guess I will just have dh do something with the 2 1/2 yr old during school to help things run smoother.[/quote

 

 

That does makke things trickier. Mine were 9 and 6 when baby came. The good thing about lots of littles is that your oldest ones still don't need much school time.

[Elizabeth86]

 

 

For those wondering about my kids. The baby will be the 4th. In April my kids will be 6, 5, 2 1/2 and newborn. So far I always do well after having my babies right away, so hopefully all will go well. My kids arent a bit independent except the baby, but that is not a good thig hahaha. I guess I will just have dh do something with the 2 1/2 yr old during school to help things run smoother.[/quote

 

 

That does makke things trickier. Mine were 9 and 6 when baby came. The good thing about lots of littles is that your oldest ones still don't need much school time.

 

Very true! Thanks for the encouragement!

[Bluegoat]

I've found pregnancy actually worse than a baby for me. I took two weeks after my recent baby, and tried to plan for a year where there would be things they could do independently.  I actually felt ready to start again before the two weeks were up.

 

I've often done a four day schedule, even without much summer work, and its been fine.  We often just do some math and science in the summer.

[2_girls_mommy]

We pretty much have always done 4 day a week schedules. One day a week is a full day of co-op, and has been for years.  So that officially counts as school, but we aren't doing math those days and other at home curricula. And at home, we often have a field trip if it isn't a co-op week, so at home schoolwork, even for high school and middle school is pretty much 4 days a week. 

 

Our schedule is August-end of May for the majority of our work. We take a week to sometimes even two for fall and spring breaks just like the public schools (year round schools here,) do.  I won't say we don't do school in July. Somebody usually has something we didn't get to, but that has more to do with overload of subjects than 4 day weeks. We might do a co-op class and do all of our writing for that during the year, but I still want them to work through WWS, so we do a chunk of that in the summers or something.  We might be so busy that we do a science unit over the summer because the co-op class we took didn't cover all of the material I wanted to. (but my kids love doing co-op, so we do it...) 

 

If we don't finish an English book or a math book in that school year I don't sweat it. I decide if we need to do those last chapters at all. Sometimes we have finished a large enough chunk of a text that I put it up and we just move on. Sometimes I decide the end of the book covers material that I want to cover, so we finish it in August before starting the next year's texts.  And it isn't the same for every student. I decide on each's needs. 

 

[fralala]

With little kids who are only doing an hour or two of school a day, year-round schooling is awesome and I don't think you'll regret it. They still have plenty of time to socialize with friends who may be on summer break, or join swim team, or just run around outdoors. And all of the former can be powerful incentives for doing schoolwork efficiently and early!

 

I spent a lot of time on the couch reading, reading, reading to my kids with the last baby. With my fussier baby, I spent lots of time pacing with her in the carrier, and...reading. (It helps if you have a big library to request 2 copies of picture books if you have a fussy baby who doesn't want you to sit down...that way the little kids can look at the book while you stand at the counter or bureau and sway and read.) When my mother came to help after the baby was born, I found it was best if I continued to do lessons with my kids while she cared for the baby. Then when we were done with lessons I could nap or shower...but it was better for me to pass off baby duties and keep school regular. This will work differently if your kids are used to getting lessons from your husband, but we really liked keeping up the routine. Really, keeping up school is the easiest part of integrating a new baby in the family, which you are already an expert on, judging from your kids' ages...you've got this!

[Elizabeth86]

With little kids who are only doing an hour or two of school a day, year-round schooling is awesome and I don't think you'll regret it. They still have plenty of time to socialize with friends who may be on summer break, or join swim team, or just run around outdoors. And all of the former can be powerful incentives for doing schoolwork efficiently and early!

 

I spent a lot of time on the couch reading, reading, reading to my kids with the last baby. With my fussier baby, I spent lots of time pacing with her in the carrier, and...reading. (It helps if you have a big library to request 2 copies of picture books if you have a fussy baby who doesn't want you to sit down...that way the little kids can look at the book while you stand at the counter or bureau and sway and read.) When my mother came to help after the baby was born, I found it was best if I continued to do lessons with my kids while she cared for the baby. Then when we were done with lessons I could nap or shower...but it was better for me to pass off baby duties and keep school regular. This will work differently if your kids are used to getting lessons from your husband, but we really liked keeping up the routine. Really, keeping up school is the easiest part of integrating a new baby in the family, which you are already an expert on, judging from your kids' ages...you've got this!

