3 children under 5 and one on the way !

[blessedmom3]

I would like to homeschool my children. They are ages almost 5 (in Sept.), 4, 2.5 and one on the way ! . I am 6 weeks pregnant . My days are already packed and I collapse in exhaustion at 11 pm. After taking a shower (the only time is at night ) , I can't sleep without reading so I go to bed at about 12 . I just can't see how I am going to fit in any kind of homeschooling.

I have noticed that in the days when we do "school" , I am not able to do any significant house work .

 

Looking for advice from someone who has multiple children close in age and how they managed homeschooling in addition to regular household chore .

 

Or should I just send them to public school? Cannot afford private.

[Scarlett]

I would like to homeschool my children. They are ages almost 5 (in Sept.), 4, 2.5 and one on the way ! . I am 6 weeks pregnant . My days are already packed and I collapse in exhaustion at 11 pm. After taking a shower (the only time is at night ) , I can't sleep without reading so I go to bed at about 12 . I just can't see how I am going to fit in any kind of homeschooling.

I have noticed that in the days when we do "school" , I am not able to do any significant house work .

 

Looking for advice from someone who has multiple children close in age and how they managed homeschooling in addition to regular household chore .

 

Or should I just send them to public school? Cannot afford private.

 

Welcome...go read this new post from one of our long time posters who just had her 4th child. It will encourage you....http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?p=458656#post458656

[Kathleen in VA]

Your children are so young - I sure would not be stressing about school right now. They should be playing and just learning to be obedient and help mom around the house. Since you know you are not going to be to bed early just relax about that. Let your mornings be slow and easy. Around ten o'clock you can pick up the pace a bit.

 

Have the two oldest help you with chores. They can sort wash, drag the laundry baskets to the laundry room, fold small towels, sort socks (that's math by the way - classification). Have them put silverware away, sweep crumbs off the kitchen floor, put their toys away. This helping and cleaning routine is very important to establish. You want to teach your children to obey you, first time, every time. That will pave the way for all the homeschooling you do in the future.

 

After chores are done, do "school." Play with legos, playdough, coloring, other kinds of blocks, lacing cards, stringing large wooden beads, etc. For the 5yo you could work on teaching the sounds the letters make, naming numbers 0-10, counting things, sorting things, etc. A half hour or so of this is usually enough.

 

Then snuggle up and read, read, read. Five in A Row is a great curriculum for this age. I also recommend Rod and Staff's preschool books.

 

If your 5yo is a girl you may be able to use a beginning phonics program, but I wouldn't stress about that. If you wait until he/she is six and you are settled with the new baby, he/she won't be missing out on anything. You really only need about 15 min. of instruction per day with this.

 

Tell stories and have them tell the story back (that's called narration). Choose very short passages and ask questions to guide the narration at first. Try to get them to answer in complete sentences. If they don't, then model it for them and have them repeat it. Just a few minutes a day for this is plenty.

 

You can do this! Just relax and enjoy your children. When they want to know something, look it up. Just encourage their natural desire to know things. Get lots of books at the library and let them look at the pictures.

 

This is the time to read a lot, have them narrate a lot, and explore their interests. Try not to make it too structured. The main thing is getting them to learn to be helpful and obedient and kind to each other.

 

This was a bit of a ramble - hope it helps.

[Guest]

Hi! Welcome! You can do it!

 

I would encourage you to hang around these boards a bit (when you can find the time!) and I assure you that you will glean some wonderful advice! Like Kathleen said, start having your kids help you out with the housework. We just started that this year. Even little things like my son getting himself dressed or emptying all of the trash has helped tremendously.

 

I would encourage you to make lists and evaluate what is truly important at this stage in your life. I have recently done that and realized that I'm going to have to relax on my house cleaning. I've resorted to feather dusting and skipping the deep cleanings for now. I have scheduled about 15-20 minutes per day and get a little bit of cleaning done each day. Surprisingly, my house is staying quite clean! I am trying to cut back on my extra-curricular activities. One of the biggest things for me is getting up before the kids. (And I'm right with you on only having a second to shower at night!) With a new baby on the way, that will be hard for the next few months, but I encourage it whenever possible.

