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I am hoping that perhaps some of you can share some wisdom with me. At the beginning of this school year I made a beautiful schedule modeled after Julie's, with blocks of time for each child and specific things for my younger ones to do during each block. It was working so well. However! It has quite suddenly become obsolete and I don't know what to do now! Here's the situation:

7yo dd, 2nd grade, BLHFHG with R&S2 and DITHOR 2
5yo dd, K, LHFHG
3yo ds, finally potty training, hit or miss on the afternoon nap
13 month old dd, sweet as can be, just gave up morning nap

The problem is that the time I used to spend one-on-one with my oldest two has suddenly evaporated. I have totally lost the ability to focus individually on my oldest daughters. I realize that the potty training is a season, and ds is already getting better at it, so I am not overly worried about that. However, the baby giving up her morning nap, coupled with my son not always napping in the afternoon, has really thrown me for a loop. I can't seem to find a way to be alone with any of the kids, ever. Maybe it is their particular ages and stages? I'm sure it is a season, but I feel like I am losing my mind! Today it took until nearly 5PM to finish school with my girls, not because we are working the whole time, but because of all the other demands. Sometimes it feels like a circus! We used to get so much done during that morning nap time. Now that the baby is up, she is always with me. None of my other kids are old enough to play with her without me at this point. I tried doing school in the play room so she could play along with the middle two, but that just leads to frustration all around (dd7 can't concentrate, ds3 wants to talk to me constantly, my patience gets short, etc etc). Help! Any ideas? Thank you so much!

Erica

I cannot personally help you on this (as our schedule currently only includes two kiddos, the oldest of which just started LHTH). However, I did want to pass on this blog entry from another HOD member (with six beautiful children) who has posted on the weekly updates page just recently. Her blog has been such an inspiration to me in homeschooling and life. I did start our own "alone time," as she discusses in this blog entry, with my 23 month old several months ago. It has worked wonders on sitting down quietly with my oldest to read the Bible and such. And after some fussy days in the beginning attempting to start an alone time, the youngest is completely content with alone time as well. And this was my child (the now 23 month old) that would not sleep more than 3 hours during the night or day up until 18 months of age!

http://ourfamilyforhisglory.blogspot.co ... -kids.html

All the best!

IDK if it helps, but my little ones (day care kids ages 2, 3.5, 4 and 4.5) all take a quiet time in the afternoon. The 2 y/o always falls asleep, the 3.5 y/o sometimes. However, it does give me a block of time to finish anything I didn't get done in the morning (I only have the 4 y/o in the morning). If we're done for the day, then my ds and I do some extra reading together, play a game, or he'll even help me get started on dinner. Whatever it is it's quality time and the little ones get a rest, even if they don't sleep.

i have kids similiar ages. i feel your pain. although some of my issues could be improved if we would start eariler.
my 12 month slept thru the entire night for the first time last night.
My 3rd child just turned 4. she is able to play on computer by herself (only an hour). she doesn't (and hasn't since she was 3yrs) take naps.
I usually let her pick a dvd to watch in afternoon for quiet time. we seem like we have moved to getting more schoolwork done in the afternoon.
My 8 or 7 yr old are able to play with the baby by themselves nearby.

8.5 yr son (October) Bigger 2nd gr
7 yr daughter (March) Beyond 1st gr
4 yr daughter (February) LHTH pre-k
12 month son (March)

sometimes the baby takes 1 nap and sometimes 2. it just depends.

Don't know if it helps, but i felt like i could relate. It is a season....

Jenn D.

Just saying I'm there too! My oldest is a bit older (but she's a quirky, high maintenance child who never. stops. talking. And still can't be trusted to watch little one closely or stay out of stuff)
So mine are 10yo girl and three boys 8,5,2. My 2yo, at 27m is talking like he's 1.5 and sleeps likes he's a colic stricken newborn. He's never really slept well. He hasn't napped in forever and when he does it's usually bc we were both up all night and we both need a rest! My 5yo (prek) stopped napping at 3 or so. I've always needed what nap times there were to actually rest, and so haven't done much with them for school.
High chairs serve us well for some time. Snacks or safe play things while toddler sits in there and school gets done. My2yo learned how to buckle himself, which was great... Until he learned how to UNbuckle too! Read history and such during breakfast and lunch...captive audience! My guy is totally into everything (fridge, pantry, climbing gates, escaping outside even with deadbolt, etc) and we are living in my mom's home now since last month while we look for a house. It is just a season. But it's not going to quickly go away! It's enjoyable and also frustrating. There are ups and there are downs. So, fishing ways to make it work is important. So invest some focused time training the little ones. Blanket time, crib time, gated room where they can see you and have access to only a couple toys to avoid messes, find good shows that will occupy them for half an hour, and healthy snacks that take a while to eat that they also love. I didn't bc inked thinking its just a season and will be over soon. And now 1.5 yrs later I'm still in it and we haven't made a quarter of the progress in school as I'd hoped. I know better now once we get in our own home again the training will begin.

