Just finished our second day....

[sahmoffour]

Wow. Yesterday was our first full day of HSing (I have an 8 yr old, 6 yr old, 3 yr old & 2 yr old). It didn't go well. The toddlers kept bugging us, or making messes, and peeing their pants (I'm in the middle of potty training both). I was getting phone calls that had to be answered. We had to take a break for lunch, then a break for library program. We basically started around 10 and didn't finish until about 5:00. And NO cleaning got done. It was basically a horrible day and I ended up crying last night. :(

 

Today, we started at 10. My 6 yr old was finished her math and LA within half hour-45 min. My oldst didn't finish math and LA until just before lunch. Then we took a break for lunch and when I finally got my youngest down for a nap we finished up history & geography. It went better, but still wasn't fun. :( I think that I tried to get my kids sooo excited for school, and now they're feeling let down because it's not as fun as they thought it would be. I know it would be better if I added in more projects/games/etc. but by the time we're done bookwork, I'm soo tired and running short of patience and I just want it to end so we can get on with our day. I feel like I'm already failing....Is this normal? Will I ever find a routine? I just don't know what else to do to make it better. I can't really speed it up anymore than I did for today. As it is I skipped out on a project because I was too tired and the kids were getting sick of it. If I wait to do school until the afternoon when the youngest is having his nap, I'm so tired by that point that I have no patience with the kids. If we do school in the morning, I have to contend with a million interruptions because of my youngest. He's a very spirited, hyper child who does not stay distracted for long no matter how many new, fun toys/puzzles/games I pull out for him.

 

Any tips? Will it get better? (Feel free to lie to me, I just need some hope at this point!) I'm scared now that I might be making a huge mistake by pulling the kids out of PS! I know that it's the best thing in my heart, but I just don't know where to get more patience and energy from in order to make their day more fun and enjoyable. I guess that's what I'm feeling the worst about, is the fact that their day isn't fun and enjoyable because of my attitude. I just feel so tired and stressed about it all though.

[fairytalemama]

Awwwww... a big hug for you! :grouphug:

I only have two children, but I completely empathize.

 

I have a girlfriend with 7 children who homeschools and from talking to her it sounds like the key is starting out slowly and building as you get comfortable. Maybe an option for you is to just start with reading, writing and math and get that firmly planted. Then once you feel confident you can add more. Is there anyway you could start earlier in the morning? That may help. I think that workboxes might work for you too. Then you can plan to put a snack or a game or a craft in one of the drawers as they work along to break up the seat work a bit.

 

It sounds like it's a crazy time (the potty training needs to get going here too) so just be kind to yourself.

 

One more thing --- take some time just for you in the morning before you get started. Get up before the kids (I know this is hard. I struggle with it everyday) and do something for you. I find that my day goes the best when I get up 30 minutes to an hour before everyone else, read the Bible or another book, journal a little, meditate on about how I want the day to go (I try to imagine it in my head), say a prayer, and do some light exercise if I have any time left. I'm pretty bad about the exercising. Still working on that one. Everyday that I'm able to do this goes SO much better than the days when the kids roll me out of my bed.

Edited July 21, 2010 by fairytalemama
Had to add one more thing :-)

[Jennefer@SSA]

Any tips? Will it get better? (Feel free to lie to me, I just need some hope at this point!) I'm scared now that I might be making a huge mistake by pulling the kids out of PS! I know that it's the best thing in my heart, but I just don't know where to get more patience and energy from in order to make their day more fun and enjoyable. I guess that's what I'm feeling the worst about, is the fact that their day isn't fun and enjoyable because of my attitude. I just feel so tired and stressed about it all though.

 

My first day was much like this several years ago. I still remember it like it was yesterday. I was so full of anticipation and had spent most of the summer planning and preparing! Then the first day was horrible. Just horrible! I cried, too.

 

It does get better. :001_smile: Here are some things to think about, if you haven't already (and these are in no particular order):

 

1. Start slowly. Dial back if you need to and start with one subject daily per child. After a week or so add in another and then another a week after that. You need to train your olders how to do school at home and your youngers how to entertain themselves with minimal interruptions to your school day. It takes time to do this and for most families it doesn't come naturally. Make a list of things the youngers can do and rotate their activities so there are always new things to occupy them during school time: A rice bin with scoops, measuring cups and such; window markers; playtime in a sink with some water; painting the house or fence with cups of water and paintbrushes.....

 

2. Do you have a plan for meals? Freeze a few ahead of time, especially for the first several weeks when you are doing lots of training and getting a schedule down. I have a list of several healthy meals I can get on the table in 30 minutes or less for days when I just can't pull anything else together or quickly.

 

3. Do you have a plan for housekeeping? In my family my boys do about 15 min of chores each morning before breakfast. Then we set aside the 30 minutes before rest time (see below) for shared housekeeping. My boys vacuum, sweep, clean windows, take out trash and do lots of other simple jobs. Again this takes training but is well worth it! And then before bed the whole family picks up for about 10-15 minutes to get the house ready for the next day.

 

3. What will be your sanity keepers as you proceed on your journey? For me I have to have a few quiet times each day to charge and/or recharge my batteries. I wake up at least an hour or more before my kids to read, consume massive amounts of caffeine ;), pray and journal. My house also shuts down each day from 3-5 for "Quiet Time". Each child is in his room playing and listening to audio books and I get 2 hours to return phone calls (phone is OFF during the school day unless I am expecting an urgent call), pay bills, chat with a friend, check the message board, blog, and drink some more caffeine :D Also dh and I have set aside Thursday nights as my night to get out if I need to escape. Sometimes I run errands, sometimes I meet a girlfriend. Most often I read.

 

Many, many blessings. Keep your chin up and march onward with a plan. You can do it and it's going to be a great year!!!

