Transitioning to homeschooling with a newborn. . .

[Kidlit]

Okay, folks, I'm beginning to get just a little bit nervous. I'm due with our third in about a month, and my eldest will be starting 1st grade next school year. I'm looking for advice/btdt/encouragement concerning this transition. . .

 

Here are some questions I have:

1. Is it realistic to think that if the baby is born end of May/first of June that we can resume a light school schedule in July?

 

2. If I ALREADY struggle with getting things done during the day, am I being unrealistic to think I can do this? I should probably qualify this by saying that I have admittedly unrealistically high expectations (at time) of what I can accomplish.

 

Help!!!!:ohmy:

[Guest mrsjamiesouth]

My dd was born at the end of April and I waited until August 1st to start school. By then she was on a good sleeping schedule. I think it is much easier doing school with a baby than with a toddler. Next year should be really easy, its the year after that's difficult. When they are walking and talking and into everything. Mine likes to grab the papers they are trying to write on and tear them into pieces.:tongue_smilie:

[PeterPan]

Well you're probably not accomplishing as much now as you'd like to because you're so very pregnant. Just stop, give up, throw in the towel. Take off as long as you want! When you FEEL up to it, add back in 10-15 min. each of writing and math. Then put some books in a pile for you to read aloud. Or one up that and download a bunch of great books on audio. We're talking 1st gr and K5 here!!! that's 1 hour of formal work and everything else is educational play. You want to create a stimulating environment that lets them explore their things. You don't have to be DOING things to them the whole time for it to be worthwhile.

 

Enjoy your new baby. My toddler was born 19 months ago today. I didn't even know school existed for about the first 6 weeks, lol. We slowly eased back into things. Audio books while they play and read alouds when you feel up to it will cover a lot of sins. Just roll with it. It's juch more important that you recover, feel well, and everyone bonds with the baby than it is to do formal school work with a 6 yo.

[....]

If I were going to have a baby this summer and I had a 1st grader this fall, I would do cle across the board and be done with it.

 

I do agree with the previous poster. I have 4 kids and one is a 2 yro... Boy, do I feel like dropping her off with relatives sometimes. She can be a pain in the booty. She likes to grab papers too...and climb all over the table...and fight with the 5 yro...and call people on my cell phone...and marker on the carpet...

 

Phew! Glad I got all that off my chest!

 

But, really, congratulations on your baby!!!! :)

[JoyfulMama]

Whereas I was home alone with my kids after a few days, it was natural for us to start doing things that I could easily count as "school." It was very easy to all pile on the couch, or on the floor, or in a bed, and read. It was easy to take 5-10 minutes as soon as a little one was out of my hands to devote to writing (and some 1:1 attention) to a bigger.

Of course we had daily nap times - and we did have daily movie/tv time as well (a second nap for mama and baby). And we also had multiple daily loud music dancing times to expend some energy (I had one in the winter). This was a great time for me to dust, and the movement was a great energy boost for me too. Who doesn't get happier when they dance?

The harder part for me was trying to do the things I had to stand and move for - the laundry, hand-washing dishes. Vacuuming was easy for me, but it's something I really enjoy doing.

So I guess it depends on what you have on your plate for school work. It might take some flexibility. It might take some creativity. And you might need to be flexible on some priorities for a few weeks. Possibly some minor changes - paper plates for lunch?

Good luck!

[LAmom]

[quote name=starrbuck12;1686108

 

I do agree with the previous poster. I have 4 kids and one is a 2 yro... Boy' date=' do I feel like dropping her off with relatives sometimes. She can be a pain in the booty. She likes to grab papers too...and climb all over the table...and fight with the 5 yro...and call people on my cell phone...and marker on the carpet...

 

Phew! Glad I got all that off my chest!

 

But, really, congratulations on your baby!!!! :)

 

:lol: Boy can I relate to that! My newborn was not a problem at all. The 2yo and 4yo make it a challenge. If only they'd play really well together or stayed on task for longer than 5 minutes...

 

I had my 4th in June and started 1st gr with my 6 yo in August. I was ready and fine and had just moved into a new house. :tongue_smilie: I used MFW 1st that was a nice start into homeschooling. I had the only goal of getting dd to read. Took it easy and it went well.

 

I know everyone is different, and some have needy babies and others don't. I say ease into it and see what you can handle. You can do it!!

[SkateLeft]

My third child was born on August 8th, and he was 2 weeks old when my oldest started school. I was really surprised at how easily I rolled back into homeschooling, despite having had a third c-section.

 

After he was born, I found that really just wanted to get back into my "normal" routine again. It really worked out well, despite all my worries! My goal was to get through language arts and math each day, and consider everything else gravy. If we got to history and science, great! If not, then I didn't stress out about it.

 

Hopefully, you have the same experience. As others have said, it's the middle child that often caused more stress than the newborn. :)

[twoxcell]

Well mabey I'm crazy:lol:, but we only took 2 weeks off after #4 was born. Ds2 was born Nov. 9th we took the following two weeks off, then started back up for 3 weeks followed by a 2 week Christmas break. My kids do better with some kind of structure anyways.

[Shelly in the Country]

I think it is much easier doing school with a baby than with a toddler. Next year should be really easy, its the year after that's difficult. When they are walking and talking and into everything. Mine likes to grab the papers they are trying to write on and tear them into pieces.:tongue_smilie:

 

:iagree: I've had way more problems homeschooling with 2 year olds in the house than newborns. My youngest is 2 years and 5 months now....I hope things get better soon. :tongue_smilie: To the OP, enjoy your baby, you'll get used to the new "normal" in no time :001_smile:.

