springmama Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 I cannot seem to get my 3 year old to cooperate when we do school with my 5 year old. I need a good hour to get through everythign we do every day but it's constantly being interrupted by him. He interrupts me when I'm speaking to ask questions and or just makes a ton of noise and my dd can't concentrate. I always end up shooing him out of the room and setting him up with computer games. I hear all these wonderful stories about younger siblings who listen in and even learn a bit with an older sibling, but that is not happening in our house, no matter how hard I try. What could I do with him to keep him busy and quiet without turning on the tv or computer games? Even when he's playing with playdough he's loud! This kid has a while imagination. Yesterday he sat at the school table with us playing with a box of crayons. This is what I heard- "Help Help! Superman come save me! Slide down the safety chute! Okay Superman!" He plays with everything this way and I LOVE his imagination, but he's soooo loud, all the time!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWSJ Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 For this reason, we have our dd3 in a PMO program two mornings of the week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Is the 14 yo around to help watch him for that hour? Could you break up the hour into smaller segments and spend time with each of them separately? Could you be very firm and tell him something about not talking so loudly or he'll have a consequence? Could he go to his room with a recorded book or two (and this would go with breaking up the hour, above, because not many will listen to books for an hour! lol) You may just have to draw a firm boundary and set the standard. I hate to punish exuberance and imagination, but you also need to teach respect and consideration. I teach preschool 3's, and I do think it's developmentally appropriate to ask them to play quietly. Maybe you could set up some stations--again, I'd split the hour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kim in Appalachia Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 The first thing I would try is to break up your teaching time with your 5 year old. You don't need to work for an hour straight. It might be easier for your 3 year old to be quiet for smaller chunks of time. I like Chris's idea of listening to books. You can get audio books at your library. Set up a time where he is in his room (or somewhere you can close off) and tell him it's time to listen to a story. He can play with things while he listens. He could have stuffed animals, legos, trains, anything that keeps his hands busy. Set a timer and tell him he can't come out till the timer goes off. This would only work for shorter times, maybe 20 minutes. This also only works if his only problem is that he is loud and not if he is destructive. I have a friend whose son would destroy his room if left alone (destroy, like tear off the wallpaper). I personally have no problem with letting a child watch tv, as long as it didn't distract the 5 year old. I know tv is usually thought of as bad (and for good reason), but a little bit isn't that bad, especially if it is followed up with some story time with you when he is done. I do understand having a loud 3 year old. My oldest 2 are girls, the next 3 are boys. All have been loud. My youngest is now 4, and yesterday he spent the day in his batman costume running through the house and yelling. He was having a lot of fun. My other children, who were trying to work, did not see it as fun. I do school in a back room that is quiet. My kids know not to come in while I am working with someone. That helps. But the other kids scatter throughout the house to work, and the 4 year old tends to get on their nerves. I tell them to find some hole in the house somewhere, sometimes they do, sometimes they try to work with the noise. I think they will be good at concentrating on tasks when they are older. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiegirl Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 I would always spend time with my non-schoolers first so they can have Mommy time. I have a shelf for each child with activities that they can do on their own--puzzles, Montessori type activities, blocks, etc. I rotate these activities every week. Can you put him in his room with these activities to tone down the noise level? Also, I have used the computer and the television to buy me some quiet time when the situation has called for it. You do what you have to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.