[sahmoffour]

Thank you both for your replies. I guess I built up this fairytale story of how our homeschooling days would go, and it is sooo not the case! I do have a plan for meals, as well as housekeeping. We have chore charts that we complete in the morning after breakfast, before school. It seems that the keep-up chores get completed, but any deep cleaning like bathrooms, cleaning basement, cleaning fridge/wiping cupboards, etc. just doesn't get done as there's no time left in the day. My sanity is going on the computer, and getting a break in the afternoon from having to entertain the kids. By afternoons I'm soo tired, so I make the kids find something to amuse themselves while I watch tv, go on the computer, etc for an hour. Maybe I should work on getting up earlier in the day to be prepared though, I'm not a morning person and the kids always beat me up and I feel like I"m playing catch-up from the moment I get out of bed, so that might be a great suggestion. Thanks ladies. :)

[KrissiK]

:grouphug: It will get better. But, you need to remember that you do need to train your kids. I would start with one thing at a time and work on that. Your toddlers will get used to your new routine, but it will be hard for them at first, too. Take things slow, though.

 

Also, even though homeschoooling definitely has some fun aspects to it and there will be some subjects they really get in to... it's work. Especially in the older grades.

 

One thing, too, to remember is... homeschooling is a job. You are taking a lot of time up in your day to educate your children and that is time that won't be spent on other things like cooking and cleaning. It is so hard for me to get used to that. Sometimes I think, "I've been home all day, why do I feel like I got nothing done? The house is a wreck, dinner is wierd and I'm exhausted." But, I was a teacher all day, and some days that's all you can be. You can't be a teacher/cook, laundress and housekeeper. So, one thing is going to get done, not everything else. And that's also something my hubby has had to get used to, too. But, that's one of the many sacrifices you make to be in charge of your children's education.

 

I, too, had the fairytale idea of homeschooling when I started. Now, we're on our third year and I'm looking at things more realistically, and it's much easier on me. But, hang in there. It will get better as your family gets used to what you're doing! It just takes a while.

[Sara in WA]

You have a great idea about getting up in the morning. You'll become a morning person once you get up early so often that you're happy to hit the hay earlier than normal :) Getting up early (5 am) is a goal I am working on. I take a few steps forward and then back and then restart. To be honest, it is a huge blessing to me and my family when I do wake up early. I wake up at 5 am and then read my Bible and pray. After that I shower, get ready and then prepare breakfast. It is a glorious start to the day when I have done all that and then greet my chickies when they awake. Sometimes I even have time to do some housework before they wake up.

 

Maybe instead of zoning out at the computer or tv, you could read? My kids are ages 4-(almost) 10 and we always have 1-2 hours of reading time. As homeschoolers, we are together ALL THE TIME, and we all need some quiet alone time.

 

My last suggestion is to try a schedule like this: 2 or 3 weeks of school and then a week off. I did that the first couple of years and it was a lifesaver. A break was always just around the corner for me to have a breather and get some projects done. I was also surprised and encouraged to see that during the "break" week that my kids did lots of learning, i.e. games, reading, listening to great music or books on CD - just not something I had to teach.

 

It really does take awhile to find your "groove" :) Just give yourself and your kids time and grace.

[Jennefer@SSA]

: Sometimes I think, "I've been home all day, why do I feel like I got nothing done? The house is a wreck, dinner is weird and I'm exhausted." But, I was a teacher all day, and some days that's all you can be. You can't be a teacher/cook, laundress and housekeeper.

 

:lol::lol: "...dinner is weird..." so made me smile. I have had those days!!!

[Jennefer@SSA]

Thank you both for your replies. I guess I built up this fairytale story of how our homeschooling days would go, and it is sooo not the case! I do have a plan for meals, as well as housekeeping. We have chore charts that we complete in the morning after breakfast, before school. It seems that the keep-up chores get completed, but any deep cleaning like bathrooms, cleaning basement, cleaning fridge/wiping cupboards, etc. just doesn't get done as there's no time left in the day. My sanity is going on the computer, and getting a break in the afternoon from having to entertain the kids. By afternoons I'm soo tired, so I make the kids find something to amuse themselves while I watch tv, go on the computer, etc for an hour. Maybe I should work on getting up earlier in the day to be prepared though, I'm not a morning person and the kids always beat me up and I feel like I"m playing catch-up from the moment I get out of bed, so that might be a great suggestion. Thanks ladies. :)

 

It sounds like you have paved the way for a great year. Hang in there and take it one day at a time...or one hour at a time if need be. ;) Don't beat yourself up when somedays are just hard. That is the reality of schooling. I want it to be all fun and joy, and often it is. But then other times it's just work. Lots and lots for hard work. For all of us.

 

Homeschooling is the second hardest thing I've ever done but the second most rewarding as well (working on having and maintaining a healthy marriage - not perfect but growing - is the first). It will all be worth it and it will get TONS easier when your littles are done with potty training.

 

Could/would you consider a one week potty training method and put school off for a week? We planned one week to stay home and not leave the house one time. You give your kids a million drinks a day to accelerate the process. Give 'em all the junk they normally would never have just to fill up their bellies with liquid. Then they need to potty 10-12 times daily rather than 5-6 like a typical child. Set a timer and make them sit on the potty every 15 minutes for a full 60 seconds. If they tee-tee they get 3 m&m's. If they poo 10 m&m's. If they just sit there and nothing happens they still get one candy for effort! :D All three of my boys were potty trained this way. We started on a Monday and they were all done by Friday. I have no idea if this is an official method or not - just a bunch of moms at our church did it this way and it worked for them. They shared it with me and it worked here too.

 

Now night time was another animal all together for us but this method worked well for the day. :001_smile:

 

Just more ideas to throw out there!!!

[Stellalarella]

I'm. Dangling. At. The. End. Of. The Third Day. Of Homeschooling. All. My Kids. They are many. I am one.

[Jennefer@SSA]

I'm. Dangling. At. The. End. Of. The Third Day. Of Homeschooling. All. My Kids. They are many. I am one.

