Any suggestions?

[simplyhome]

Any suggestions on schooling with a 2 yr old and a preschooler. My dd will 4th grade this year and ds will be 5 in September. I need ideas on keeping my
2 1/2 yr old busy and not having our day drag out so long. I feel like I am running in three different directions. Preparing is great - there is no problem there. It's just funny how little ones grow every year and the classroom dynamics change! Thanks for any thoughts or ideas. I have found myself being the "veteran mom" in my circle lately, but even veterans don't have all the answers.

Casey

[Jodi]

Could you do some of your homschooling while the youngest naps? Or maybe keep a box of busy toys and activities for the youngest that only come out while you're working with the older kids. If he's past the putting everything in the mouth stage both playdough (could do home made so it;s even more non toxic)and moon sand (or even a small bin of regular play sand at the table) seem to be things which actually keep little ones busy for more than 10 minutes. I don't have any tiny ones at the moment so maybe you'll get better ideas from those who do!

[Jessi]

Get a little plastic tub to fill with water and water toys. Put in swim suit and place plastic tub on a towel on the floor and let them go to town. It will keep them busy forever! Another option is to get spray whipped cream and have your two year old sit at the table and "draw" in the whipped cream ( and the nice thing is that they can eat it without fear of what they are ingesting). Two years old is a great age to play games with them. While you are working on a project with your older children tell the two year old to find a certain number of an item that you know they'll have to search for and then they bring them and show you for a reward. Also, building a fort (ironing boards work great for a central support beam with chairs around it) and put flashlights, books, cool light up toys etc inside and let them play fort. Something I literally love in my house is an old crib mattress that we keep under my daughter's bed and it is brought out for that rambunctious nearly 2 year old (even sis!) for times when they need to get that energy out. We use the mattress as an indoor trampoline and it works great without fear of our children getting hurt.

HTH!

[simplyhome]

Great ideas! Thanks

Casey

[my3sons]

Hi Casey! I just posted this on another thread, so this is a pretty common thing we're all trying to work through if we have little ones! A few tips for those precious toddlers... playpen time with a different "tub" of toys each day and loud, happy music - about 30 minutes (we just turn on the Christian radio station ); watch a special video in saucer once or twice a day (our special videos are still Barnie here - I think I could play Barnie now ); playtime with siblings (we set the timer for 15-20 minutes and they each take a turn playing with toddler); blanket of toys set out near where we're schooling (the defined area seems to help him stay there and play with the toys more); even just a walk to get the mail with me (gets him outside with me for a bit ). Also, when they are old enough, we used to tape paper across the high chair top and under it, and let him smear fingerpaint or try to color with big markers (when he got to the point that he wouldn't try to eat them ). He rotates happily among these things if I keep them changing every 30 minutes or so. We do most of the teacher-directed parts during our baby's nap, video, or playpen time. All of these things took about 4 times of doing them each to get them to work, btw, so just stick with it and your little honey will settle into it eventually. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

[MainelyJen]

Just wanted to mention something I saw at Christian Book Distributors. My daughter and I will be doing some babysitting for a 1yo and 3yo this year, and we were thinking it would be so much fun to do some preschool stuff with the 3yo. CBD has a set of products called Preschool in a Bag. So, there are 2 books which have you make activities all ready to go in large ziploc bags. You can check out the sample pages. Read the back cover where it describes the homeschool moms who created this and why -- sounds like it would be a help! This is not a curriculum, just some activity ideas to keep littles busy.
http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/ ... overs#curr

[MamaMary]

Hi Casey,

Congratulations!!!! How exciting! When I had toddlers I did most of my school during naptime. When I would work on math or reading I would use my highchair and try different things.., snack, toys. Truthfully, I did most of my school while my little ones napped and I did most of read a louds before bed when my husband was home and could either put my younger ones to bed OR I would read to the older after I put the older ones to bed.

I can't wait to hear how it goes
Mary

[Candice]

Casey,

I posted this response on a different thread, I hope it might be helpful if you have not come across it yet:

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1754

It is the 4th post if you scroll down.

Candice

[Jessi]

mainlyJen- I have those preschool activities in a bag. They are GREAT! I would highly recommend them.