First Things
The first two posts in this series: Planning to Teach from Rest and Taking a Birds’ Eye View.
Now let’s talk about which subjects get the first real attention each day.
I hear a lot of homeschoolers talk about doing math first. If that works for you, then definitely don’t change it.
If, however, you happen to be like most of the ladies I talk to… then starting with math means you and your kids go head-to-head right off the bat. The day may often start with tears, or eye-rolling, or some form of resistance. You might possibly hate the first hour of your school day.
There’s an easy fix for this: don’t start with your harder subjects. Start with something delightful instead.
Start Your Day with Something Delightful
This doesn’t need to be complicated or overwhelming. Read aloud a poem or a children’s novel (here’s a whole list of great read-alouds for you) during breakfast.
Do your kids love mapwork? Start with that. Do they love Mad Libs? That takes less than 5 minutes.
Pam Barnhill says it best: “When you start your day with something that delights you and your children, they are more eager to start their school day, and so are you.”
Make the first thing you do with your kids each day be something you’re looking forward to– that’s a better way to get the day started on the right foot. If it happens to math, then lucky you.
(And would you please come teach at my house?) If it’s not math, then join the club– and then pick something delightful instead.
Putting Little Ones at the Front End
The biggest challenge I deal with in my homeschool is meeting the needs of three toddlers while teaching my three big kids.
I find that little ones tend to be just a touch less starved for mama time when they have been lavished with a bit of love at the very beginning of the day, so I try to load some undivided attention on the front end of the morning.
After breakfast, the big three tend to their morning jobs (getting ready for the day and tending to their morning chores).
While they are buzzing around doing that, I get down on the floor with the littles, sing songs, read picture books, and give them some undivided attention.
It doesn’t have to be long or tiring- just a little topping off of the love tank before our day really gets going.
Prioritizing 1-on-1
In our house, we start our day with something delightful (usually a read-aloud). I give the littles kids some love to hold them over. Then I start rotating through my big kids for their 1-on-1 time.
It can be a real challenge for a homeschooling mama to find enough time in the day to meet with each of her kids one one one.
The way that works for me is that I rotate my bigs– one is working with me, one is playing with the twins, and the other is playing with the preschooler.
We set a timer for 30-45 minutes, and then we all rotate.
Yes, that means my kids only get 1-on-1 with me for 30-45 minutes each day. That’s about 30-45 minutes longer than they’d get of one-on-one in a classroom, though ;)– and it’s enough.
I’m always amazed at what we can accomplish in such small chunks of time over the duration of a school year.
I choose what to work on with each of my kids based on what they need most.
If a child needs attention to grammar and writing, that’s what we do. If she’s a high schooler who is grappling with understanding the world and current events, then that’s what we do.
If it’s math– this is where that goes. I choose one or two things to work on with each of my kids for a 6-week chunk of time, and that’s what we focus on every day during our 1-on-1.
When we hit the next 6-week time chunk, I decide either to keep on keepin’ on, or to switch it up to something else that needs some close attention.
I’ve recorded about this time of day– if you have more questions about how I choose what to teach during this time of day, check out the video here.
Once I’ve gotten into the right mindset by thinking about planning a school year from rest, and taking a birds’ eye view, then I consider the first things. What would delight us? What do each of my kids need most during our 1-on-1?
Once I have those things nailed down, then I’m well on my way to getting an effective plan for our homeschool year.
The next piece of the puzzle is deciding what we should all be learning together. We call our group learning Morning Time or Symposium. Let’s tackle that next.