 

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

[abrightmom]

My first day was much like this several years ago. I still remember it like it was yesterday. I was so full of anticipation and had spent most of the summer planning and preparing! Then the first day was horrible. Just horrible! I cried, too.

 

It does get better. :001_smile: Here are some things to think about, if you haven't already (and these are in no particular order):

 

1. Start slowly. Dial back if you need to and start with one subject daily per child. After a week or so add in another and then another a week after that. You need to train your olders how to do school at home and your youngers how to entertain themselves with minimal interruptions to your school day. It takes time to do this and for most families it doesn't come naturally. Make a list of things the youngers can do and rotate their activities so there are always new things to occupy them during school time: A rice bin with scoops, measuring cups and such; window markers; playtime in a sink with some water; painting the house or fence with cups of water and paintbrushes.....

 

2. Do you have a plan for meals? Freeze a few ahead of time, especially for the first several weeks when you are doing lots of training and getting a schedule down. I have a list of several healthy meals I can get on the table in 30 minutes or less for days when I just can't pull anything else together or quickly.

 

3. Do you have a plan for housekeeping? In my family my boys do about 15 min of chores each morning before breakfast. Then we set aside the 30 minutes before rest time (see below) for shared housekeeping. My boys vacuum, sweep, clean windows, take out trash and do lots of other simple jobs. Again this takes training but is well worth it! And then before bed the whole family picks up for about 10-15 minutes to get the house ready for the next day.

 

3. What will be your sanity keepers as you proceed on your journey? For me I have to have a few quiet times each day to charge and/or recharge my batteries. I wake up at least an hour or more before my kids to read, consume massive amounts of caffeine, pray and journal. My house also shuts down each day from 3-5 for "Quiet Time". Each child is in his room playing and listening to audio books and I get 2 hours to return phone calls (phone is OFF during the school day unless I am expecting an urgent call), pay bills, chat with a friend, check the message board, blog, and drink some more caffeine :D Also dh and I have set aside Thursday nights as my night to get out if I need to escape. Sometimes I run errands, sometimes I meet a girlfriend. Most often I read.

 

Many, many blessings. Keep your chin up and march onward with a plan. You can do it and it's going to be a great year!!!

You are receiving wonderful counsel . . . here are a few :grouphug: from another Mama of 4 youngsters. At first glance I'd mention two things that stand out:

1) Potty training: You really shouldn't potty train and start homeschooling at the same time :D. In my house potty training is an event and it takes a week or so to find our groove with a newly training/trained child. I usually have to camp in the bathroom with the trainee. He/she needs my focus to get through the process as quickly/smoothly as possible. Can you postpone the start of school so you can finish potty training?

 

2) Start earlier in the day. I don't know your schedule or family dynamics but getting the day running early, especially with youngsters, is THE KEY (IMHO! :D). In this home, if I start at 10 we would never finish school . . . EVER!! It is 100% worth it if you get to bed early enough in the evening to allow yourself to get enough rest so that you are able to rise earlier than your kids. Make your bed, leave your room tidy, shower and dress (or work out if that suits you early) . . . have your quiet time (Bible time, reading, whatever works for you), caffeinate :D, prep breakfast for the kids. Be Ready for The Day to Begin the Moment They Emerge!! Success is when Preparation (a ready mama) Meets Opportunity (awake children) -- or something like that! :lol:

 

Any thoughts on why you are so tired? How much sleep are you getting? Are you eating well for the most part? Too much sugar or caffeine? Are you trading TV or computer time for needed rest? I find that the computer or TV can be very addicting (mindless and relaxing which we always crave at the end of intense days!!) but it ROBS me of much needed sleep. Without the rest I am not as healthy as I need to be and I'm useless to my family in the morning. I believe that you lose the battle when the kids beat you out of bed. If you are ready for them you will realize success . . . I speak from experience here!!! I can almost predict success or failure based upon my previous night of sleep and whether or not I'm ready for the children when they get up.

 

Praying for you today! :001_smile:

Edited July 21, 2010 by abrightmom
Fixing those typos - drat!

[abrightmom]

I'm. Dangling. At. The. End. Of. The Third Day. Of Homeschooling. All. My Kids. They are many. I am one.

Ditto on the :grouphug:. I think I'm dangling at the end of preparing to homeschool all these kids (although you have more!!!!!!!). We are SO outnumbered . . . :D

[abrightmom]

It sounds like you have paved the way for a great year. Hang in there and take it one day at a time...or one hour at a time if need be. ;) Don't beat yourself up when somedays are just hard. That is the reality of schooling. I want it to be all fun and joy, and often it is. But then other times it's just work. Lots and lots for hard work. For all of us.

 

Homeschooling is the second hardest thing I've ever done but the second most rewarding as well (working on having and maintaining a healthy marriage - not perfect but growing - is the first). It will all be worth it and it will get TONS easier when your littles are done with potty training.

 

Could/would you consider a one week potty training method and put school off for a week? We planned one week to stay home and not leave the house one time. You give your kids a million drinks a day to accelerate the process. Give 'em all the junk they normally would never have just to fill up their bellies with liquid. Then they need to potty 10-12 times daily rather than 5-6 like a typical child. Set a timer and make them sit on the potty every 15 minutes for a full 60 seconds. If they tee-tee they get 3 m&m's. If they poo 10 m&m's. If they just sit there and nothing happens they still get one candy for effort! :D All three of my boys were potty trained this way. We started on a Monday and they were all done by Friday. I have no idea if this is an official method or not - just a bunch of moms at our church did it this way and it worked for them. They shared it with me and it worked here too.

 

Now night time was another animal all together for us but this method worked well for the day. :001_smile:

 

Just more ideas to throw out there!!!

