My first freakout week-homeschooling with many little ones

[Pookamama]

My first "Wow, how on earth am I going to do this homeschool thing?" moment.

Granted, things are are crazy as they can get at the moment.

DS1 is my 'Spirited Child' and he had a huge adjustment into starting school two months ago, and then it was fine. Until last week when he freaked out all over again with huge discipline issues. We've been barely getting by with any schoolwork. Since he's doing fine and has been going through things at a good rate it's ok to have a slow week.

DS2 is actually ok. He is my calm child. At the moment I am so thankful for that! I haven't really been doing much school stuff with him, but he's four, so I ain't sweatin it.

DD has been super tired and super hungry. I think growth spurt? But she's also had some dark circles under her eyes, so I'm wondering if she's got dust allergies or something (DH is allergic to several important things)

DSbaby decided to almost nearly wean himself despite my efforts, and I think the hormones are getting to me. He will only nurse at night now. I think he is sensitive to caffeine. So I am wondering if my morning coffee is hitting him after he nurses...and he's been waking up at night again. Four times one night, five times another. I am a zombie. And when I'm more stressed I have a harder time sleeping.

Two weeks ago I decided I wanted to cut out refined sugar. Which meant making things from scratch. Which means much, much, more mess in my very small kitchen. I have a hard enough time keeping on top of it on a good day.

 

And overall, there's just been so much mess in such a little space with so much noise!! Then I thought about all those mommies who are sending their darling little children out of the house and getting a break from them for several hours. And it sounded like heaven.

 

Finally, the last two days, we've calmed down and had good work, and good learning moments, fun reading times, and other good things. So I think we made it through. But wow! I just had to come share with people who wouldn't say, "I told you homeschool would be too hard for you!" So thanks for reading my little rant.

 

And for those of you who have made it through homeschooling many close together: I am honestly really dreading teaching multiple children at once! DS1 is doing first grade and I have to be right there with him for everything! He's doing really well with everything, he's so easy to school! But what about when I have a 2nd, 1st, Ker, and a preK? (well, I probably won't be doing much for preK in general besides my big old manipulative box that DS2 uses) I mean, I see organization helps greatly, but it mostly comes down to my inability to be in two places at once! How do you do it?

[beccad777]

I'm sorry things have been so rough. :grouphug: I SO know how that feels! Once you get into a routine things will settle down, but until that happens things are very difficult. Hope things get better soon! :001_smile:

[Lolly]

I found a strange thing happened. When I started teaching those who come after, they knew most of what I was trying to teach them already. It just absorbs over the years.:lol:

[ChrisB]

I found a strange thing happened. When I started teaching those who come after, they knew most of what I was trying to teach them already. It just absorbs over the years.:lol:

I'm really, really hoping for this!

[ElizaG]

I mean, I see organization helps greatly, but it mostly comes down to my inability to be in two places at once! How do you do it?

I'm just figuring this out myself, but here are a few things I've settled on:

 

- We don't do formal kindergarten. If I'm going do something academic (such as phonics) with a child under age 6, it will be done on the couch during down time.

 

- We start the day with music and PE activities. The bigger children get to use up some of their energy, and the younger ones get some attention and stimulation. Many of the games also reinforce "readiness" concepts like counting, left vs. right, and colors.

 

- The toddler gets duct taped to the wall during lessons. J/k... but he is the hardest part! :tongue_smilie:

[2squared]

But what about when I have a 2nd, 1st, Ker, and a preK? (well, I probably won't be doing much for preK in general besides my big old manipulative box that DS2 uses) I mean, I see organization helps greatly, but it mostly comes down to my inability to be in two places at once! How do you do it?

 

On crazy days everything gets thrown out the window. I read aloud a lot, we get outside to study nature, we cook in the kitchen, and we all take naps. Those are bonding days. :001_smile:

 

I honestly prefer my littles to be near us when we are doing school, and I involve everyone in as much as possible. Math manips get spread out during math time, we have many white boards for handwriting, etc.

 

And we also have a lot of interruptions!!!

[FO4UR]

I've only got 3, but mine are very closely spaced like yours.

