Homeschooling with a Baby and Toddler

These days our homeschooling routine looks a bit different. With a baby and 2-year-old vying for my attention, it’s gotten challenging to complete a full school schedule with my 2nd grader. Challenging, but not impossible. With a little strategy and patience, it’s definitely doable. Once you get into a routine, it is possible to keep your student on track – homeschooling with a baby and toddler – without having to drop subjects and do the bare minimum. While also having time to do all the other things that need to be done (laundry, cooking, work projects, ad infinitum).

Prepare the Environment

If you’re at all familiar with Montessori, this is a no-brainer. Keeping kids engaged with work on their own (I like this word better than “entertained”) requires a constant observation of what they are interested in so you can rotate and adjust the materials they have access to. Again, these are basic Montessori principles. It takes effort, but the payoff is worth it. You have to pay attention to what they are playing with and what they are not playing with. For my 2-year-old, I try to keep out interesting things for him to work with and his favourite open-ended toys. This way, he can keep himself occupied for quite a while without needing attention from me or his sister to play with him.

Preparation also comes into play with my oldest daughter. Obviously, I have a schedule for the week so I know exactly what our goals are for each day. But beyond that, I know what work she can do independently of me (copy work, flashcards, etc) and what she needs the most guidance with. That way, if we get interrupted by her siblings, I can direct her to work that she can do on her own and we’re still working towards our goals for the day. I wrote a post about preparing your homeschool for baby before my third was born – you can check out those tips HERE.

Work Together

Sometimes, my 2-year-old son likes to be at the table while we are doing school work. He has number work he likes to pull from his work shelf and even a few “textbooks” of his own. I got him some Kumon workbooks (numbers and tracing) that are quite a bit above his level, but they look similar enough to his big sister’s workbooks that he feels included when he pulls them out. So that’s maths we can work on together.

In addition to maths, we can also do subjects like history and science together. Sometimes, I’ll print appropriate colouring pages to go with the day’s history lesson. Both kids can colour while I read the lesson. And for science, as soon as an experiment or activity is involved, it’s easy to include my 2-year-old.

Keep an Eye on the Clock

I try not to get bogged down in one subject even if there are constant interruptions. This is how you end up at the end of the day with only one subject done. I’d rather have every subject attempted than to get all of maths done and nothing else for the day. I’m a firm believer in daily consistency over perfection. So even when it seems like the interruptions are non-stop, try to keep an eye on the clock and keep the day moving, even if things aren’t getting 100% complete. And above all else, stick to a “quitting time”. This is my secret for keeping my sanity. I give the school day my best shot until 3 pm. When that time comes, what’s done is done. Then I “clock out” as a teacher.

Be Flexible with Some Things

When it comes to homeschooling with a baby and toddler, it’s good to stay flexible with your schedule in terms of when things get done. I don’t mean by dropping subjects and “letting stuff go”. There are some subjects that you can be flexible on, like reading time. For other things, like violin practice, it’s best to just stick to a routine – same time every day – and then everyone can learn to just get used to it. You’ll have to decide what those subjects are for you and your students. For us, that looks like me sometimes reading history aloud when the kids are eating lunch or having my daughter do her reading aloud to me at night before bed in place of regular story time.

Another way I try to be flexible is by taking advantage of when my husband is home. That can look like scheduling some school subjects (or homework – uncompleted work from during the week) for Saturday or waiting on some subjects until after dinner when he can watch the younger kids.

Balance

Lastly, on the days that seem nothing on the school schedule has gotten accomplished, I try to remember that (1) sibling bonding is important, so those play breaks that never seem to end are not actually a bad use of time. I just remind myself that this is a perk of homeschooling and I should let them be kids and enjoy playing together while they are getting along.

And (2), feeding and taking care of a baby is also part of an older sibling’s education. So when my older daughter just wants to feed her baby sister instead of do her grammar workbook, I sometimes give in and just let her wait on school work and enjoy the baby cuddles. They won’t be these ages forever. My 6-year-old will not always want to watch me change a diaper or prepare a bottle. My 2-year-old will not always be begging to play with his older sister. I believe holding a high academic standard is laudable, but it’s important to keep perspective.

What did I miss? Are you juggling the demands of homeschooling with a baby and toddler? What are your best tips for accomplishing your academic goals and staying on target?