New Baby Suggestions, please

[Mrs.Wilson]

We are expecting #5 the beginning of August.  We are going to take those first two weeks off, but if we take longer than that it's hard to get the kids back in the groove of doing school. 

For those that have multiples what are some things that you've done to make school time easier when you had a new baby?  Any suggestions are welcome!

[EmmaNZ]

I nap every afternoon until I don't need it every day.

 

My aim for school every day is just to get as much done as possible rather than killing myself trying to get through a checklist.

 

I cook at the weekends and then just reheat in the week.

 

I got myself a cleaner.

 

(I have 5 kiddos, my little one is now 2)

[RootAnn]

Be realistic in how much you are going to get done.

Do lots of read-alouds while feeding baby sitting on the couch with everyone working on quiet tasks.

Start slowly & ramp up gradually. (I usually start with the oldest & one of the subjects that it tough/they don't like. The second thing I add is their favorite thing that is hopefully very easy to do. Then, I add in another child ... I admit to adding only one thing or child a week if that's all I can take.)

 

My #5 is a fall baby. We did full time school BEFORE baby (up until about week 38 of my pregnancy). However, only #1 & #2 were schooling so it was easier. It took about four to six weeks to ramp up once I got restarted - just in time for Thanksgiving.  :lol: It was easier to school when baby was very small than when baby got mobile & started sleeping less.

[wintermom]

We are expecting #5 the beginning of August.  We are going to take those first two weeks off, but if we take longer than that it's hard to get the kids back in the groove of doing school. 

For those that have multiples what are some things that you've done to make school time easier when you had a new baby?  Any suggestions are welcome!

 

Personally, I would take my time to enjoy the new baby, let myself recover, and let the other children have lots of fun time adjusting to life with a new family member. Life is too short and babies are so precious. Relax and enjoy this stage of your life. There will be plenty of time for math and writing in the months and years to come.

[....]

Personally, I would take my time to enjoy the new baby, let myself recover, and let the other children have lots of fun time adjusting to life with a new family member. Life is too short and babies are so precious. Relax and enjoy this stage of your life. There will be plenty of time for math and writing in the months and years to come.

 

:iagree:   Our #5 was born this spring.  We took a couple of weeks off from schoolwork and then tried to start again.  Ugh...  We limped along for a couple of weeks until I threw in the towel.  It was awful.  In trying to do so much so soon, it felt like I was neglecting everything - including the baby.  It's not worth it.  Take time off.  We're taking the entire summer off (for the first time in 7 years) and we'll pick back up again in September.  We are using the summer to get our house and family in order - which is actually turning out to be a breath of fresh air...decluttering, organizing the playroom, letting the older kids adjust to the new baby, letting the older ones go to some camps/activities, just enjoying the baby...  

 

Edited to add:  I hope I'm not being discouraging.   :(    It's been a really rough year.   

[imagine.more]

We're expecting #5 beginning of August too and I'm planning 4 weeks fully off then a gradual easing in over the fall. I'm going to have DH continue phonics & math with our special needs daughter but everyone else will be just fine with a break. I'm doing half-day summer school until my 38th week just to make sure we start out a bit ahead so we can adjust to the new baby as needed. For me the 6-8 week mark is always when I hit a wall postpartum with regards to fatigue and such so if you are at all the same you might want to prepare for that.

[fairfarmhand]

i can't remember! It's all a blur...

 

I think I ended up doing stuff like basics for quite awhile. Math, spelling, English. That was it until I felt I could get back to more. It kept the kids in the "school mindset" but didn't kill me.

 

Read alouds happened whilre breastfeeding and extracurriculars went away for awhile.

[stm4him]

I am expecting number 8 anytime this month.  I want them to do reading and copywork every day by themselves.  I may have my oldest three work on Khan Academy to keep up math skills on their own or just math fact flashcards to keep their facts fresh.  

 

When I feel up to it, I will go back to having the oldest three sit at the table and do math and I will double check it (after they have checked it) and have my 7 year old work on her math fact cards.  Next I will resume using the McGuffey's for spelling and copywork with the oldest four.  After that I will start working with the 5 year old on numbers and learning to read and write.  Finally, I will work in devotion, memory work, and read aloud one at a time because we do those as a group and that takes more energy from me.  This will likely take weeks to build up to.....like six weeks after having taken a good two weeks off or more from any teaching whatsoever.  