The posts in this series:
- Planning to Teach from Rest
- Taking a Birds’ Eye View
- First Things (that’s what you’re reading now)
- Morning Time Plans
- Loop Scheduling
- Planning is Just Guessing
I saved special school-time toys for my toddlers, and we “divided and conquered,” meaning the 4yo had her own special toys in one room, and the 2yo had his own special toys in another room. That could sometimes buy me an hour of quiet teaching time. Then, I would often put on a Storybook Treasure movie for 45-ish minutes, then my 2yo would come sit in my lap while my 4yo drew next to me as I finished up lessons. All this happened while my babiest baby took her morning nap. Over the summer, she gave up her morning nap, so I think we will have to implement the bigger-watches-littler system for much of the morning; she is a busy one! Also, I have a friend whose mom lives in another city and will read books to the grandkids over Skype; my mom is now retired and lives in another town, so I’m pretty excited to try that this year. Snacks can also be quite entertaining, and they keep the littles from getting “hangry” mid-morning; I often just prep a couple extra pieces of toast with butter and honey
at breakfast time and pull them out of the breadbox if the littles seem grumpy.
Containment. Seriously the best thing :) I bought one of those big play yards. It takes up a chunk of real estate but completely changed the morning. Our littlest got used to hanging in there with toys and books for roughly 30 mins at a time which got us a subject done each time. Good luck!!
Do you feel like All About Reading is useful/important/necessary for a child with dyslexic tendencies even if we’ve already slogged through the first stages of phonics to the point where she’s reading beginning readers such as ‘Frog and Toad?’ She still struggles to varying degrees and somedays struggles a lot! But we’re not really ‘learning to read’ anymore. I just keep wondering if I need to do something more or get professional help if we’re at this stage, or if we just keep plugging, practicing…
How old is she?
It seems silly to tell you to ask Marie (the writer of AAR), but I do think she would give you an honest opinion (and not just try to sell you something, I mean). My son is reading Frog & Toad, but haltingly, so we’re keepin’ on keepin’ on. I just haven’t found anything else that’s quite as effective. AAR might help your dauther be just successful enough that she feels good about it (which, in my opinion, is a pretty big deal for kids with dyslexic tendencies)…
I am glad you mentioned All About Reading. I have no less than 6 reading curricula here and while I haven’t used it all with my youngest, I am very much considering getting AAR for him. He isn’t thriving with what we’ve been using and I’d like to think AAR would be the magic pill that would push him through to the other side. It is quite pricey though.
I love seeing your schedule. It’s inspiring, organized, and cute, yet it leaves space for breathing, creating, and living!
I agree about breakfast. I need to get a handle on that. Eat, clear, clean, learn, repeat.
In our co-op, our amazing leader said they do “Ten before Ten” and I love that for our family. We try to get our by 10am. This helps keep the toddlers happy as they like to go to a park or play date. I find leading happens better after we have finished ten before then, then we go! After we return, the littles are pleased because they had fresh air and friends, and my friend cup is full, then the kids jump into quiet reading or handwriting when they naturally need a rest.
About Math, I visited my local public elementary last week for the year-end homeschool portfolio review and got to meet the Math liaison. They do Everyday Math, which has a lot of spiraling. They let me borrow the books and I learned so much. I appreciate your advice about not switching math curriculum mid-way, yet I also appreciate your sincere consideration of your children’s unique learning styles. I’m sure you have read, The Temperament God Gave Your Kids by Art Bennett.
Prayers,
Lisa
When my oldest was beginning homeschooling we did anything academic that was one on one after dinner while my husband bathed the two smaller boys. As time went on we also worked during their naptime and eventually we began rotating through active play and quieter times when I would work with the preschool and school aged kids. They could watch edu-videos during big kid school time too. If that’s the only time the tv was on, it is a draw. If they were fed and had run around for a bit they usually then settled into something quieter pretty willingly.
Pretty much we have always just been together. They are usually pretty happy and busy if they have attention and involvement with everyone else. Trouble in our house usually started when people were out of my line of sight. Baby gates – they are a good thing : )
so enjoying all these recent photos of the crew! Those twins look like a bundle of mischief, to me! Just checked out ‘all about learning press’ – and have to say, from my standpoint, it looks great. excellent. And YES – as a kindergarten teacher and former literacy coach – teaching reading IS a bit of rocket science. I think that’s why it’s my favorite part. ;)
Sarah – love your blog, RAR and getting ready to dive into TFR. Thank you for creating this great resource for us!