:iagree: with Jennefer about the potty training . . . We did a very similar thing and it worked out well for 3 kids so far. I think the title of the book is Potty Training in a Day (we took more than a day though :D). Salty snacks to inspire thirst, LOTS of juice and yummy drinks so they have to go A LOT, and camping in the bathroom (or wherever the potty chair is) . . . You can get that book at the library. It was helpful to me and gave me some framework to start with.

[sahmoffour]

Thank you all for the wonderful advice! You give me hope that there's definitely things I can adjust to make things easier on myself. I think I may just tell the kids we're taking a week long break to do potty-training. I don't know if I"m pushing my youngest too much or not though, he's almost 2, will be on Aug.10. But he seems more willing to go try on the potty than my 3 yr old. It's like pulling teeth to get him to even try. Both are quite willing to just cruise around in wet underwear for some reason. Maybe a reward system would be the trick....

 

I'm definitely more tired than usual, all due to my own silliness. Dh is a late owl, and I'm a reality show addict so I stay up late to watch my shows and be with him lol. So I'm having a good day if I can get out of bed by 7-7:30! I used to get up earlier with no problems, so I think I may have to get back on the vitamins and lots of water, and set a bed time for myself. I've been staying up too late, and drinking too much coffee/pop.

 

Thanks for the tips, it really is sooo helpful! And it's also helpful to hear I'm not the only one!

[Tree House Academy]

While it does get better and you (and the kids) will find your groove, still don't count out days like this. I still have tough days...the kids still have tough days. It happens. Just keep on plugging along and remember why you started on this journey. *hugs*

[imhim]

I would plan to start school a little earlier - my goal is 9 or 9:30. My kids wake up before 6 (one does, but that is the end of sleep for me, too).

 

Have you ever heard or used "blanket training"? The little ones (last schol year I had a 4 and a 3 yo - and we did this even earlier - are on a blanket each, separate from each other, and are not supposed to step our of the blanket for ...however long you train them. They have toys, books, other things that interest them and are available just for this time. And they have to be quiet. This gives me 30 min to concentrate on my oldest (who was 6 last year).

Another thing that kept my boys quiet was to put them on starfall.com for 30 min while I explained something to my 6 yo.

 

Arts, crafts, science - was all together. History was read-aloud while the boys played around us.

 

To make it more fun, I took them on "field trips" or nature walks - I will do this more often this year, it is really important for the kids to be out. Especially in the woods.

 

You will get into a rutine, but it will take a while. I really did not find anything extremely efficient for dealing with the 2 and 3 yo, and a year later dealing with the 3 and 4 yo. Nap time helped a bit to do more quiet school. But they will just have to grow up and mature, and that takes time.

 

It is hard, but it is rewarding.

Edited July 22, 2010 by imhim

[VBoulden]

It will get better. :grouphug: You will get settled into a routine soon enough. Don't give up (as it will be harder to start again after that).

 

Your kids will learn how to deal with the distractions. You set the tone, if you "give up" or get annoyed because of distractions, so will they, etc. :tongue_smilie:Try and teach them to focus until the distraction has passed or that they need to come right back to what you all were doing once it's over. I have a fifteen month old and she is constantly trying to distract my five year old. But... we manage. Some days it isn't pretty, but we "do school" anyway.

 

I am learning it's not that we WON'T have distractions with home school, just that they will be DIFFERENT than the kind kids deal with in PS. Here's a blog post I wrote about that.

 

http://www.veronicaboulden.com/2010/04/back-when-norah-my-oldest-was-baby-and.html

 

I don't seem to have enough time in the day for school work and fun stuff like arts and crafts, too... not if I am going to cook and clean, too, so... I have been devoting four to six weeks for "school work," get into a groove for math, phonics, handwriting, etc. and then, once we reach a place where I can take a break without messing things up for my daughter, we take a week or two for "fun" stuff like art, nature study, hikes and field trips.

 

That might work for you... Just take this first month or two to settle into the "school" parts and then take a week off for all the stuff you aren't getting to that you have planned. That could work. ;)

 

And, be honest with your kids and tell them you are still figuring things out, but make sure they know you are still "the boss" even if you are not a know-it-all. We don't have to be perfect for them to respect us. :D

[Joyofsixreboot]

Aw, hugs to you . You are going to need some time to adjust and get a groove. Bad mommy confession, my now two year old spent a lot of time gated in the family room with toys. At least she was safe and it contained the mess. I would work with one and send the other in to play with her for 10-15minutes. Be kind to yourself and be patient. Practically

1-throw laundry in to wash at night then it just needs dried in the morning.

2-the crocpot is your friend,I set it up after bfst and that helps tons

3-I just wait and do a clean up/pick up about 4pm. Doing it earlier just means it's a mess again by dinner.

4-consider a 4day week and use that off day to catch up. I would get the kids a DVD like magic school bus or Bill Nye, let them create art projects or play wii fit, listen to books while playing legos,whatever that could even possibly be considered educational.

[JESSICAinMD]

I am so sorry your first day didn't go well. It gets easier, it takes time to get rhythm going. (I haven't reached the potty training while homeschool stage yet. Yikes!) Try to think of what you did get finished rather than what you didn't. Hang in there!

Hugs,

jessica

[Guest mrsjamiesouth]

I would recommend MOTH (Managers of Their Homes.) This was an extremely helpful tool to organizing my time. One suggestion in the book was to place toddlers in a pack and play or Safe area for alone play. Start with 10 minutes if yours aren't used to it and eventually get to 45-60 minutes. Put some toys and books in the area and don't come back before time is up.

 

I also do a lot of reading during meal times. Read while they are busy and their mouths are full.

If you have a fenced in area outside, consider doing some schoolwork outside. We do this so the 2yo can run free and not interrupt as much.

 

Instill a mandatory "quiet time." My older boys go to seperate beds and have quiet time while dd naps. This way I get 30-45 minutes in the middle of the day of peace and quiet. I often use this as computer time, but I have been known to take a hot bath with a good book during the middle of the day too! :tongue_smilie:

[5LittleMonkeys]

I haven't read all of the responses so forgive me if I repeat. This is what works for us...

