Toddlers while schooling.

[Molly]

Tell me, what do you do when you have a tearaway toddler doing his utmost to destroy everything in the house while you are busy schooling the older children.

 

We do pop him in the portacot occasionally to play just to diminish the tornado that he leaves behind.

 

I need some ideas.

[*Inna*]

Honestly, the only thing that works for us is to open the door to the backyard (it's right outside the kitchen where we study). We have a swing, small slide, lots of balls, push toys and a tricycle. Also, lots of dirt. :tongue_smilie:

He can play happily for a very long time.

[Molly]

Yes, I would love to be able to do that, but we live on a farm without solid wood fencing and if he tried he would be able to slip through and get somewhere not safe. We have tractors and other large machinery driving nearby and a three hectare irrigation pond about 100 metres from the house.

[flobee76]

I seriously need more ideas. All I have are Lauri puzzles, legos, lincoln logs, and homemade playdoh. I do have some "school" papers for the youngers to work on, but some days, it just doesn't work. From the other moms I've spoken to, chaos is the norm. :glare:

[meggie]

The general consensus is to give the toddler all the attention first. What I did was go to the dollar store and buy a TON of things that would keep him occupied. I got bubble wrap, glass beads, pom poms, plastic tongs, stamps, ribbons, etc. Anything that could keep his attention, even if it's only for 2 minutes. A hypothetical schedule would be: have him and your 5 year old do "Tot School" by playing with these things. It will work on fine motor skills for both of them. (I also had to get another booster seat for my toddler that strapped to the chair and strapped him down. No climbing out and onto the table) While they do that, have your 7 and 9 year olds do their independent work. Once your toddler has reached his limit, do any family read alouds or your science and history reading with all four on the couch. Then your 9yo could play and supervise the toddler while you do school with your 5 yo or 7yo (depending on who needs more help). Then toddler goes into the pack and play while you do school with the 7 and 9 year old. Then hopefully it's time for lunch, then nap for toddler. Then do more school with 7 and 9 yo. Then rest time for them while you play with the toddler and 5 yo. Then the 4 of them play together while you clean/make dinner/whatever. I don't know, it's just a suggestion, but the ideas come from Managers of Their Home where you schedule out what everyone is doing and assign your olders to play with your youngers so you can get schooling done. I'm not an expert, because as you can see, my oldest is only five and I only have 3 kids. It's probably not as difficult to juggle as 4.

 

And never, ever, ever have that toddler give up nap time. If he never knows it's an option, he should just keep on going to his crib, even if you give him a few toys to play with. That's why I don't move my kids out of their crib until they're 3. They're a little more easy to reason with by then.

 

ETA: http://www.1plus1plus1equals1.com/TotSchoolIdeas.html and http://1plus1plus1equals1.blogspot.com/2008/08/minute-by-minute-tot-school.html

 

And yes, I hear the chaos is always there.

Edited March 26, 2011 by meggie

[West Coast Mom]

I am in a similar boat. My kids are 10, 8, 2, and 8 months. Honestly, the only thing getting us through school this year is starting at 6:00 in the morning. I nurse the baby around 5, shower, and we start working at 6. I push hard until DH leaves for work around 9. He tends to the littles when they wake. After DH leaves, I let the older two do independent work while I nurse the baby and entertain the toddler.

 

The rest of the morning I spend juggling between the four kids. We generally finish by noon. Some days the babies are extremely needy and we don't get much school work done past 10:00. On those days, I am able to relax knowing that we've completed a solid 3 to 4 hours work. We also school year round which helps alleviate the time pressure.

 

This isn't a perfect solution. I am dead tired. I log a max of 4 hours sleep per night (mostly due to the baby waking and my pain issues). Starting school this early is tough, but my stress level is greatly decreased. We work without interruption and I know the important things are getting done. The rest of the day is free for extended learning, fun activities, outside play, sports, and lunch with dad.

 

The boys have never complained about the early start. Never. They quickly realized how much easier it is to work this way.

[....]

I'm in this boat, too. With a 3 yro. :glare: Usually, my 6 yro entertains her (they're best friends :tongue_smilie:).

