HOMESCHOOLING WITH TODDLERS

Thought I'd post about this because it was a struggle at first but now is going smoothly.

Toddlers love imitating big people, and to a 2 yr old, you are big if you are 7...probably even 5. This can be very helpful.

At first I tried entertaing Indy while teaching the others, but I was distracted on both fronts. Next I tried to get Indy to do his own undirected thing....he did. Yep that was a bad idea he explored the house way to well. We don't have any real dangers lying around but we have many things to make a big mess of.

Final solution came in parts.

THE LAYOUT
We have 2 rooms where book style schooling happens. The tiny office / sewing room and the living room. Ko-Ko is ADD and really works best in a separate room from her brothers. Being with her lets her get the support she needs without it being obvious when she needs lots of help. This has also encouraged Runner to be a bit more independent. So the boys work in the living room and come into the office for direction and assistance. This is also a recent change as we were all together in the living room until this became a growing struggled for Ko-Ko. Grandma Claus had that sollution. One day when we move I hope I have a school room.

...anyway, back to the subject at hand...

So Indy has a little toddler sized table and chair beside my desk in the office. Here he plays lego and playdough and colours. He loves to colour in colouring books while the kids work in workbooks. And when they use their whiteboards, he colours on his. He also has a journal just like theirs to colour in. This must make him feel that he is doing the same thing. He gets bored now and then and we read a story or two and he wanders around.

So the sollution should have been obvious. Include Indy. But we all know that the simple answer isn't always obvious especially when we are struggling. Indy showed me the sollution by the things he wanted while we were all busy. When i was still enough to realize, I jumped on board and our days have been easier ever since. Good luck all.