 

The two oldest and I get up at 6:30 and have showered, dressed, made beds and eaten breakfast by 7:30. We do Latin and and part of math before anyone else is allowed to get up. Dd7 and ds4 sometimes wake up but they have to stay in their beds looking at books until I come and get them at 8:15. While the two oldest work on the rest of their math I get the other three up, dressed, beds made and breakfast. By the time that is done the two olders have completed two subjects. YEAH! By this time it is 9:00. The dd7 plays with ds4 and the baby for 30 minutes while I do grammar\poetry with the older two. From 9:30 to 11:30 the older two do a rotation between playing with the baby and doing their history and literature reading, memorizing their poetry and doing spelling so that I can work one on one with dd7. Ds4 will sit at the table and do some type of pre-K activity for a little while then he can go play or watch something age appropriate on Netflix for about 30 minutes. He knows that if he is disruptive he will be exiled to the far reaches of our kingdom (his room) until lunch. Lunch is an hour, this is 20 minutes for eating and 40 minutes for a break, then the baby goes to nap, YEAH AGAIN! The baby stays in her crib for 3 hours whether she sleeps or not. (She almost always sleeps this long) We complete history, science, art, logic, etc. in the afternoon (on a rotation) and are usually done by 3:00. Ds4 can participate or do his own thing but he knows that to be disruptive means certain doom. This was a hard lesson for him to learn but he's got it now.

 

Engaging your 6 yr.old to entertain the troops while you work with your 8 yr.old and vice\versa may help alleviate the problem of you getting pulled in all directions. Even if you can get 30 minutes of really good, uninterrupted one on one time with each dc you could knock out one subject. Then you could even get the two older ones up earlier and knock out another subject. Save the fun stuff and projects for the afternoon when the little one is napping. If the other little one is too disruptive have a rest time for him\her (?) also. This may have to be trained but it can be done. Put the two youngest to bed 30 minutes earlier and use that time to do your read alouds with the older two; even if its from the history book. Save really big, messy projects for the weekend. Have hubby babysit the littles while you do school for a couple of hours with the olders.

Turn off the phone and don't answer the door during "school time". Return important calls on your lunch break while the two older dc keep the younger ones occupied. Someone else mentioned that teaching is your JOB. This is so true. If you had a job outside the home you wouldn't expect to get your house clean or make dinner while you were at work would you? Pick one thing to clean per day and enlist your two oldest to help. "Okay, schools over for the day, everyone grab a dust rag, pick a room and dust the baseboards and the blinds for 10 minutes! If you get the whole room done before the timer goes off you get ______________!" (Insert your own reward here) If you don't try to multitask and actually just concentrate on getting one thing done at a time you will find that you can accomplish a lot in a short amount of time.

 

Get lots of sleep! You can't be a good mommy\teacher if you are tired. Make Fri. and Sat. night your stay up late nights. If you had to be to "work" the next day at 7:00am I bet you wouldn't stay up late!;) (I can laugh because I am a night owl and had to train myself to go to bed and get up early)

 

Well, that was a lot of rambling but hopefully you can adopt a few of those ideas. Give yourself time though to adapt. This is a hard time for you right now and it is an all new lifestyle for everyone in the family. Once homeschooling becomes part of your everyday existence you will be surprised at how school becomes just as natural as everything else you do as a family during the day.

[abrightmom]

I haven't read all of the responses so forgive me if I repeat. This is what works for us...

 

The two oldest and I get up at 6:30 and have showered, dressed, made beds and eaten breakfast by 7:30. We do Latin and and part of math before anyone else is allowed to get up. Dd7 and ds4 sometimes wake up but they have to stay in their beds looking at books until I come and get them at 8:15. While the two oldest work on the rest of their math I get the other three up, dressed, beds made and breakfast. By the time that is done the two olders have completed two subjects. YEAH! By this time it is 9:00. The dd7 plays with ds4 and the baby for 30 minutes while I do grammar\poetry with the older two. From 9:30 to 11:30 the older two do a rotation between playing with the baby and doing their history and literature reading, memorizing their poetry and doing spelling so that I can work one on one with dd7. Ds4 will sit at the table and do some type of pre-K activity for a little while then he can go play or watch something age appropriate on Netflix for about 30 minutes. He knows that if he is disruptive he will be exiled to the far reaches of our kingdom (his room) until lunch. Lunch is an hour, this is 20 minutes for eating and 40 minutes for a break, then the baby goes to nap, YEAH AGAIN! The baby stays in her crib for 3 hours whether she sleeps or not. (She almost always sleeps this long) We complete history, science, art, logic, etc. in the afternoon (on a rotation) and are usually done by 3:00. Ds4 can participate or do his own thing but he knows that to be disruptive means certain doom. This was a hard lesson for him to learn but he's got it now.

 

Engaging your 6 yr.old to entertain the troops while you work with your 8 yr.old and vice\versa may help alleviate the problem of you getting pulled in all directions. Even if you can get 30 minutes of really good, uninterrupted one on one time with each dc you could knock out one subject. Then you could even get the two older ones up earlier and knock out another subject. Save the fun stuff and projects for the afternoon when the little one is napping. If the other little one is too disruptive have a rest time for him\her (?) also. This may have to be trained but it can be done. Put the two youngest to bed 30 minutes earlier and use that time to do your read alouds with the older two; even if its from the history book. Save really big, messy projects for the weekend. Have hubby babysit the littles while you do school for a couple of hours with the olders.

Turn off the phone and don't answer the door during "school time". Return important calls on your lunch break while the two older dc keep the younger ones occupied. Someone else mentioned that teaching is your JOB. This is so true. If you had a job outside the home you wouldn't expect to get your house clean or make dinner while you were at work would you? Pick one thing to clean per day and enlist your two oldest to help. "Okay, schools over for the day, everyone grab a dust rag, pick a room and dust the baseboards and the blinds for 10 minutes! If you get the whole room done before the timer goes off you get ______________!" (Insert your own reward here) If you don't try to multitask and actually just concentrate on getting one thing done at a time you will find that you can accomplish a lot in a short amount of time.

