homeschooling with baby Archives

Behind the Scenes homeschool

December 18, 2013Tracy1 Comment

It’s easy to look at blog photos and blog pictures and feel like you can’t relate. Blog homeschools look organized and peaceful—and silent. Beautiful projects, smiling children, and staged stacks of books are definitely more appealing than the REAL behind the scenes homeschool. So lest you despair at your noisy, toddler-raided, homeschool home-demolition, let me share just a little peak behind the scenes homeschool at our house.

I love my kiddos, and I love my littlest. He is my cuddler, and we spend lots of time snuggling. In addition to mommy time all to himself, you can often find him sitting in my lap while I teach the older two. But there are those days, when he’s flat fed-up with our routine, when nothing calms the toddler-storm. Yes, that chaos happens at our house, too. There are those days when, behind the beautiful notebooks and art projects and smiling faces, just off camera, is this pitiful face.

And when I don’t let him eat pencil lead or play with my cheese grater or pilfer through my lesson plans, he makes known his despair at the great injustices.

And the fact that I’m taking pictures rather than smothering him with Mommy-love is only due to the fact that such a HUGE part of our daily lives must be documented. This is our family, this is our homeschool journey, too. This is authentic behind the scenes homeschool with a little one. And on the days when I think he has “suddenly” turned into the infamous toddler and wonder where my sweet pumpkin went, I need photos to remind me that there have been other days like this in the past, days that already seem like a distant memory.

Tons of learning and fun and happy memories happen at my house, tons of snuggles and read-alouds in my lap and playtime with brother and sister. But let’s just be honest with each other, tons of chaos and noise and tantrums happen behind the scenes of homeschool, too.

Music Together Lullabies Review

August 16, 2013Tracy

Disclaimer: I received this product for free in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

We have thoroughly enjoyed our Music Together CDs (read my reviews of Family Favorites and Family Favorites 2), and I totally anticipated loving Music Together’s Lullabies as well.

Then, Littlest got a nasty case of roseola about the same time he was cutting his top molars. It was a miserable week and a half for the little guy, and Lullabies sounded like just the ticket to soothe my suffering babe.

Lullabies includes 18 songs that have won 11 different awards. These are quality bed-time tunes, providing a diverse selection of music from various ethnic origins, including a Spanish and a Yiddish lullaby. I love this, and I’ve seen it to be especially appealing to the kids.

One of the things I love about Music Together products are the activity guides that come with the music. Each song has 2-3 activity suggestions that bring learning and parent-interaction into every musical encounter. Lullabies was no exception. From suggestions on how to personalize the songs by adding the child’s name or singing your own lyrics, to soothing “bed-time” routine ideas, this guide was the perfect compliment to the songs.

Littlest continues to enjoy his lullabies. And I found they were a great morning activity to prepare him for his nap time. He loves this music and asks for it nearly every morning, toddling over to the CD player and bouncing up and down. Who could resist that?

Other places the Lullabies have come in handy: the airport and airplane (especially after weather delays got us home one whole day late); hotel rooms; and the doctor’s office (Littlest has had quite a summer fighting germies). We’ve taken our Lullabies everywhere this summer!

I don’t have as many adorable photos, because I usually had my hands full of Littlest each time we played the music. But I do encourage you to grab your littlest and check out the samples on the website.

Music Together’s Lullabies is available for $14.95 for the CD or $9.99 for the download.

Disclaimer: I received this product for free in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Core Tour: Homeschooling a Bouncing Baby

March 13, 2013Tracy

We’re wrapping up our short tour through the core of what I do with my kiddos: first grade, K4, and today you’re getting a sneak peak at baby’s schedule.

I’ll be honest, I try to do most of our school while Littlest is out of the way. So during his morning nap is when we get the bulk of our lessons done. And, to stretch that nap a little longer, I give him his independent play time right before his nap.

By noon, he’s rarin’ to go! He has his lunch, and play time is on. Thankfully, the older ones are wildly eager to play (legos or outside if it’s a pretty day). While they reunite with all of their toys, Littlest and I have our one-on-one time. I love getting out our Music Together cd with him, and he’s usually jamming before the music starts.

I use this time to work on his skills, too, an early homeschool routine. We stack tupperware lids, pull greeting cards and lids out of cooler bags and then stuff them back in again, bang spoons to the beat of the music, balance cups on our heads, pull small toys out of muffin tins or cups, play hide-a-toy, etc. (Pinterest has great ideas, too. Check out the baby pinterest ideas I’ve been collecting.)We also play the typical baby games: stacking blocks, peek-a-boo, and walk along the edge of the couch. Our playtime lasts the length of the cd. By then, he’s worn out and ready for his bottle.