Rotating toys is always a good thing, and making sure they have their own “workbooks” that they can use while you’re working w/the older set always saved me. I loved scheduling reading time with the kids too. I had an older sib read to the younger while I worked with a different group. They could curl up on the couch or read in the clubhouse, but they had to read.
One other thing i stumbled upon after much angst and consternation, the older child LOVED art. After working with the littles and getting them set, she was afraid she wouldnt get to do her Art. Before i realized her anxiety about it, we would do art last as a carrot to get her to do the “important” stuff. Then i realized she NEEDED to do something artistic BEFORE she tackled anything else! She was much happier and complacent to tackle math and English AFTER we painted or made a sarcophagus or whatever.
Sometimes I’m quite thick, but after i figured this out, our days went much smoother and happier.
Okay, this is huge. I bet a couple of my kids would benefit from this idea of letting them do something that feeds their soul FIRST, before we kick into the “important stuff.”
I’m going to ponder this some more because WOW. This has nevereverever occurred to me before, but of course it would be wise. Huh.
(and it did make me crack up… “after we painted or made a sarcophagus or whatever.” I don’t know why that is so funny to me, but it is.) :)
I haven’t read all of the comments, so maybe someone has addressed this already…but a part of our normal school day is to assign a bigger to play with a toddler/preschooler/infant while mom is working with a different bigger and still yet another bigger is doing independent work.
Each bigger is assigned 30 minutes with the littles. Sometimes both the preschooler and the infant play with one bigger.
I also like to have special toys that everyone loves that come out only at that time…playdoh, water toys on the back deck with a big tub of water, “school blocks” (because they only come out during school). You get the idea. Or the bigger is assigned to take the littles outside to play.
I consider this a “Life skills” class. ;) It is so essential to my homeschooling that we have a schedule of who plays with whom and when (we run on “ish” time, so really the only thing that’s firm in the scheduling is the 30 minutes part).
By the way…your book was INSPIRING! Thank you for taking the time to write it and for changing the way I obsess about educating my children! ;)
We did that last year and it worked great, EXCEPT I need to be more intentional this year and have some activities they can do with the toddlers that are school-time only. Posy was a bit demanding on each of them last year, and I really think it was because I didn’t think/prepare for what could be her “schooltime” activities, so she sort of just ordered everyone around and exhausted us all! ;)
First of all, nap time is huge! I make sure we use it well here for uninterrupted science and history. Earlier in the day, though, you are right on. Start with undivided attention w/ the littles while the older kids knock off the things they can do independently. We use Dive CDs so they can work through Saxon on their own and corrections are w/me to aid w/anything they didn’t get right.
Following this, we move into a rotational “baby duty” time for everyone while I work one-on-one w/math correction/help, reading, etc. one of the kids is taking his or her turn with “baby duty” from 10-11:30 at 20 min intervals. When on duty, they read, play Montessori type activities, puzzle, music, and toys only allowed in use during school time. ( I greatly enjoyed pulling together activities last year for this time. One of my fans is the Chasing Cherry O blog. She has a super archive of activities. ) Really, my older kids are teaching more than babysitting these days and I have newly-turned 2 yr old who knows all his colors, can count to 15 independently, and fills in the ending lines of prayers and songs. It’s been a win-win.
By 11:30 we are ready for lunch. (Math chef & science Chef fall in here once/week) and naps at noon or shortly after. (Power hours!)
I love the idea of having the kids pick their own poems to share. I’m definitely adding that in. And I realized that breakfast here could be shortened up quite a bit as I read your advice on that! High chair time is something I have not taken full advantage of! Containment is just such a blessing at this age!!
Looking forward to gleaning more……
Thank you!
Oooh, full of good stuff. Off to check out that blog.
Then I best not send u on a goose chase!
http://chasingcheerios.blogspot.com/
(so excited about the Maestros Classics I’m seeing there this morning! I did not know about those!)