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

Well, my kids are so close in age that I didn't have to deal with a toddler while trying to teach an older, but my kids were extremely destructive toddlers. I couldn't load the dishwasher or go to the bathroom without them destroying something. So, I ended up totally kid-proofing my living room and buying a very long gate system that kept them in the living room while I did other things like cleaning, etc. Our house was very small at the time, so they could still see me most of the time, and they were okay with it.

 

So, I recommend enclosing an area which has nothing in it your toddler can destroy, but still in view of you while you are schooling the olders. Fill it with stuff he will enjoy and rotate the stuff so he doesn't get bored.

[*Lulu*]

From the time my youngest was 13 months until he was 34 months I kept a little girl just a few months younger than him. (She was here about 50 hours every week.) They were like the twin terrors, and between their antics and a slightly fussy preschooler, doing school with my oldest was a definite challenge!

 

I had several toys that only came out during school time, and I tried to do some of our school during the little's extended napping. The thing that was a life saver, however, was the structure I adopted. I broke all of the Mom-dependent lessons into 5-10 minute chunks. (I could count on a new toy keeping them happy that long.) So a mornings lessons might look like this:

 

independent assignment (IA)

10 minutes instruction

IA

ten minutes instruction

IA

IA

ten minutes instruction

and so on, and so forth, you've got the idea. :)

 

The small chunks worked so well that we still use that method. (Although now I never worry that I'll round the corner and find every book on the shelf piled on the floor, or a child helping himself to the dog food!)

[Desert Strawberry]

Controlled chaos. I keep him contained to the 2 rooms that we're in. a snack in the highchair, then he plays in the playroom and living room with the puppy.

Most of our quiet, all-together readings (history, science, literature) take place during naptime. I takes a long nap, and it's nice and quiet in the house.

[Susan in TX]

This was how I did it:

 

1) Do school during naptime.

2) Use curriculum that is not teacher intensive. This is hard with K and 1st but there is curriculum out there that is more independent: CLE, Explode the Code, Developmental Mathematics, Alpha Omega, BJU DVDs etc.

3) Focus on 3 Rs for school. There is a time and place for all the extras, but when you have an active toddler might not be the season to do art or lots of lengthy read alouds.

4) Have older kids take turns playing with toddler.

 

Susan in TX

[Kate CA]

Tell me, what do you do when you have a tearaway toddler doing his utmost to destroy everything in the house while you are busy schooling the older children.

 

We do pop him in the portacot occasionally to play just to diminish the tornado that he leaves behind.

 

I need some ideas.

 

You might find some good information here. Kendra is a real gem and has been a mom to preschoolers/toddlers for a long time. :)

 

http://www.preschoolersandpeace.com/

[justamouse]

duct tape, Velcro, leashes, horse weights and jellybeans.

 

 

Just kidding.

 

highchairs, things that *only* come out at school time, if they're not shoving everything up their nose-a bin with dried beans and lots of cups and spoons and such. A dishpan with soapy water and water toys on a towel on the floor. Earphones and a music player of some sort.

Edited March 26, 2011 by justamouse

[dsmama]

It is tough, and I appreciate reading others' ideas. My 2 yo is a destructive force!!

 

A couple things that have helped:

- Superyard XT gate with extensions. Basically, a giant, octagonal playpen. Yes, he cries when he's put in it sometimes, but then I pull out the bag described in the next bullet.

- A canvas bag of toys that comes out only during school time. Usually gets put in the pen. :)

- We do school at home four days a week, not five. The other day we are at Classical Conversations, which has a nursery. So I only have four days of chaos, not five.

- Video. Yes, I know this is not for everyone. He loves Signing Time and gets to watch it once a day on school days.

- Clear schedules for the 2 kids in school -- including scheduled "play time" with their brother while I work one-on-one with the other.

- We do our read-alouds in the family room, all together, when possible.

 

Good luck!

[ChristusG]

Do you have a room that you can completely toddler proof? Put him in there with some toys....maybe some kitchen items. Have nothing he can climb and injure himself. Would that work for a little while? Or would he rather be with everyone else?

[5LittleMonkeys]

The biggest help is getting my other dc to babysit.