[Kidlit]

Oh, I'm PLENTY worried about the toddler phase, too. :tongue_smilie:

 

I just have to take one crisis as it occurs. :)

 

Thanks for all the reassurances! Right now, our day revolves a lot around reading together, so hopefully we can continue in that same vein.

[TengoFive]

I really enjoy homeschooling with a newborn. I can sit on the couch and nurse, while the kids come sit beside me and do school. By about 2 weeks out I'm regaining my energy, but still not able to do major housework (like carrying baskets of laundry.) I can feel like I'm accomplishing something, while not destroying my recovery.

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

Okay, folks, I'm beginning to get just a little bit nervous. I'm due with our third in about a month, and my eldest will be starting 1st grade next school year. I'm looking for advice/btdt/encouragement concerning this transition. . .

 

Here are some questions I have:

1. Is it realistic to think that if the baby is born end of May/first of June that we can resume a light school schedule in July?

 

2. If I ALREADY struggle with getting things done during the day, am I being unrealistic to think I can do this? I should probably qualify this by saying that I have admittedly unrealistically high expectations (at time) of what I can accomplish.

 

Help!!!!:ohmy:

 

1) I think a light schedule is realistic by July, just make sure it is LIGHT. Do not expect to get too much done. Make sure you leave yourself plenty of time to rest when you can. A super light (1 subject, then 2, then 3) over time might be the best way to transition. That way you can get used to it!

 

2) You are pregnant, If you were able to get everything done now when you are about to have a baby in a few weeks, I would be so GREEN with ENVY!!!!!!! Even I, who am NOT pregnant have a hard time getting everything done! It will not be any harder (at first anyways, when baby is sleeping alot) and it should be such a transition that it will just work out naturally! The baby wont all the sudden be awake for 10 hours a day, it will be a slow transition. So you will just adjust, and may not even realize it!

 

If you need to slow things down, you are able to! If you have to do a little catch up on weekends, so do it! Take your time, go slow! We homeschool, we are held accountable to nobody but ourselves!

 

Just relax! Our minds usually go to panic mode before baby! When I was pregnant with my 2nd, I was honestly in a panic because I didnt know how I could love another baby as much as my first. I just didnt think It was possible to love somebody else that much:blushing:. Wow was that dumb! I found that out the minute I held her! <-- moral of that embarrassing story is moms tend to get in a panic just before baby comes! You will do just find!! Now get some rest while you can :D

[Wee Pip]

Haven't read the rest of advice, but I'll share mine:

Pick 2 subjects that you feel are important (math & reading, or whatever). Subject #1 is the most important, and #2 is the 2nd most important. There, now you know the least amt to do in a day:D Some days we were lucky just to get subject #1 done.

 

Make sure your kids can make toast, get simple snacks, so that you don't have to feed them every time they're hungry.

 

My experience: had a preemie born 2+ mths early, lots of time going back/forth to NICU, dr appts, etc. Even when things settled down, the baby DID NOT SLEEP day or night, so I was sleep deprived. My naptime became more important than school on some days!

 

1 year later: Nighttime sleep is still an issue, so some days are still nap days. When I get good sleep & feel energized, those are the days we try to catch up on laundry, housework. We do more school, regularly now...although sometimes I still leave the kids with some independent work so I can head to bed, or take care of bills, or whatever I need to do.

[....]

You're gonna be great. I think what this is...is that "Adding Another Kid to the Mix Fear". After we brought our second kid home from the hospital, I stood in the doorway and cried the first morning that my husband left me alone with BOTH kids (so he could go to work). I was completely terrified. I thought for sure something absolutely horrible and unmanageable was going to happen and I would be all alone with my incompetent self. :tongue_smilie:

 

Now, it feels like we're in that scene from Monty Python where the kids are coming out of the cupboards and poppin' up from the floorboards.

 

Don't worry! Do you have a sister/mom/BFF who can come over for the first couple days of school? Congrats on the new baby, how exciting!!! :001_smile:

[Lisa in the UP of MI]

We had a baby in January and we've gotten so much more done this semester than last semester. Even though I like being pregnant I was sore and tired and we had a slow start to the year. We've gotten a lot done since we started back, which was when ds was a week old. We just started with two simple, quick subjects and slowly added things back. We also added a few new subjects that dd was ready for. I wore ds a lot when he was first born, which made it easy to do whatever I needed to do. I would think it depends on the baby. If it had been older ds I'd be lucky to get through the day let alone school. But ds is an easy baby and he has fit into our life quite well.

[silliness7]

I think it is much easier doing school with a baby than with a toddler. Next year should be really easy, its the year after that's difficult. When they are walking and talking and into everything. Mine likes to grab the papers they are trying to write on and tear them into pieces.:tongue_smilie:

 

:iagree::iagree:

 

I've had 2 toddlers the last semester of this school year. AARRGGHH!!

Next year my soon-to-be 3 year old should be much more manageable. Then I'll just have the one who likes to steal our sharp pencils and toddle dangerously with their sharp points threatening his eyes or his spleen. He also eats markers...did you know eating a pink marker will turn your poop pink? And this week he just discovered how to climb onto the kitchen table. :eek:

 

Regarding newborns, I have tried to rush back to school before I felt normal. That doesn't go well. I've also learned that it takes a little longer to feel normal with each successive baby. Normal means that I physically am back to myself. I also want the baby to have fallen into a nice eating/sleeping schedule...not strict but manageable....sleeping through the night is a must for me, but I realize is not a must for everyone.

 

You can do it!!! I delivered my 4th, May 31st and my oldest who turned 5 March 28th was due to start kindergarten that fall. I was quite anxious about how it would all work out. I started kindergarten in January so that we would have a semester under our belts and could really slack through the fall if necessary. It wasn't. We were back to normal by fall. It will work out just fine.