Good luck the babies and toddlers! I have always had a minimum of at least one baby or toddler since we started homeschooling. I find is works best to “do school” at the same time, have a special spot for it, and have toys that can only be played with during that time. Sometimes it works, sometimes not! Often one of the big kids will take a turn assisting the youngest. It definitely takes patience, perseverance, and twice the time you think it will! (We have 6 kids, 12 years down to 1 year. The oldest has Autism, which brings it’s own issues…). Prayers!
When I had toddlers, we had an enclosed area of two rooms for a playroom and schoolroom. They were able to play in the playroom or they could sit with us at the table to do ‘school’. For their ‘school’ I put trays on a book shelf complete with activities for them to play with. It might be a puzzle, an art activity, a Montessori activity, a table toy. They had to keep the tray on the table and the activity on the tray. Each child had 3 trays and I changed the activities weekly. This worked really well for us but it took awhile to instil this as a habit.
I have a 9, 6 and 3 year old I am ‘schooling’, but also have an 18 month old. I have managed to merge his naps in to one long one (2-3) hours after lunch. We do our group studies starting at the lunch table (Bible, songs, memory work) and when he takes his nap we do our other grouped subjects such as History, Science and Art. Then we proceed with individual studies (Grammar and Math) in the event he wakes up! This schedule seems to work best for us…so far. This also frees up my whole morning for the little ones and house work.
My youngest is about 2 months younger than your 2-year-old, and often I sit on the floor with her on one side playing and one of my older kids on the other side working on whatever we are working on together. I play with my little one in the down time when both boys are working independently, and she is able to play on her own some while I teach the next lesson to both of the boys. We’ve also had 1 older kid with the toddler while I’m working 1-on-1 with someone, but that only works if they are willing to play whatever the toddler wants to play. ;)
I’ve also had some success the last several weeks with setting up a little space for her with a page of stickers, index cards, paper, some post-its and a few colored pencils. I only put out what I’m okay with picking up at the end of a morning if she dumps the whole thing, and she really likes sitting in her little chair at her little table and doing her own project. At least for now! I’ll be pulling out my “Montessori under 5” books shortly to refresh my memory on this age group.
I’m looking forward to your next podcast to hear more about it.
I do a lot of reading during breakfast time and actually start our school with a poem that we read first. We read the same poem for 1 week. We read through a poetry book and then start another. Right now we’re going through “Poetry Speaks to Children” (only we don’t have the cd–bummer! $.50 garage sale find :) ) and it’s an anthology by lots of different poets and authors, many write just for children, others not. I’ve enjoyed it. By the last day each week any time I pause, my kids can ‘fill in the blank’ of what’s supposed to be said.
I have enjoyed doing this the past year, because I feel like poetry does not get nearly enough credit (traditional school or in our culture!) unless you pick up a sing-songy children’s bedtime story. There are so many great poems!
Sarah M
We’ve done the poem curriculum from IEW for a couple years now and love it. We just listen to the cd at breakfast and now that we’ve memorized quite a few we alternate listening odd numbered on odd days and even on even days. Then they all recite together the newest one or two that we’re working on. Works great for us.
For keeping toddlers busy I pretty much just grin and bare it knowing they won’t always be that little and every year they improve. We’ve tried all manner of play pen time, blanket time, table time and it always works much better in my head than it does in practice. Most toddlers aren’t going to stay busy with one activity longer than 20-30 min and if I’m having to change activities that often it ends up being a lot more work for me! We have had success with keeping bins of toys labeled by day and they are only allowed to play with those during school time in a designated area. I just open the bin and let them go at it. Sometimes they play 20 min and other times 2 hours. I also allow one 30min video (like leapfrog) every day and then big siblings usually have 20-30min at a time where they provide entertainment. Somehow with this we’ve managed to get school in on most days.
I don’t have any advice regarding toddlers – my two are 9 & 11 & have always schooled together. I have had the same problem with math, and halfway through the last school year just decided to stick with what we were using then (Horizons) and just keep swimming!
