How much time did you take off?

I was just curious as to how much time other homeschooling moms took off when they had their twins. Were you a homeschooling mom when your twins arrived? If so, how much time did you take off? Did you feel it was enough time, too little, or too much?

I have 4 kids (8,6,4,2) with twins due anytime. I homeschool my two oldest; they are 1st and 3rd grade.

Thanks for the replies.

 

First let me say congratulations for cooking those twins so long! They really will be here any minute. Secondly, I was not homeschooling when my twins were born, so take any advice with a grain of salt.

With kids your age, I would not take a super long break from all school work. I would definitely still try to get some math skills and reading done more days than not. That said, if it didn't get done on a regular basis the world wouldn't end. What are the regulations in NY for homeschooling? Are you required to complete so many days? This might adjust answers and recommendations.

 

I took a few weeks where the boys read and did some math. But, really didn't get back till that September. We have an exemption from school, so we are not followed at all by the state. So my situation is much more flexible. Also, at the time the boys were pretty far ahead still. So I felt that it was ok for them to take some time off. We are pretty relaxed with schooling. There are so many things you can do with them that aren't sitting down and doing papers and teaching. We found some history DVD's and Science DVD's. Also they can work on journaling. And there's a lot to be said about helping with chores. Tee Hee.

I hope this helps some. I know that sometimes homeschooling Moms think they have to do it all, all the time. But play time is learning time. Helping out within the family is also so important. They'll be ok, if you have to take a little time away from the strenuous studies. You can even have the younger one read to the older one, and vice-versa.

Edited to add: that my older guys were 7 and 5 when the twins were born, but finishing 3rd and 1st grade.

 

Sage was 7 and Trey was almost 6 when my girls were born. We didn't really do much school at all for a couple of months. But it was also December. Trey wasn't reading yet, and not doing much formal schooling at all. Sage was way ahead on most everything, and still read every day. My personal feeling is that I am homeschooling not just for the education I can give them but for the people I'm helping them to become. What better thing to learn than to love and serve their family? They helped more with things around the house beforehand too, because I was on bedrest for 9 weeks. We do school completely different than we did then. I use Ambleside Online, which has a 36 week schedule for history, literature, science and so forth. Back then, we were more eclectic/fly by the seat of your pants homeschoolers with some unit studies thrown in (which worked great for the kids I had at the time). So I might do things a little differently if I were to have twins again. But even with our schedule, we take time off as it suits our needs. Then just go a little longer into what might otherwise be breaks.