 

Weeks 1-2: NOTHING, kids read and do copywork independently, maybe Khan or flashcards independently

Week 3: Resume math books and checking (I don't teach, I just check)

Week 4: Resume spelling and checking copywork

Week 5: Resume work with 5 year old

Week 6: Resume devotion 

Week 7: Resume memory work

Week 8: Resume read aloud as a group

 

Of course, I would read to the non-readers as often as possible, but that doesn't really count as "school".  

 

 

[Mrs.Wilson]

Thanks for the suggestions so far!  I already have their work set up so that it's easy on me.  They have a list of subjects to do and I simply give direction, monitor, and check their work.  They do a lot of independent reading right now for Geography, History, and Science.  I would love to take the whole summer off, but it's just not feasible.  Two weeks is the most I can do.  Due to a move across the country last year and taking so much time off for that we are behind and I really want to keep going to catch up. 

 

I'm mostly looking for little things that you've done that have helped.  Right now I'm getting meals ready to put in the freezer and getting disposable dishes to help lighten the load.  Are there any similar suggestions, but school oriented, that you've done that have helped?

[boscopup]

I had a difficult pregnancy, so we didn't get as much done during the year as I would have liked. Once baby arrived, I took a couple weeks off, then started up again strong... but just math and LA. Kids had checklists and knew exactly what they needed to do. Baby slept a lot, so we didn't have much trouble. I let history and science slide. My kids were all elementary grades, so there is no "behind" there.

 

Before baby came, I made sure we were using curriculum that could be done mostly independently. I think the only thing that was completely one on one was writing with my oldest (Treasured Conversations) - his weakest subject.

 

Other things we did during pregnancy... taught kids to do more housework and basic cooking. My husband explained to my oldest that he really need his help around the house since I wasn't able to do as much (I was essentially on bedrest the last few months). My son really stepped up and took responsibility, and that has stuck.

 

As far as meals go, we always get meals provided by church members the first few weeks, but after that my husband and I lowered our expectations about dinner. It wasn't all made from scratch. We did some more convenience foods. Around 6 weeks, I eased back into my normal dinner routine. Now I'm back to mostly from scratch, and I'm even making extra to put in the freezer for bad days (like the day I left my purse at karate, realized it when I got home, had to drive back 25 minutes each way with baby crying the whole time, and I had no time to cook a decent dinner).

[....]

They have a list of subjects to do and I simply give direction, monitor, and check their work.  They do a lot of independent reading right now for Geography, History, and Science.  

 

You are WAY more organized than I am!   :D  My husband saw this piece of paper on the kitchen island covered in penciled numbers and scratch marks the other day and asked what that was.  Why, those are the chapters/sections out of the Campbell-Reece Biology text we're going to cover this fall!   :001_unsure:    Maybe I should get more organized...

 

I've been thinking about this again over the weekend, because I plan to start back up again in August.  So, here's what I've come up with:

 

1.  I think I'm going to push most of their activities to the evening.  I don't know if you guys have this problem, but we do a lot of outside homeschool classes and they're usually right in the middle of the day (I wish places would offer classes early in the morning).  Anyway, they eat up a big chunk of our day and it makes it difficult to get our schoolwork finished.  So, I think we're going to take classes/do activities in the evening instead.

 

2.  I printed out a 6-box grid for two of my kids.  I'm going to write what they need to do in the boxes for the week and give it to them on Monday.  

 

3.  Maybe more crockpot dinners throughout the week???

 

4.  Kids #3 and #4 do a mixture of Charlotte Mason/WTM homeschooling.  They usually do 4 days a week.  I expanded their schedule to 5 days a week, so they are not working as long each day.

 

5.  I'm moving literature read-alouds to bedtime (we already started this).  So far, so good.

 

6.  I continued with my plastic bin idea from last year.  Each kid has a plastic bin (decorated with Spiderman and Captain America stickers, of course) and their entire "school" goes in the bin.  Everything is in one place.

 

7.  I want to start showing a documentary during lunch.  Even if it's just Bug Wars (which would be gross while we're eating, but my son would think it's cool)...

 

8.  I need to wake the teens/tweens up earlier and have all 4 of them start schoolwork around the same time.  Last winter, some kids were waking up at 6am and some kids were waking up at 10am.  *cringe*  It would be 5:00 in the evening and I would be trying to help my son build a wind tunnel while trying to cook dinner.  I'm just not a very good multitasker.