 

Get lots of sleep! You can't be a good mommy\teacher if you are tired. Make Fri. and Sat. night your stay up late nights. If you had to be to "work" the next day at 7:00am I bet you wouldn't stay up late!;) (I can laugh because I am a night owl and had to train myself to go to bed and get up early)

 

Well, that was a lot of rambling but hopefully you can adopt a few of those ideas. Give yourself time though to adapt. This is a hard time for you right now and it is an all new lifestyle for everyone in the family. Once homeschooling becomes part of your everyday existence you will be surprised at how school becomes just as natural as everything else you do as a family during the day.

 

Aime,

 

AWESOME advice and ideas here!! I am taking notes. . . . way to go on training your kiddos and running the schedule! Wow, I REALLY love these ideas. Any more to share????????????

[robsiew]

You've gotten some great advice... I have nothing new for you... but wanted to give you :grouphug::grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

 

It will get better as your kids get trained. Remember, this is a HUGE adjustment for your whole family! It took us the better part of the first year after pulling my older 2 out of PS to feel like we finally had a routine down, as well as just the kids and I adjusting to our new life.

 

Now, after 2 years I can say we all really enjoy hsing. The kids know what I expect, the youngers just file in now behind the older two. They knew what to expect because they saw it happening already.

 

Your younger two are young yet... go easy on yourself! Remember, a video now and then when you really need to concentrate on the olders isn't a bad thing! :-)

[RootAnn]

Great advice here. *takes notes*

 

I have to echo not trying to potty train at the same time you are HSing. That's one of those "insanity" markers right there. By the way, in our house, I always have an "older" take the trainee to the potty. We rotate through with everyone taking a "day" or just a "time." So, oldest takes Monday, I take Tuesday, next oldest takes Wednesday, #3 takes Thursday, DH takes Friday, back to oldest on Saturday, etc. to take the trainee all day at certain times - we set a timer on the oven to go off so often. Or, if we're all burnt out on it, we just roll through where oldest takes him first time the timer goes off, then me, then #2, then #3, etc. If the trainee succeeds that time, the escort/helper also gets the same treat as the trainee. If the trainee is still dry and succeeds, the treat is doubled.

 

Also, I'll echo not trying to do all subjects right away. I start with a "fun" one (usually one of my afternoon ones like history or science). That's all I do for a week - even if I only plan to do that subject twice per week the rest of the school year, we do it daily that first week. The next week, I add in a "not fun" subject -- usually math or spelling and continue doing the "fun" subject daily. The third week, I add another "fun" subject and sometimes another "not fun" subject and drop down to doing the initial "fun" subject to the regular schedule (twice per week if it is history/science, for example). If things are going okay, I try to go to full schedule on the fourth week. If things are going badly, I readjust things during the fourth week with the same # of subjects and see how it goes.

 

It always takes adjustment when you get started. And remember to try to schedule time for the youngers with you - a game, a read-aloud, something before lunch or after lunch for them to look forward to (and hopefully behave for). If they've really behaved, try to think of something that isn't too much work for you but would be fun for several of the kids (for example, a special drink at the table pretending it is "tea time" or playing in the sprinkler outside or listening to a read aloud or a book on tape or watching a short movie). The idea is that they ONLY get this if they've tried hard all day to be "good."

 

I find the hardest part of HSing is training myself. While I'd like to collapse, hide on the computer, let them all watch a movie, etc., I have to train myself to keep up the discipline (of MYSELF) and save the "rewards" for those days when the kids TRIED HARD (even if we didn't get everything done). If they fight me and complain and make things hard, they don't get the TV (which we don't have, but we do have movies as a special treat) or games or whatever. Good luck. :-)

[ALB]

Could/would you consider a one week potty training method and put school off for a week? We planned one week to stay home and not leave the house one time. You give your kids a million drinks a day to accelerate the process. Give 'em all the junk they normally would never have just to fill up their bellies with liquid. Then they need to potty 10-12 times daily rather than 5-6 like a typical child. Set a timer and make them sit on the potty every 15 minutes for a full 60 seconds. If they tee-tee they get 3 m&m's. If they poo 10 m&m's. If they just sit there and nothing happens they still get one candy for effort! :D All three of my boys were potty trained this way. We started on a Monday and they were all done by Friday. I have no idea if this is an official method or not - just a bunch of moms at our church did it this way and it worked for them. They shared it with me and it worked here too.

 

:iagree:This is what worked for my dd and ds, too! I also have no idea if it is an official method, but it was so painless for us to do it that way. Just a week of messes and then we were fine! It is important to pretty much stay home all day for it to work. Our pediatrician had warned me that boys would be harder and especially having an obviously strong-willed one might take a long time. So, I was pleasantly surprised that the same method worked with him as with my dd.

[Mandy in TN]

Any tips? Will it get better? (Feel free to lie to me, I just need some hope at this point!) I'm scared now that I might be making a huge mistake by pulling the kids out of PS! I know that it's the best thing in my heart, but I just don't know where to get more patience and energy from in order to make their day more fun and enjoyable. I guess that's what I'm feeling the worst about, is the fact that their day isn't fun and enjoyable because of my attitude. I just feel so tired and stressed about it all though.

This is our 9th year at home and I never begin all subjects on day one of the first week of school. We have been reading(sporadically:blush:). This week he read The One in the Middle is the Green Kangaroo. He has also been doing Kumon math (6x/week) this summer.

 

This is my 2nd grader's first week of school. I added in history (2x/wk), art (1x/wk), and Grammar Island (2x/wk-reading only the first 17 pages). On Tuesday he also had his first violin lesson after a 6 week break. He practices (6x/wk).