Littlest favorite activity right now is putting things in this empty tupperware. It was a double-winner to play with a muffin tin, too! — Littlest’s favorite activity right now is putting things in this empty tupperware. It was a double-winner to play with a muffin tin, too!

We cuddle up for a bottle and snuggles, and then he’s off to bed once more by around 2 p.m. usually. Sometimes, if I have a noisy household chore like vacuuming, I’ll put him in my wrap, and we’ll do the chore together. He loves this, and I must admit that it makes housework a lot more fun with a snuggle-buddy. Then, he naps for another couple of hours, waking up all ready to empty my tupperware cabinet once more.

I’ve loved having this time with Littlest. He’s the first baby I’ve had since staying at home, and I so enjoy an all-day routine with him. And though I’m sure I can come up with lots of ideas on my own and with the help of Pinterest, I will admit that I have been curious about the Flowering Baby curriculum that includes daily activity ideas as well as story and music suggestions from an “early childhood development” perspective. Especially since Littlest will be joining our school routine next year as a whopping 18-month old! (Can’t believe how time flies!!!)

But now, for your input. What are your best tips for keeping your baby busy? And would you invest in a product to give you some additional ideas?

Making Adjustments

November 14, 2012Tracy2 Comments

Adjustments are some of the perks of homeschooling, tweaking schedules and routines and curriculum to fit the unique lifestyle and learning style of your family. And we’ve definitely been taking advantage of that perk lately. I’ve made some pretty big adjustments to our routine, as well as a few minor tweaks.

My husband has Mondays off, which made it tricky to fit in family time. We had school in the mornings, had a window of time in the afternoon to do something together, and then I had a Ladies Bible study to attend in the evenings. But everything in me balked at the idea of doing school on a Saturday. Until I finally gave in and tried it. I love it!

I’ve moved our typical Monday through Friday school schedule to a Tuesday through Saturday schedule. The kids pre-approved cartoons are DVR-ed anyway, so it really makes little difference if they watch them on Saturday mornings or on Monday mornings. And though the first Saturday was a little rough, the following Monday was absolutely worth it.

Another major difference this year is how I organize the kids’ weekly assignments. I mentioned in an earlier post that I’m no longer using the hanging pockets as workbox pockets this year. For one, filling all the pockets every day was requiring too much time and effort for me. And though I had originally intended to continue filling Middlest’s pockets this year, I soon converted her to my new system as well.

This year, each child has an assignment notebook. Inside this notebook, I have 5 pocket dividers labeled for each day of the week that we do school: Tuesday (T), Wednesday (W), Thursday (R), Friday (F), and Saturday (S). I have these written in permanent marker so that it will not smudge. When I need to make changes (i.e. change Monday [M] to Saturday [S]), I simply wipe off the permanent marker with a cotton ball soaked in rubbing alcohol. At the start of each week, I fill each pocket with the worksheets, notebooking pages, copywork assigments, etc. for that day.

Even my Middlest has learned to open her notebook and begin working on those pages that she knows how to do. If they have a question about a page, they set it aside and begin work on another page. There are pages in their notebook that they have learned are “Mommy” pages, pages they only do with Mommy present. For Oldest, that’s some of his math assignment. For Middlest, it’s her handwriting and reading.

This system has worked out so well for those mornings when Littlest has us all thrown off schedule. I know, hard to believe that sweet thing could be any kind of trouble.

Homeschooling with Baby — Watch out! I’m on the move now, folks.

Bottom line, this system has been a real life-saver.

when the phone rings
when a diaper needs to be changed
when it’s time to work with my other child
when Littlest is teething
when Littlest is fussy
when Littlest won’t nap
when Littlest…you get the idea

And honestly, the kids have loved the independence about as much as I have. It’s a win-win for us. So that’s the update on our year and the adjustments we’ve made so far.

What adjustments have you already had to make for your school year?

All Fingers

September 26, 2012Tracy

It’s been fun to have Littlest in school with us. I will start with a disclaimer that he is a very good baby, by far the best-natured of my three, which makes a HUGE difference. Things could be so much different, and I daily acknowledge the blessing that it is to have a happy baby.

I think, quite honestly, that he loves being with us as much as we love having him. He’s like our little school mascot.

He’s the other guy in all of our word problems: “If Middlest has five and Littlest has zero, how many do we have all together?”

homeschooling with a baby — As sweet as this picture looks, she’s not holding his hand.

He listens in on all of our stories.

And he’s dying to get in on a little of the action. Do you notice? He’s all fingers in nearly every picture.

Your time’s a-coming, little man.

The New Groove

September 25, 2012Tracy3 Comments

After the flu and a rough start, we’ve finally got a good groove going. We’re still making adjustments along the way, but I must say I’ve been very encouraged overall.