 

If you visit my blog, I have our daily schedule posted in the sidebar. Most people freak out at it, but I thrive on a schedule. And I like to say it's more like guidelines. :) We don't stick to it 100% every day, but at least I can look at it and see all of my goals for the day in one glance. Some days I decide that walking is not as important and skip it. But, for the most part, I try and stick with it, just not getting upset if we don't.

 

I felt that my responsibility to love and nurture my children has been a heavy burden on my heart the last few months and I really want to make them my #1 priority right now, besides dh, of course :) So, just think about what is most important to you and head in that direction. The other things can wait. (Or so I'm learning!)

 

There are some great posts on what to do with infants and toddlers when you're schooling older children (you'll have to search, I don't have any of them saved) and I've even had to implement some of that recently with dd(1) as I'm doing Preschool with ds.

 

You'll receive lots of encouragement from the ladies here...good luck!

[Jane]

My younger crew are similar ages as yours. I think the others gave you great advice.

 

Kindergarten doesn't consume a lot of time. My K daughter takes about 45 minutes to complete a phonics lesson (she's already reading), math lesson, and a handwriting lesson. For the non-3Rs I have lots of fun things planned, but I'm a seasoned homeschooler.

 

Regarding the sleep issue, if you really want to start waking up earlier, then start setting your alarm clock and forcing yourself up at that time. After a few days you'll grow more tired and want to sleep earlier. However, this is not necessary at your stage. If you would rather begin your day later, then do so and follow Kathleen (VA)'s advice from then on... Really, she spoke lot of great words. :)

 

Enjoy snuggling up that bunch while you read aloud to them!

[blessedmom3]

Hi all ,

Thanks for your words of encouragement and suggestions.

I did "school" with my oldest for about one year since he was interested in reading. He can read now very well , does addition and subtraction to 10 , counts to 50... but I feel wrong that I am not able to do as well with the younger ones or even continue at the same rate with him .

Also the standards for K in USA seem high , a child must know so much , in my opinion too soon and since I am not sure I want to continue HS , I want to make sure my son is at the public school level at least so he would not be behind . By the way I am from Romania .

I guess I must slow down and do what I can , when I can...

[Homeschooling6]

My kiddos are all a year apart. My oldest was five and the sixth was an infant. Currently they are in 5th, 3rd, 2nd, 1st, K & pre-k. It gets hectic but it can be done. I try to combine History & Science.

 

With my pre-k we really don't do school. I just read to him a lot. My K student will start Pre ETC books and The Reading Lesson. I was going to use Singapore Math for him but decided to use and online math program for K.

 

My house doesn't look like Better Homes and Gardens :001_huh: As the kids get older they can help. Mine empty and load the dishwasher, wash their clothes (most the time) empty the trash, pick up the livingroom, clean the guest bathroom and so forth. It still gets messy though and sometimes my dh has to take charge:tongue_smilie:

 

You can homeschool, right now your probably so exhausted from being prego. With my oldest for K all we did was phonics because I was so tired all the time. This is my fourth year not being prego and I'm finally getting my energy back. Well actually I started getting my energy back last year;).

 

Just relax and feed the children Cheerios for dinner:)

 

I sometimes cook hamburger meat and freeze it for later use or make twice as much for another dinner.

 

I'll have to come back and post later. We just finished watching the Olympics and I need to go to bed. I'm a night owl. Saturdays are my sleep in days. The kids know this and are really good about helping each other with their cereal.