 

Next week we will add science (2x/ wk), Saxon math (4x/wk), Math Exploration (2x/wk), memory work including Song School Latin (5x/wk), and SLLA (4x/wk). My 11th grader will start school this week beginning Pre-Calc, European History, World Lit, and Chemistry.

 

The third week little ds will begin Spanish (2x/wk), Farsi (2x/wk), and structured read-alouds (3x/wk). The 11th grader will begin Northern Renaissance Art History, Spanish, and Queens LL.

 

The week of 8/9 my 11th grader begins his IEW class and economics class. The next week (8/17) my oldest leaves for college and the week of 8/23 my 11th grader begins volleyball. Then, we have a rhythm until the week of 10/11 when I have scheduled fall break.

 

There is no way I would attempt starting everything in a single week. I am also a late starter. We don't begin until 10 or later. I wouldn't try to start earlier if that isn't part of your lifestyle.

 

IMHO, start again next week just doing LA and math with the oldest. The next week begin science and history with them both. The third week add LA and math for the 2nd.

 

Just how we do it-

Mandy

[5LittleMonkeys]

AWESOME advice and ideas here!! I am taking notes. . . . way to go on training your kiddos and running the schedule! Wow, I REALLY love these ideas. Any more to share????????????

 

Yes, now that I think about it. Regarding meals...create a bi-weekly menu and stick to it. I save making large meals for Wednesday and occasionally Sunday. Wed. is usually some type of roast with the veggies thrown in or roasted chickens. Occasionally I will make something involved on Sun. like perogi or halupki. All the other nights are easy peasy...soup and sandwiches, spaghetti, chicken potpie, hamburgers, homemade pizza (crust in the bread machine and veggies and meat cut up\prepared the Sun. before). You get the idea, you have to be able to make it in 30 minutes or less and you have to stick to the menu. That way you never have weird dinners.:D

 

Regarding yearly schedules...We started on July 5th and this is our schedule for the year. 6wks on\1wk off, 6\1, 6\1, starting the week of Thanksgiving 6 wks off, then on Jan.3 we do 6\1, 6\1, 6\1. That gives us 36 weeks or 180 days. We have a 6 week winter break (plenty of time for making Christmas gifts, cookies, visiting, etc.) and a 6 week spring\summer break. (Sleep overs, traveling, zoo, aquarium, swimming, etc.) The single weeks we have off in between the 6 week periods is when I deep clean my house, clean out closets, make dentist appts., etc. Basically all the things I don't get to during school. This is also the time someone can get caught up in something they may be behind in. Although, the prospect of doing lessons during their breaks has been enough of a deterrent that we haven't had to do it yet. I also plan the next 6 weeks of lessons. My kids do really well with this, as do I. I also don't plan any extra activities during the day Mon. - Thur. unless they are for after 3:00. This way I am guaranteed a full, uninterrupted 6 1\2 hours of school time. Fri. is our short day, we are done by noon, so we will go to the library, schedule play dates, sleep-overs, etc.

 

That is all I can think of right now except to say that IMO if you have more than 2 dc, you would be well served to work on simplifying your life. Unless, of coarse, you enjoy chaos.:D

[mom31257]

If I were you, I'd plan a really fun outing/field trip the last day of this first week and not do any bookwork that day. I only have 2 and they are 6 years apart, so I can't really help with several kids. I will say that when I started homeschooling dd and ds was only 2, it wasn't long until he started asking to do schoolwork, so he could be at the table with us. I had given him things to do, let him watch some PBS stuff, and told him that I "had" to work with Hannah during that time. I think it made him really want to be included.

 

I pray all will go well and the adjustment period is short.

[cylau]

We just started homeschooling last year. I was excited at the beginning and I planned many subjects ahead of time, thinking that I would be able to go through them all as planned. When it was time to start school, I was disappointed because my ds was not as cooperative as I thought he would be.

 

So I cut down the curriculum to the bare minimum. I did some language arts, math, fun games, learning on computer everyday. I did what I could to fill the day (about 4 hours). It was hard. I also had dd with me and I sent her to preschool 3 times a week. It took ds until Christmas to adjust. He finally sped up enough that I started adding the planned subjects back to the mix.

 

I planned my day around dd's preschool. When she was around, I made ds do independent works eg. worksheet, computer learning, and I read to dd and let her watch educational video when I need to attend to ds. Then I sent her to school. I rushed home with ds, and did all the teaching intensive works with him.

[birchbark]

Somewhere on this board, someone said once, "I have basically three duties. Keep the house clean, cook meals, and teach school. I've found I can only do two of the three things on any given day." Or something to that effect. I had to laugh when I read it, because it echoes my own experience. Rare is the day when I feel I've done all three well. And I've been schooling for a few years now.

 

Some of the best advice you've gotten here is to start slowly. Concentrate just on the 3 R's for now. (Like, months.) As they say, the rest is gravy. If you want to do some fun stuff, take your fifth day and just do a fun thing: nature walk, craft, science experiement, field trip, library, whatever. I assure you, even with this schedule, your kids will be learning more than they would in PS.

 

Also agree with postponing either school or potty training; don't try to do both right now. Your youngers will eventually adjust to having you teaching. My now-3yo was 2 when we started school last year and he was awful when we started. I made sure his needs were met, had toys or coloring and then it just basically boiled down to "ignoring" him when I was teaching. He learned to play by himself or "do school" (color) nearby by the end of the month.

 

Although if they go down for naps that would be a good time to harness some school time.

 

I'm going to step out and suggest something other than making yourself to get up super early. I'm a night person myself (see the timestamp? :D) and I've found forcing myself to perform out of my element just does not work well. Perhaps some have retrained their bodies to go to sleep and wake up earlier but I've been unsuccessful. :P I would cut yourself some slack and make sure you're getting enough sleep right now. Don't try to reprogram your nature right now on top of everything else. We just hit school right away after a quick breakfast and start between 9 and 10. That is fine for students of a younger age. If school is going too long then you are trying to do too much stuff.