I’m really enjoying this series – looking forward to the rest of the series!
Sarah,
I have the older siblings take individual time with the little ones. It really helps to give me a chunk of time to work with a child who might be struggling with something. This is a paid “chore”. It’s a win-win situation because the babies and toddlers get individual play time and the person who is watching gets spending money!
With poetry memorization: do your children all memorize the same poem? Or each child his/her own poem?
My 10yo and 5yo both learn poems quickly, while my 7yo has a lot of trouble with it. My attempts at memorizing together have been less than succesful. But supervising the memorization of 4 different poems (mine too) has been difficult, too. I’m probably missing something, but what?
We’ve all done the same ones in years past, but this year I think we’ll try doing different selections and we’ll see how it goes.
Could you utilize recordings somehow? Record yourself saying the poems and then they could listen to those everyday to practice on their own, just checking in with you once a week? That might help it feel like you’re tracking less…
My almost 90 yr old grandfather gave me his copy of “Favorite Poems Old and New” by Helen Farris and we adore it. I was honestly so surprised at how much my kids and I love poetry.
Thank you for the homeschooling posts – I am eating them up! I look to your blog and now your podcast, too, as a great source of inspiration in my homeschool planning (and survival!).
I have a 9 mo old baby… so this next year I will definitely use some of the ideas from other commenters about what to do with toddlers during homeschool time!
My best advice actually got it’s own post last year (we’ve since added another baby and another miscarriage) http://ourbusyhomeschool.com/little-ones-beloved-distractions/
We’re working on teaching the littlest one about table time right now (he’s 11 months old). So each day when we’re doing some activities around the table Samuel joins us with his own toys or interesting things to do. There’s a lot more in that post, but table time has been a huge help.
I love the idea of poetry at breakfast time. For us, it would probably work better to do poetry at lunch time. This year, we also used the time right after lunch for artist and composer studies. That worked really well. :)
Karen
My advice for toddlers:
1. Ask a friend who is a newer mom or a much older mom if she would keep your toddler for a few hours two mornings a week. God has provided for me over the years for that and it really really helps to have just a few mornings when my little boys are not distracting us or destroying the house. Ever since I had my fourth born, my children now go to preschool two days a week when they are three and four. It helps so very much for them to be gone and to be having fun and I can focus on my older children.
2. Use one hour of the toddler nap times to work with older children. I usually like this time for myself, but sometimes our read-alouds are so much better if the little ones are all in bed :)
I agree here 100%. I wish I would’ve had help this past year but we just started getting a mothers helper this summer and it is so wonderful. I will be doing this for my little ones this fall for sure.
Please forgive me for asking, but are you sure that you want to miss that time with the littles? I can’t help but reflect on the fact that our children will soon forget so much of what they are learning. Are we choosing the better part?
I do understand that states have requirements and I hate that. I also know very well how stressful it can be with little ones under foot when trying to spend time with the older ones ~ even having a conversation.
But, are we so sure that we are willing miss that time with cute little boys and girls with chubby cheeks and angelic words like “wittle” and such. “Oh please God, let me relish this time and not fret about the future too much.” We don’t even know what the world will look like in 10 or 15 years. What will they need to know then?
I can’t count how many blogging women have had a lofty education and are now at home doing His will and what they love.
So, I caution preschool.
Sarah, I love what your morning looks like. The breakfast idea was an “aha” moment for me. Thanks.
I used to feel the same way as you do until I hit deep and exhausting and terrible burnout. I wasn’t good for anyone in my home. I needed margin in my life and having little ones gone for only 6 hours out of 148 in week was enough to help me breathe again. They are in lovely preschools that are small with other homeschooling families. Small classes and loving teachers. I in no way think that I am “missing out” or they are…I trust the Lord with my littles and believe that they can learn from others and with others without my constant presence. It’s a short amount of time but gives us all some breathing space. My older three never experienced preschool and I look back and am surprised at the judgment I gave other mothers for that decision and now see it wasn’t some big black/white decision but a “left or right” one.
