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A system for a house full of littles. :)
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Hi, thought I would share this in case there are any newbies like myself with a house full of littles trying to figure out how to make this work!!! (pretty sure that is a run on sentence:)
A little back ground: this is our first year for CM. on week 10 right now. I have one DD 6 doing some first grade and some kinder from SCM guide. tagging along I have twin girls almost 4 that are enjoying reading list for 4 year olds and practicing letter sounds. I babysit a 3 year old 5 days a week and a 1 year old three days a week. It has been a bit of a roller coaster for us finding what routine and schedule is going to work. not too mention me learning to have patience with all their needs. 🙂
on accident, I stumbled across a post on another forum. It read as if someone observed my day and posted it lol
taking some of the ideas posted and some of my own as well as posts from this forum here is what we have morphed into.
I have put away the checklist of subjects to do each day. box checking really frustrated me when we didn’t get to them all. I found myself pushing her and not enjoying the day.
I no longer look at the clock to make sure we are staying on schedule and I have gotten rid of the goal to be done by a certain time. that being said we naturally move from activity to activity around the same time.
On my DD6 desk (set up in our dinning room next to the table) I have a pile of her must do every day: Math, Reading,Handwritting and Recorder Practice
On our dinning room table (were we all gather for activities) I have the “extra” pile with History books, Nature/Science readers, Draw Write Now books, living Math books, Artist study materials, and Geography, character books. It sounds like a lot but I put only one or two of each subject in the pile and change it out once a book is finished or if we need some variety. so usually 9 or 10 in the pile.
Here is our typical day (at least for the past two weeks):
During breakfast I read our Bible lesson and we recite our memory work and sing hymns.
While I clean up the kiddos do chores. (they all have age appropriate responsabilities except the one year old)
After chores the littles play and my DD6 tackles Math and Handwritting. usually takes about 30 to 40 minutes depending on how many times I am interupted by the littles. if they arent playing well I will set them up with coloring, puzzels, books or playdough and incorperate talking about letter sounds/numbers.
Once she is finished I kick them all outside and do one thing from my house chores list or check email and forum lol. and get a snack ready. usually the one year old goes down for a nap.
During snack we do one or two books from the “extra” pile. the kiddos take turns picking what we do. if they pick drawing I will read from somthing else. (two birds with one stone). Once a subject has been covered I put that book aside. this makes them choose from subjects we havn’t touched yet. so far we have been able to cover all subjects before the weeks out and hit History and Character study again 🙂
Next is movement and music or they go back outside. they love to dress up and dance to music or to a video like river dance. I get to do more housework. 😛
by this time the littles are ready for a nap. DD6 will practice her recorder or listen while I read from the 4 year old reading list to the littles as they cuddle up. usually two books does it. they are ready to snooze.
during naps DD6 and I will do her reading. then either she will have some quiet time or we will read an “extra” or play a card game.
Once everyone is up we have a huge late afternoon lunch. (I like having our big meal mid day since my husband gets home late after all are in bed)
Free play untill the two younger are picked up.
Mon and Thurs we have dance and drama in the evening
Teu or Fridays we go for a long evening nature walk
Bed time we are reading chapters our of our literature list.
So far this has allowed me to not stress about schedule and they are relaxed and enjoying the ease of learning. some days it feels like we took all day b/c of a late start. other days wiz by. I’m just so thankfull to answered prayers that I can work from home (babysitting) and still have the home life for my kiddos that my husband and I pray for. staying sane is a good thing too lol.
If you are a veterin and are no longer in this season of life with littles, propts to you for reading all of this lol and if you see that I am missing anything or have any advice I gladly take it.
If you are a newbie in this ever challenging season of little sleep. piled up house work. lots of messes. sweet little people hugs and discovering the world all over agan through their little eyes I hope this might be helpfull to try.
embracing my season
Rachel 🙂
Thanks for these ideas!
Thank you, thank you!!! I just have a toddler right now to manage while doing school with the older and she keeps me busy enough. But I am about to have a baby and so, managing several will be a big challenge! Thanks!
today went out the window. They had such an ellaborate pretend game going on I didn’t pull DD6 our for her math/handwritting. she did do some reading for me and we read about outter space and planets during snack time. outside proved to be just as much fun for them today (its finally cooler here in Texas so the kids don’t get overheated) They wore themselves out and are all napping including DD6 so we will have a fresh start when they wake up. Thank goodness its Wed and we don’t need to be anywhere tonight. DD6 can do math/ handwritting while I make our big meal. It will be a took all day to get it done but I would never trade that for the glorious morning and afternoon they had in pretend land. I am sure this flexability will tighten up when I have them all in higher grades but for now I am relaxed.
mccormickmomma,
congrats! 🙂 It will be a challange. as long as you are not a slave to a schedule you will be fine. we have all day, its ok to do math after dinner as long as you are focused and do your best 🙂 My DD6 appreciates my willingness to let her play with sisters sometimes that I find She wants to please me and try hard when it IS time to focus on studies.
I say that with NO athority in voice by the way. lol I am still novice at this.
Thanks so much for posting on this topic. Our school year started out great with this arrangement:
I work with oldest DS on math while second DS does craft with toddler DS. (20 min.)
I work with second DS on math while oldest DS play educational game with toddler DS. (20 min.)
Older two do copy work and reading while I read/play with toddler DS (20 min.)
We all do Spanish and Bible together. (15 min. each)
Toddler DS plays nearby while older two boys finish history, science, etc. (20 min each)
That only lasted 2 months (those were lovely weeks!) Now my toddler DS acts like I am neglecting him if I ask him to play with a brother or join in on our Spanish lesson (which left him in the dust when we went to calendars and telling time).
I am going to give your method a try for a couple of weeks and see if we can keep everyone content and learning.
I hope you find a good fit. 🙂 this might change for me too when I have more than one doing “school” work. have you thought about having time with your toddler first. and have the two do their reading and copywork? might get it out of little mans system and make him more willing to go off and play on his own. you might get the other two doing math at the same time that way. also I find if I go outside with a blanket the littles will run around and play while my big girl and I work on our read alouds. just a thought. 🙂
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