 

* Each of my dc (even the 4yo) has to take a turn playing\watching the 2yo while I work one on one with the others. The two oldest take 1 hour each, the two youngest take 30 minutes each. They can play outside, inside, in her room, in their room...I don't care as long as they keep her away from the school table. My oldest has gotten into the routine of giving her a bath during her hour. This works really well since my oldest can usually get some of her independent work done too. The second oldest usually takes her for a walk and then lets her roll around on the trampoline for awhile. If it's yucky outside she will build a tent for her or they will pile pillows up on my bed and play. The younger two will play in the sandbox or play with blocks or babies or play something pretend. The 4yo has a hard time with her though so usually I will let the two of them watch something on a dvd or netflix that is educational or wholesome. (They like VeggieTales)

* 1 hour in the highchair with playdough, puzzles, beads, etc.

* 2 hour rest time - whether she sleeps the whole time or not she doesn't get brought out of the room until rest time is over.

 

 

 

That gives me the 6 hours I need to do all my one on one teaching.

[FlyingMOm]

I have a 7yo, 6yo, 3yo & (newly) 1yo. We turned our bonus room into a combination school room/play room & put a gate on the doorway. No more wandering about the house. I went through our toys & chose the ones that were non-electronic, non-banging, quiet toys in that room. (Think Lauri puzzles, blocks, magneatos, shape sorters, etc.) 3yo & 1yo wander around the room playing with stuff while I am working with the older two.

 

I also found it helps to do multiple short sessions during the day as opposed to one long session. Typically we do school from 9:00-10:30ish then sometimes again from 4:00-5:00 & then 6:45-7:30.

[CalicoKat]

Honestly, the only thing that works for us is to open the door to the backyard (it's right outside the kitchen where we study). We have a swing, small slide, lots of balls, push toys and a tricycle. Also, lots of dirt. :tongue_smilie:

He can play happily for a very long time.

:iagree:

 

A water table too when it's warm enough.

 

We've moved from the school room to the downstairs for this very reason. Many drinking glasses were sacrificed to bring you this intelligence. :D

 

 

Outside is best. When they can't be outside ......... sorry, it will be a zoo.

[AndyJoy]

I'm not schooling with a toddler yet, but while I'm sewing or crafting, pom-poms have worked well. Yesterday I gave him a broken mixer and he ran off to mix the pom-poms without prompting. He also loves to throw them everywhere and pick them up again. They make a great mess without really making a mess, kwim?

[Entropymama]

Ok, maybe I'm just a pansy, but we put the 2 year old in Montessori three mornings per week. My husband has a hook-up so we got a great deal on it. Those three hours make all the difference.

 

If you can't afford preschool, how about finding another mom with a toddler and switching off? You could keep hers two mornings (having a friend to play with might help keep him occupied) and she can keep yours two mornings, giving you free time for schooling.

[Molly]

Thanks for all the ideas, certainly much food for thought.

 

I will definately be using a few of the ideas and just trying to rearrange a few things in our schedule.

 

Justamouse, those first five things in your post I have definately considered. Haha.

 

BSmith, I would so love to be able to send him somewhere but as we live 20 minutes drive from anywhere it just isn't practical especially with petrol being $2.20 a litre now.

 

I think my big concerns are that it is coming into winter here at the moment so most likely sending people outside for great lengths of time isn't going to be that doable.

[Koerarmoca]

My dh works overnights so I don't mind keeping an odd schedule. I have a feeling that my 1 on 1 time with my 2 oldest will be 7:30-9:30pm when the toddler and 5 year old will be in bed.

 

At one time I was preg had a preschooler, 1st & 5th grader. My preschooler was very well behaved it was refreshing. After that baby was born and we where doing prek I was blessed that my youngest took 2 long naps a day 10:30-12:30 & 3:00-5:00 that made for 4 hours of prek. (my older 2 where in their prvt school then)

 

now that sweet little baby who took 2 naps a day is a VERY busy and destructive toddler who on a good day naps for 30-45mins. I plan on a rotation of sorts so that we can hopefully accomplish everything we need to do in a given day.