[sarahv]

Ah, yes. I, too, have three children close in age: 4, 3 and 15 mo. I've decided not to implement 1st grade until my oldest is seven. It's older than the average 1st grader, but still makes him a senior in High School at 18. It's a good age in my mind. Until 1st grade, I am doing informal math, lots of exposure to science and history ideas, people, places, but all informally (basically read-alouds, and impromtu discussion). My oldest is learning to read this year with a "reading lesson" once a day. (which just means we sit down with a book and practice reading, takes about 20 minutes at the most). A few days a week we do some handwriting in Rod and Staff preschool books. My one main goal is to have him reading at the third grade level by the time he is in 1st grade. Shouldn't be too hard at this pace. He's already sounding out three letter words pretty quickly.

 

And the house work. Just doesn't get done, mostly. I work on it when it crosses my "threshold" of tolerance. My husband is a dear, but won't touch housework with a ten foot pole. He supports my decision to homeschool and loves everything I do with the kids, but will not physically help with any kind of house/kid duties. So, I just try to have healthy meals, and keep things reasonably clean, but if I could just squeeze a couple hundred more dollars a month out of our budget, I'd certainly hire a maid. :)

 

I know these years will pass, and I want to love each moment that my kids are with me, and be happy, not matter what the house looks like. And many days, EVERYONE takes a quiet time, and I lie down in the afternoon. It helps when I can just get a little alone time, and put my feet up. Especially with the baby.

 

PS We're planning another soon. Probably within the next year or so. Five is the goal.

 

Keep up the good work! "Where there's a will, there's a way". I say that to myself often. :tongue_smilie:

ETA: My answer to the mess: throw it away, if AT ALL possible. :)

[Lolly]

I would like to homeschool my children. They are ages almost 5 (in Sept.), 4, 2.5 and one on the way ! . I am 6 weeks pregnant . My days are already packed and I collapse in exhaustion at 11 pm. After taking a shower (the only time is at night ) , I can't sleep without reading so I go to bed at about 12 . I just can't see how I am going to fit in any kind of homeschooling.

I have noticed that in the days when we do "school" , I am not able to do any significant house work .

 

Looking for advice from someone who has multiple children close in age and how they managed homeschooling in addition to regular household chore .

 

Or should I just send them to public school? Cannot afford private.

 

Well, I had 4 in 4 years. They are all homeschooled. No, you do not get much housecleaning done. That does get better as the kids get older, and I'm talking 6,7,8 years old. They help! With everyone working at those ages, we could clean the house pretty well in about an hour or make it presentable in about 20 minutes. For now, you are out of luck.:001_smile:

 

At 6 weeks pg, all I could do was sleep! Of course you are exhausted. Remember that your dc are really young. You don't need to be doing much schoolwork. In fact, the 5 yo is the only one who would even might be in school. Even that one is dependent on your local cut off for K and isn't mandatory in many places. You can easily cover K material in an hour a day or less of sit down. The rest of it is just fun play learning and being read to. The littles can just come along for the ride if they wish. The plus side of having them close is that you really can teach them all together a lot of the time.

 

I can also tell you that sending them to ps or ps(:lol:)isn't much help for your time. You, at least I did, end up volunteering at the school. Then, you have to get all the individual homework covered. You end up teaching an awful lot when they are in ps. The honest to goodness truth is that with my dd in ps, I spent the same amount of time teaching her as when she came home for school. The only difference is that I'm doing it on my time instead of crammed in the afternoon when she is tired and cranky from being at school all day.

 

Good luck.

[Kathleen in VA]

Hi all ,

Thanks for your words of encouragement and suggestions.

I did "school" with my oldest for about one year since he was interested in reading. He can read now very well , does addition and subtraction to 10 , counts to 50... but I feel wrong that I am not able to do as well with the younger ones or even continue at the same rate with him .

Also the standards for K in USA seem high , a child must know so much , in my opinion too soon and since I am not sure I want to continue HS , I want to make sure my son is at the public school level at least so he would not be behind . By the way I am from Romania .

I guess I must slow down and do what I can , when I can...

 

I can relate to the feeling that you are not doing as much with your other children as you did with your oldest. I wasn't able to keep up the same pace as I added children either. It sounds like your oldest has a strong foundation and that you have done an excellent job so far.