 

The 2nd and 3rd learn a lot by osmosis. Between LeapFrog Letter and Starfall and some phonics lessons on the white board, my middle child learned to read before I had a chance to teach her. My 3rd is officially "Kindy" this year, but we keep a very relaxed tone...he already knows most of the kindy material (is progressing with his reading) and he won't be harmed by the lack of formality.

 

I won't lie. It's hard to juggle 3rd, 1st and Kindy. All 3 of mine need intensive mommy-time (whether it's for school work or just bonding). HSing is intense parenting!!!

 

But, your oldest is just 6. Focus on this year. Do as much as you can so that little siblings can pick it up too. Teach your oldest 2 to play simple games together. (Happy Phonics and Math Games can get a lot of mileage...) You may have to take your idealistic dream (we all have those:tongue_smilie:), and tweak it to fit the actual children in your home.

 

 

Aim for very high idealistic goals. Prepare for daily failures. Pick it back up, rework it, try it again...and again....and again...Don't let the little failures get you down today. If it were easy, everyone would do it.:grouphug:

[Aubrey]

When ds started walking, I remember looking around at all the older kids who weren't holding their mothers' hands, & I remember being a little horrified. I mean, I KNEW ds wouldn't always be so topply that he needed my hand, but I couldn't imagine it.

 

Later, I had a friend whose only child was 2yo. She couldn't believe I'd let my kids--5 & 7yo--play outside the window where I could see them but wasn't actually w/ them. I laughed, because I knew she'd understand when hers was older.

 

You can only imagine a 1st grader w/ all the littles following behind. Second grade is different. Third grade will surprise you.

 

I'm not saying 2nd, 1st, K, & prek is an easy combination. :lol: But it won't be as hard as you think, so don't borrow tomorrow's troubles! :001_smile: YOU will have more experience, the littles will be less into everything, the oldest will be more helpful & a little more independent. :grouphug:

[higginszoo]

The trickle-down effect helps a lot. In the beginning, my 3 and 4 year olds would listen in, scribble along, etc. when I worked with my 5 year old. So when it came time to add my second child, she'd picked up maybe half of what I'd done with her brother.

 

I actually didn't do a whole lot with my third other than have him listen in until he was 7 or 8. By then, the 9 and 10 year olds could do a lot of their seatwork independently.

 

Now, with 13, 12, 10 and 6, the 6 year old has been listening in her whole life and has picked up almost everything she would need to be 'on schedule' for an 8 year old, and she continues to listen in to what the 10 year old is doing. The older two do a whole lot on their own now, so I only need to check in on them and can focus on the littler ones.

[Desert Rat]

This is what happened with mine (I only have 2). My youngest had a favorite play horse at that age of 2. His name was Bucephalus. It was so cute to hear that name come out of such a small mouth!

Good luck, OP. One day at a time and keep moving forward. I always say even the worst day ends a midnight. And when I kiss my kids goodnight at the end of a terrible day I always tell them that tomorrow will be a better day.

[Pookamama]

Ohh, great ideas, thank you!!!

Bucephalus the horse made me giggle!

Eleanor (love your name! Seriously almost named DD that!) What music do you use?

[sewgirlie]

:grouphug: Just sending hugs because I had one of those weeks too and I needed to hear these replies, so thanks for asking.

[sleeplessnights]

I guess my situation has been yours, so I feel your pain!

 

When my oldest was really the only one who needed seatwork, we did it when the others were sleeping (from 1-2pm). This allowed him to concentrate on his work. When everyone else was awake we would go places, read stories, do activities that included everyone. This worked for Kindergarten and 1st, but in 2nd I had to start adding in some morning "schooltime."

 

This past year, my oldest was in 2nd, my second in K, and my third doing some pre-K work. We work at the table for about an hour in the morning, usually math & latin for my oldest, math & phonics for my second, and random preschool stuff for my younger two. Then when the youngers have a naptime/quiet time after lunch, my older two finish up their seat work in peace & quiet.

 

Each year I have been nervous about the addition of more kids to the "school" and the additional courseload for the older kids, but as the kids have gotten older, things have gotten calmer and we haven't really had too much trouble getting our work done once we found the right routine.

 

I think for us the key has been routine. When kids know what is coming, they don't fight it or try to talk their way out of it...though sometimes I have to make an extra cup of coffee to make me want to do it.

 

I guess my advice is: do what works best for you now. Next year will be completely different!

 

Blessings!