homeschooling with small children in the house

Hi! I'm interested in homeschooling my children but am wondering if it could even possibly work. I have five children. A son who's five and four girls ages 4, 2, and 10mos old twins. I wouldn't be doing it this year. I'm sending DS to K this year at a private school. DD will be in preschool. The private school isn't too expensive but when you times it time five kids it's going to add up majorly. We can't afford that in the long run. I'm also starting to have issue with some of the religious teachings. Our public school doesn't recieve very good test scores and I haven't heard very good reviews about it either. So I feel like homeschooling might be something I'm interested in. When I would start DS would be in 1st grade, DD would be K, and DD2 would be preschool. I would have the twins who would be two. Just curious if there are others out there that have to deal with the small kids while trying to teach the bigger kids? How do you handle it? My DH works a lot so having him help is out.

 

Yep, totally doable. But it probably won't look like regular school, as you think of it. If you look at my signature, you can see the range of my kids' ages. I've homeschooled from the beginning, so was already doing it when my girlies were born and older kids were 7, 5 and 3. I really believe that kindergarten is a time for children to be children and learn and explore and maybe start some simple reading practices, but mostly just be read to a lot. It doesn't involve any scheduling or formal curriculum at my house.

First grade has some new things added in, but still it's pretty much accomplished in an hour and a half to 2 hours/day. This works great with little ones because you can do the meatier things that require your attention during naptimes. If your child is already a reader, you can ask them to read to younger siblings and then without even realizing they're doing it, they're getting reading practice and good sibling time together. You can have family story time, and include some great literature you want to share with them and the 3 year old will probably enjoy it as much as the 6 year old, even if she doesn't understand it all. Sometimes doing schoolwork on the bathroom floor while you have twin toddlers in the tub playing with toys is the way to get through a trying day. It's an issue that most families have to face at one time or another, but it's pretty easily done.

http://www.universalpreschool.com/ is a site that has lots of great ideas for preschool type learning and activities to do at home, too. In case you're interested.

 

I agree... it can be done! We have older kids who are in public school (12th grade and 8th grade) but our youngest ones are home schooled. We pulled our 8 yr old our of public school at semester of 1st grade. We had too many issues with the way things were handled. Home schooling can look very different from "regular" school. If you are a rigid keep to the schedule type person then it can look more like public school, but IMHO it is more stressful for you and the child. We are very relaxed at our house with school. Often done in our PJ's all day! When the twins were born she was 7 and a 3 year old at home too. We took a break from school and all she did for a month was read and play educational games on the computer and help and learn about the babies! Now she has a routine and knows what we do each day. Often before we even get up she has grabbed her work and is started for the day and our 3 yr old is right beside her with a piece of paper and pencil and her Bible and note cards doing "school" too! I would just say try not to stress and just go with the flow the best you can! Good luck!

 

Thanks ladies! I'm going to keep my four year old home this fall instead of sending her to preschool. It was going to cost us $1800 for her preschool and life would be so much more hectic. DS is still going to K at the private school. I'm going to see how this year goes with her. If all goes well I'll think about homeschooling the kids the next year.