 

I have homeschooled all of mine from day one - they have never been in a public school. I just did the best I could one day at a time and left the results to God. I think just being together as a family is more important than anything academic.

 

Here is what I would do if I were you. After you get the morning chores done, spend some together time with all your children reading aloud. They will all benefit from that and the littlest will get the attention needed to be satisfied while you work with the two oldest. Let the little one play on the floor near you while the two oldest do their narration. After some time on the floor get him/her involved in some "table time" activities such as coloring, playdough, blocks, etc. Now is the time for math and reading instruction with your oldest and get him busy with some seatwork. If the 2.5yo is still fine do some phonics and math with the 4yo. You can have the 2.5 sit with you if necessary just for a change of scenery.

 

Eat a simple lunch, have them help as they can with the clean up and then put the little one down for a nap. Now would be a good time to do something like Five in a Row with the 4yo and 5yo. Or do a science experiment or some other thing they have a particular interest in. If you need ideas about that, just ask - everyone here would be glad to offer suggestions.

 

That should be plenty for both of the oldest for now. As you go along, have the baby, get the baby sleeping through the night, etc. you will have to tweak this routine from time to time. When your children are this young, routines change quite often. As they all get older, things will settle into a more normal flow. Don't fret about this unsteady time now. Like I said, the most important thing to focus on now is getting your children to be cheerful, obedient helpers and kind siblings. That cannot be overstated as it has enormous implications as you continue through life, homeschooling or not.

 

Yes, housework will suffer. Do school 3-4 days a week and do the big housecleaning jobs on the other days (bathrooms, mopping floors, etc.) Keep clutter to a minimum - get rid of toys they don't play with and put the rest in bins for easy clean up. Make simple meals for now. I like the idea of Cheerios for dinner:D. Lower your expectations. As has already been mentioned, the older your dc get the more you will get accomplished. It really does get easier.

 

Now for my soapbox: I do not think that sending them off to public school would make your life easier. In many ways school can be a bigger time eater than homeschooling. You must get up early, get them ready and off to school, you must remember to send their lunches and homework, you must get them to do their homework when they get home, their play time will be next to nothing, you will be at the mercy of the school's schedule and you may find your child picking up bad habits from the other children while they are there. I cannot discourage you enough from choosing that route if you can avoid it. Children were meant to be with their parents. School is a relatively recent invention and is not the least bit natural. The whole setting is contrived and you will never find it duplicated any place else in the world. Where else are people confined to a room with 25 other people their age, day in and day out, with some stranger directing their every move? It's just not normal. Home is the best place for children. Parents know what's best. Family life is the most natural, normal thing a child can experience. Keep them home at all costs.

 

OK, I'm off my soapbox now. Again, I hope I said something useful.

[Sahamamama]

No, you do not get much housecleaning done. That does get better as the kids get older... They help!

 

:iagree: For your 5 and 4 year olds, why not focus on learning to "help Mommy?" Even your 2.5 year old can learn to fold washcloths and match up socks, put toys away, and begin to help with getting dressed and undressed. If in these early years you get good habits (cooperation, neatness, routines) in place, they will be a genuine help to you later.

 

At 6 weeks pg, all I could do was sleep!

 

:iagree: At the beginning, there's the pregnancy fog. Be easy on yourself, your body is making a new baby!

 

Your children are really young. You don't need to be doing much schoolwork. You can easily cover K material in an hour a day or less of sit down. The rest of it is just fun play learning and being read to. The littles can just come along for the ride if they wish. The plus side of having them close is that you really can teach them all together a lot of the time.

 

:iagree: With the 5 year old, there isn't any need to "do school" for longer than 45-60 minutes per day, and even that doesn't need to be for 5 days per week. You could perhaps plan to "do school" for 2-3 days, for about 45 minutes each session. The rest of the time will be for (1) your housework (cooking, cleaning, laundry, organizing, etc.), (2) mealtimes & clean up, (3) playing, reading aloud, music/singing, being together, and (4) NAP TIME.