168! There are 168 hours in a week! ;)
I realized I had typed 148 earlier and decided against correcting myself :) Obviously my coffee hadn’t hit the bloodstream yet. lol!
And again, this is two mornings for three hours each out of seven days a week. I am not missing their “wittle” words at all….I have hundreds of other hours that I hear it. I do relish my time with them but also recognize my very very real emotional limits. We have much grace to make these decisions and no condemnation in Christ. I don’t fret about the future…I fret that I won’t homeschool in a sustainable way that will allow me to do this for the long haul.
oh i so agree with allowing yourself the freedom to let your littles attend preschool a few hours a week so you have more time to focus. there is so much freedom in that choice and much trust in the Lord. i do not condemn anyone’s decision whether it is to keep your littles at home or have them in preschool a few hours a week that is beneficial to you and them. we are not talking all day every day. just a little breathing room. that’s wise and smart.
Yep, I think the longer I’m at this parenting gig, the more I realize that different solutions can be useful at different stages in life. I’m not sure preschool would have been a good fit for us with the first three but I would consider it for my next three- especially just a few mornings a week.
I’ve started having a mother’s helper come hang out with all of my kids for a few hours a week so I can disappear into my office and write, and hooo-eeee! That rejuvenates me in this crazy beautiful way!
I do think it’s good for homeschooling mamas (because we’re with our kids all day every day) to be able to step away from their kids for a bit if they need and not feel one ounce of guilt that that’s what they actually need in order to reset, refresh, and do their best work with their families.
I guess I see it kind of like Jesus finding a place by himself, even though there were masses in need of teaching and healing. :)
I am so sorry that I’ve come across as condemning and judgmental.
I’m almost 47 and my littlest of 8 is 1. I don’t want to miss a minute of what may be my last. :( That is probably where my intentions were born. Thank you for reminding me that God knows the unique needs of each family and that they can and will look very differently from one another.
Blessings to you and like I tell my kids, “Keep doing what you think is right, even when others don’t understand.”
Sincerely, Michelle
No worries Michelle! I appreciate your perspective and, as one who constantly forgets how fleeting these little years are, always benefit from your thoughts. :)
I’m loving these posts, so helpful, thank you!
We’ve been using Pudewa’s Poetry on and off for a few years and I pulled it out at breakfast this morning. I am so excited to do this! And that I can pop in the CD on busy mornings. So simple. I also have a big fear of Shakespeare. I just read the Amazon preview of How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare and love the idea of memorizing lines from it. So I just may learn along with the kiddos.
On learning with littles…I don’t know. Sometimes they’ll sit on my lap or play with manipulatives, mostly they just love to make a ruckus. :) I think its great to have a plan, but know that often they are just going to need mama and that’s OKAY. Explode the Code workbooks or copywork are great backups when the reading lesson gets cut short by baby.
we read poems with our breakfast too! we call it Oats + Poems.
you can read a bit more about it here:
http://wp.me/ph08s-W1
peace keep you.
Hi Sarah!
I just found your blog today, and I am in this same boat. Ill soon have an infant, and have a toddler and a three year old to keep busy during school times.
We have a school room with lots of montessori style activities and stations for my 3yo that the olders also use between lessons, but my toddler has been hanging out in the play pen with things he only gets during school time. Mostly sensory bins without the littler pieces – like a bin full of different sized balls, cups and spoons, which is his current favorite.
I feel bad having him in there for up to an hour, but he is 16 mos and into or climbing everything!
Anyways, im looking forward to seeing what others suggest and what solutions you find in the upcoming months. :)
– Heather
Maybe you address this somewhere, but I would like to know the subjects that you rotate. We homeschool in quarters, but I think I going to try the two month instead. We have some things that will be constant like Classical Conversations, but even that switches up with different art focuses.
I don’t think I’ve addressed it before here on the blog, but I’ll be talking about what we’re rotating in the next couple of posts on morning time and what we’re doing for morning/afternoon loops. :)