Thanks for the encouragement. My dh will do a lesson or two here or there. My son actually loves this as he like his dad much more than me. His words not mine.

[ElizabethB]

Good luck, sounds like a good plan!

 

You can make a list of fun apps and educational videos online and save them for days you are feeling bad/tired.

 

I like the online Read, Write, Type.  

 

http://www.talkingfingers.com/read-write-type/

 

I have a few online phonics videos:

 

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJLxBWdK_5l0Z941Cy1INrADEO9Sy4ZWz

 

There is a good math one with manipulatives, ask here, I forgot the name and my kids are past that now.

Edited August 23, 2017 by ElizabethB

[Hobbes]

Can you tell me what your 4 day week looks like? What months you do school and when you break?

We do four days a week, with Wednesdays off for a fun "co-op" morning that's connected to some church stuff I do. Our days tend to run from 8:30-12/12:30, with breaks in that time that vary depending on age/stage (DD7 goes off to play for a while in that time). I start with morning time while they finish breakfast, then we move on to skill work and end with content, such as history or science. I read aloud at other times in the day as well.

 

We start school along with everyone else in our area, the day after labour day. We end the last week in May. We take about two weeks for Christmas and a week for March break.

 

I've not had a problem with finishing curricula (have always done a full Math Mammoth year, for example), though I do often tweak curricula in general, for many reasons. This is similar to the schedule in my family when I was homeschooled and there was never a problem with not having enough academics.

 

I really appreciate having a long, solid break in the summer to rest, plan, and work on other projects.

 

Hope that helps!

[....]

I decided on a 4 day week for this school year and it has felt much more pleasant for the whole family. I'm nervous I will regret it when we are doing school in the summer though. For this month and next I kind of have to do 4 days because Im feeling miserable in my first trimester. Im also unsure about how much time to take off after baby. Dh will be home 4 or 5 weeks so he could help with school. Just wondering what worked for you when you have a new baby.

 

We took a little over 3 months off when I had the last baby (2 years ago).  And my kids are older (teens).  There was no way I could teach 4 grade levels and care for a newborn properly.  

 

And we have done the 4 day/week school schedule for about 8-9 years now.  You need one day of the week to get everything done: pay bills, go grocery shopping, clean the house, do laundry, run errands, etc.  We're NOT robots.  We do need downtime on the weekend.  Homeschooling is a marathon.  During the 4-day school week, my kids have my undivided attention all day.  They can take one day off to get our household in order.

 

We do school during the summer, though.  But, our family prefers it that way, because it is so much less stress to get things done during the school year.  Right now, it's late August and our public schools haven't started yet - we're already on Week 12.  That means, when it cools down this fall, I'm not going to think twice about taking time off to take the kids to the park, hiking, field trips, etc.  I have plans to take 2 weeks off this fall just to declutter the house.

 

Just my opinion...  Please, don't feel bad about taking time off for your baby.    

[MotherGoose]

In the interest of full disclosure: I made it nearly two years homeschooling (newborn phase was easy for me!) I have hired a lady to wrangle the toddler six hours a week or so while I teach. I know this isn't possible for everyone. You are already managing a toddler, whO is, at 2.5, about to become a bit more manageable I hope, so I hope newborn baby is easy for you.

[Elizabeth86]

In the interest of full disclosure: I made it nearly two years homeschooling (newborn phase was easy for me!) I have hired a lady to wrangle the toddler six hours a week or so while I teach. I know this isn't possible for everyone. You are already managing a toddler, whO is, at 2.5, about to become a bit more manageable I hope, so I hope newborn baby is easy for you.

I sure hope she gets mote manageable. Right now she is the most strong willed child I have had. All my kids stopped napping around this time and I am dreading that. I usually do have a easy time with the newborn, here is hoping this one will be easy too. Thanks everyone for all the kind words and encouragement.

[boscopup]

We were back in a groove by around 3 weeks. We got more done when baby came than during the pregnancy (with complications).

 

It's when they're about 18 months that they start to be a problem. Mine is 2.5 she's better now than this time last year. I think we'll be back in a groove next year when she's 3.5 :)

[ElizabethB]

The new Sweet Sounds of Reading phonics videos are good for days you aren't feeling well, she just started a YouTube channel and is uploading her phonics lessons:

 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHnIVm9OG9zIdtOtUHAtoUw