 

Nap/Quiet Time is ESSENTIAL. Try to get ALL of your children coordinated to take a nap in the afternoon, after lunch & clean up. Even if they don't all sleep, teach them that Mommy and the baby you are making NEED a rest, so they have to stay in bed and be quiet. This would be a good time for them to listen to books on CD/tape (my 3 do this every day). Then LIE DOWN, or at least SIT DOWN, put your feet up, and take a break. This will help to recharge you for the late afternoon/evening routine.

 

Sending them to ps isn't much help for your time... You end up teaching an awful lot when they are in ps... The only difference is that I'm doing it on my time instead of crammed in the afternoon when she is tired and cranky from being at school all day.

 

:iagree: This was and is my sister's experience with PS. With her middle son, she still does HOURS of homework/afterschooling/teaching every school night. By the time he comes home from school, he is exhausted, and then there is all this homework to do.

 

Your children are young. Teach them to help you. Sit on the sofa and read aloud (if all you do is this, it is enough for now). Nap time. I hope this helps.

[Colleen in SEVA]

With the 5 year old, there isn't any need to "do school" for longer than 45-60 minutes per day, and even that doesn't need to be for 5 days per week. You could perhaps plan to "do school" for 2-3 days, for about 45 minutes each session.

 

:iagree:

 

I'm too tired to think of any intelligent advice to share ;) , but I did want to offer encouragement that teaching K while pregnant is definitely do-able! You will spend LESS time doing homeschool with a K-er than you will doing homework for public school K. Plus, you will have the 5 yo to help entertain the younger 2 so you can rest more - which you MUST do! Taking time for yourself each day to REST is more important than doing "just one more lesson".

 

(and... I admit... I feel a lot better knowing that it's not just my house that isn't spotless :D )

[woolybear]

I was going to say your kids are very young also. They don't need much school at that age--some stories snuggled up together, a craft now and then, maybe a little walk and you can point out some birds, flowers etc. Otherwise, play,play,play! Relax (as much as you can;)) and take your time with this. Let them have fun. They'll learn, you'll get more time, they'll get a bit older (ie. hopefully more mature) and maybe you could start something more formal by next year.

[FO4UR]

My dc are 5, 3, and 2. I am sypathizing with you!:grouphug:

 

Relax!

 

Read aloud - you can do that lying down, snuggled up together;)

 

Play outside - bring a bottle of water for yourself, and a sippy for each dc. Eat as many snacks and meals outside as possible - no sweeping;)

 

Keep some fun workbooks and colorbooks for the dc in the kitchen, and bring them out when you are cooking/cleaning in there - My ds5 LOVES Kumon books, and I grab good color books from the dollar store for the other 2 dc.

 

LeapFrog DVD's are WONDERFUL! I try to stay away from tv during the day, but I make an exception for these.

 

Keep other areas of life as simple as possible. Just say "NO" to what ever you need to say no to! If all you do until baby is 3-6mo is *read, play outside, color while Mommy is cooking, and learn to pick my toys* you will be in GREAT shape!

 

Your oldest is not even really K age yet. Many moms keep those Sept b-days home an extra year - esp for boys. So, no pressure! Just enjoy your kids (in between naps:tongue_smilie:)

[*anj*]

Well, I had 4 in 4 years. They are all homeschooled. No, you do not get much housecleaning done. That does get better as the kids get older, and I'm talking 6,7,8 years old. They help! With everyone working at those ages, we could clean the house pretty well in about an hour or make it presentable in about 20 minutes. For now, you are out of luck.:001_smile:

 

This is realistic an oh-so-true. I'm another member of the 4In4 club. It was scary for awhile, but we're a lot better now. Mine have always been homeschooled. In fact, one of the reasons we decided to go ahead and try homeschooling was that I thought it would be easier to teach him myself than to shlep a bunch of littles, including a newborn, back and forth every day.

 

Give it a whirl, this is really as good a time as any. ;)