I have a friend who actually hires another 14 year old home schooled girl to come over 3x a week to watch the little's so she can get house work done, I was wondering maybe since its only for a season a short term "Mothers Helper" could work you you?

I also have used Quiet time... on bed nap not required read books listen to music or draw etc. as long as it's quiet. after a few weeks of "ugh" they got it and it worked beautifully for a while...

I find the need to tweak my schedule every January or Feb., which for us, is about halfway or so into the year, so I even tweaked my own schedule - you are so not alone here. I think dc go through changes that really do impact a school schedule significantly, and certainly little ones potty training and dropping naps are BIG deals to the flow of the day. I really am wondering if it would be a good idea to go half-speed while you are potty training? I actually did this. It improved my days tenfold. I really hit potty training hard for about 3 weeks, and slowed schooling down to half-speed, and wa-lah! We were all more sane, my little guy was finally potty trained, and we switched back to full-speed with more focus.

If you'd rather not slow down, intervals of safe confinement for the 13 month old worked well for us. Playpen playtime (train not to crawl out), saucer while watching an educational video, high chair while having a snack, Johnny Jump Up if she's a lightweight, etc. These safe periods of confinement rotated with "active out and about" times worked well for us. Training your 5 and 7 yo to take turns playing with the 3 yo while 13 month old is napping in the afternoon may help too. I hope something here can help, but here's a HUG headed your way anyway, and a "this too shall pass" to console as well!

In Christ,
Julie

Thanks you SO much to all of you lovely ladies for all of your ideas. I have taken them all to heart. I also appreciate the simple encouragement of knowing I'm not alone! My head knows that, but sometimes my heart can't feel it in the moment. As for how things are going...potty training is working! DS needs help in the bathroom still, but accidents have stopped, yay!! The baby is still awake in the morning, and obviously will be from here on out. DD7 and I actually stumbled on a kind of solution, although it is challenging for both of us since neither of us is a morning type. If she and I both get up early, we can stumble to the school table and crank out 30 or 45 min of work before the others wake up. We've tried it twice and it made the rest of the day SO much better. We didn't finish everything, but it gave us enough of an edge that we could manage the rest. DD5 is easier since LHFHG is pretty friendly to younger siblings hanging around . I'm not sure if I'll re-write our schedule or just try to make it to the end of the year at this point. I know I'll need other strategies come next year, since DS3 will be ready for some LHTH, which means we'll be in 3 guides! One thing at a time, right?!

Julie - maybe I will get a chance to meet you in Cincinnati in April! DH and I will be at the convention

Erica

It may take some time, but I would initiate "room time" with your 3 year old ASAP. Train her to stay IN HER ROOM for 1 hour ALONE. You don't START with an hour. Start with a timer set for 15 minutes. Have toys that she plays with only during room time, and rotate these toys so she doesn't get bored with them. Provide her with snacks in her room during this time. TRAIN her that SHE MAY NOT SOME OUT FOR ANY REASON.

I trained mine that if they came out of their room, they had to show me blood or a bone sticking out

THIS REALLY WORKS.

Once you work up to this, this will give you an hour uninterrupted.

And GUESS WHAT?? You can do it twice a day!!

***
DO the EXACT SAME THING with your baby, except make it pack n play time. Snack and special toys go in the pack n play, and YES, your baby can stay there for an hour as well.
***
They may scream and pitch a fit. Don't sweat it. AS LONG AS THEY STAY PUT.

Later, I work on them doing room time cheerfully.

A friend of mine plays Christian music or bible stories during room time, and I think that is a great idea as well.

HTH

I am very thankful for this thread, as in the past three weeks I have been spending most of my time nauseous and sleeping, and my wonderful daily schedule has fallen flat on the ground! Homeschool and my college work have gotten completely discombobulated I have had to miss some midweek rehearsals at church, because I am simply wiped out by 7 PM, even with a nap I look forward to being a little further along in my pregnancy and having more energy, I hope Thanks for helping me feel like I can give myself the grace to regroup whenever I am feeling better. Maybe I will take some time to re-visit some organizing ideas, like Julie's bin system. My dd in Rev to Rev was feeling like jumping ship (ok, me too) because she is having a hard time keeping track of her "tons" of books I think spring break has officially begun