One of my greatest concerns this year was having three kids going three different directions. Could I coordinate it all? I know there are mothers who homeschool 7 or 8 and all in different grades and accomplish it just fine. But could I? I was a little nervous about it.

Obviously, everything is still pretty new and exciting to everyone, but here are a few things we’ve done that have really helped to pull things together for us.

First, we start together. We begin with prayer, the pledge and national anthem, some fun rhythm and silly song activities, calendar time, and our memory work (a poem and a Scripture verse). Then, we have Bible time together, using our Tapestry of Grace materials.

After about a half hour together, we split ways. Oldest starts the day with his Reflex Math, and Middlest begins with me. (Littlest starts in the floor and usually ends up in my lap.)

Middlest’s favorite subject is math, so we begin there. She’s working on identifying numbers up to 20, counting to 100, skip counting by 10, and some basic addition. We work together through her activities and flashcards before moving on to reading. For reading, we’ve transitioned with a read-aloud; she picks the story. After I read, she “reads” to me.

We’ve been having a lot of fun with the “Funny Words” activity from Confessions of a Homeschooler. It gives her all of the same practice as her blend flashcards, and she works through them much more willingly. She is getting really good at deciphering her three letter words.

I also have her practice reading one of her little readers from A Beka. She’s not very confident yet, and thus, not always very willing to read to me. BUT, she eagerly reads to Littlest, so that’s my tactic. Any time I sense hesitation to read to me, I suggest that she reads to him. The last thing I want is to associate reading with something she dreads. At her age, I definitely want school to be fun; it can be hard work, but I want it to be hard work she enjoys or that is rewarding for her.

All of this takes us roughly 30 to 45 min. Oldest usually finishes his computer math in about 15 to 20 min. and then begins on his worksheets. When I’ve finished with Middlest, I set her to work on a worksheet and then move her to the computer. Littlest grabs a mid-morning snack while Oldest finishes up his independent work. Then, after I put Littlest down for a nap, I do a speed drill with Oldest and finish his math “classwork” with him (using A Beka). Next is his language arts: phonics cards and language arts concepts; reading assignment; and spelling words. This takes us another 30 to 45 min.

By around 11 a.m., we are ready to begin our Tapestry activities: map work, read-alouds, art and crafts, etc. We wrap it up at about noon and break for lunch.

So that’s our new groove! I can’t tell you how relieved I am that everything is meshing together as smoothly as it is right now. I know every day won’t be smooth sailing (I’m bracing myself for the upcoming storms!), but at least this first success has given me the confidence I needed to meet the obstacles we’ll face later this year.

How have your first few weeks been, and what have they taught you?

First Day and the Flu

September 19, 2012Tracy

The night before our first day, I had all the butterflies and nerves that any mom might have. I looked over my lesson plans a billion times and made sure I got to bed sort-of on time.

But Littlest, who had just caught his first cold, had other ideas. He woke up a little after midnight and was up ALL night. He’d doze a little as long as I was holding him but screamed and cried every time I tried to lay him down—which is absolutely not typical of my laid-back little guy. I got about two hours sleep that night plus a little dozing here and there, and those two hours were thanks to my sweet husband who took over the morning shift with the kids in spite of his own bronchitis and overall misery.

I was still determined to have school. Littlest or not, homeschool must move on. So, up at 8 a.m. I stumbled to the shower and then to the breakfast table (where my once again hero-hubby had made eggs, bacon and toast!) It was then that I discovered that the other two had contracted some germs—Littlest’s cold? Daddy’s bronchitis? Who knew! But sniffles and coughs or not, we were going to have school!

First Day of Homeschool — First day of First Grade

First Day of Homeschool pictures — First Day of K4

A little after 9, we filed into our little room and started our opening routine: some songs, a Bible verse and poem to memorize, the Pledge of Allegiance, calendar time, etc. The day progressed pretty well overall.

Middlest did really well with all of her activities and loved every minute.

Oldest didn’t have a full day of assignments because I knew it would take time to explain what each day would look like. He did get to play his beloved Reflex Math, which totally made his day. Otherwise, he wasn’t feeling so hot. Definitely not his enthusiastic self.

Reflex Math first grade — Playing Reflex

And Littlest did fantastic.

I wasn’t sure how it would work to keep a formal school schedule with Littlest around, but he played contentedly with his toys, grabbed a snack at his usual time, and then the next thing I knew…

We finished the day and, believe it or not, all made it to our dentist appointments before the kids spiked fevers. A late evening visit to the doctor, revealed that Littlest (who had been the fussiest) was just fine and the other two had the flu.

Sigh.

But really, could you expect anything else from a first day of homeschool? It’s life! And we learn in the midst of it.

“First Day—Take 2” will be coming soon, after I Lysol everything and take a couple more Vitamin C pills.