 

Meals and Housekeeping: Simplify, simplify, simplify. Freezer meals and the crockpot are your friends. Sandwiches are fine. A 7-day menu rotation is fine. You are starting a new job! With housekeeping, get your kids some cleaner wipes to take care of the bathroom with and teach them how to run the washer and dryer. Declutter brutally and lower your expectations. And if you can possibly afford it, hire some housecleaning help here and there.

 

It's a new lifestyle but you can do it! :grouphug:

Edited July 22, 2010 by birchbark

[Evergreen Academy]

:grouphug: to you, it will get better! You have gotten some great advice, and I will just throw out some things that have helped us through difficult ages and stages of homeschooling.

 

- Potty training: truly, I wait until the child is completely ready, and it happens in about a day. Boys, a bit after 3, girls, much sooner. Just how it went here with mine. I agree with the posters who suggest waiting on either the PT or the school.

 

- Schooltime: I'm a night-owl too, but ds12's 5 am crew schedule is SLOWLY forcing me to get to bed on time. If you can slowly get up a little earlier and go to bed a little earlier each day, you will reap the benefits by feeling more ready in the morning. I know, it is so hard!!!

 

- Subjects dragging on: for the youngers, I try to subscribe to some Charlotte Mason ideas, including short lesson times, 15-20 minutes. It is really hard for many young kids to sustain attention for longer than that, particularly when the whole homeschooling thing is new to them. We set a timer and I tell them to work hard during that time, not dawdle, and they can be done with that subject when the timer goes off. Dawdling = more time on the timer, or a switch to a competely different subject, timer on again, and return to the other subject later.

 

- A rough schedule helps us. We try to start school at 9, and by 10:30 we break for a snack along with Bible time. On Wednesdays we do "Poet- teas," where each child and I choose poetry, we make tea and a special snack, and read poetry to each other. It is delightful and having it scheduled every W keeps us doing something fun I'd otherwise squeeze out or forget. We break for lunch at about 12:30 (hopefully all seatwork is done by then), have free-time until about 1:30 and then we do history and read-alouds.

 

I like the idea of starting in slowly with a few subjects; perhaps math and LA, and reading in the afternoon, snuggled on the couch while littles nap. Take time to enjoy walks together observing things in nature, bake together, etc. Give yourself grace and time, it will get better and you will find your groove. OH, and I tried the rice with scoops thing when I had two 3-year-old ds. Unless you have very tame children, keep the rice outside or have a very good vacuum cleaner that can reach every possible part of your school area, I'd use extreme caution. Just sayin'. :001_smile:

Blessings,

Aimee

mom to 6 great kids ages 7-19, schooling grades 2, 4, 4 and 7

[Evergreen Academy]

I wanted to add, I found a great schedule on Simply Charlotte Mason that I hope to implement in some form, though I would choose the one without preschoolers. It might give some inspiration for another way things could be done:

http://simplycharlottemason.com/planning/daily/seggenpredaily/

Blessings,

Aimee

mom to 6 great kids ages 7-19, schooling grades 2, 4, 4 and 7

[sahmoffour]

Wow, I'm blown over by all the great advice you ladies have taken time out of your day to give me. :) I'm definitely going to try to implement some of these things, starting with a trip to the doctor to make sure I'm in good health as I'm still exhausted today after sleeping from 10-7. Today is another rough start, and it's 9:00 here with no school in sight, plus library time is this morning, so maybe we'll get some school done this afternoon. Once again the kids beat me out of bed!

 

I'm definitely considering just finishing this week out, then taking a break next week to potty train my 2 boys. The oldest is definitely able to, but he's very stubborn and it's turned into a battle between the two of us (and he's winning!). I haven't tried a reward system though so maybe that will be the answer. My youngest is much more willing and goes potty more often than my older son, but he's almost 2 so I'm not sure if that's too early? (My older son is almost 3 1/2.)

 

School wise, we're doing MM, McRuffy LA, SOTW 1, REAL Science Odyssey:Earth and Space, and Canada, My Country. I also added in Draw Write Now for something artsy, and we do read-alouds every day. Is this too much? We have been doing math for the oldest and LA for my 2nd for the past few weeks as they were behind in those subjects because of public school. So we are kind of starting slowly, but this week I added in everything else all at once so that may have been a mistake on my part. I'd hate to drop the Draw Write Now or the Science as both kids absolutely love those. I promised both kids homeschooling would be fun so I hate to take away the fun parts of it, kwim?

 

Thanks for the advice, if there's anymore keep it coming as I'm really finding all this very very helpful!

[Sara in WA]

I'm not sure if anyone suggested this, but here's another scheduling idea. Get out a spread sheet and plot out what each child, even your youngest 2, will be doing each half hour or hour. Pair up an older child with a younger child or two. The older child is responsible for playing with those children, whether it is playing toys, reading books or whatever. This has been a great help with our family.

 

It can be a challenge to remember that we're not just the homeschooling mothers to the school-age children, but also the mothers to the babies.

 

One good read is Real Learning by Elizabeth Foss. She has a chapter on burn out, which I've found helpful. Basically, you can't take care of your family without caring for yourself. Also, a tired, burned out, frantic homeschooled mommy is no blessing to her little flock. Foss is Catholic and the book is written from a Catholic world view. I'm a protestant, but I still glean many, many gems from her writings.

 

From my perspective, you do have too much on your plate for starting out. Follow another poster's advice and do only the 3 Rs. Things like Draw Right Now are very fun and can be available for free time. Or maybe a child can do it while you're working with another child. Another idea is to get SOTW on CD and just let your kids listen to it while they draw, do puzzles or legos. You will be amazed what they learn. You can add in other things, like the activity guide, later.