Sometimes life events happen during the academic year and you find yourself bracing for impact. If I weren’t homeschooling, I could easily drop my kids off at school and stay home with a newborn with very little upset in everyone’s routine. However, when you are a teacher and responsible for your child’s school happening, you can’t really drop the ball when it comes to your teaching responsibilities.
I’m sure some homeschool mothers don’t mind taking off several weeks during the school year if they have a baby, but that’s not my personality. I like to stick to a schedule and a routine. I’m sure that makes me sound crazy, but it’s how I cope with chaos and upheaval. If you find you’re also in that camp (welcome, friend!) and are expecting a new addition in the middle of the school year, I hope you find some ideas in this post to help you feel more prepared to keep homeschooling with a baby.
This will be my third kid and the first time my husband has the option of taking paternity leave. That being said, I’m not going to be factoring that into my planning because, knowing him and the nature of his job (as well as the negative effects of maternity leave on a career), I don’t foresee him staying away from work for too long. So here are my top tips for preparing to homeschool with a baby.
Get Your School Routine Down Now
It should go without saying, but if you’re concerned about keeping your homeschool routine with a newborn, that probably means you have a routine now. It should be effortless in the sense that every week looks similar in terms of the work that is getting accomplished and when the planning for next week gets done. At no point during school hours are you or your student wondering What should we do next?
If this doesn’t sound like you, I’d highly recommend starting here. In the weeks before baby comes, I suggest getting your routine down to a science. Same start and end time every day. Doing the same subjects in the same order. Every day should – for the most part – flow easily. The easier the routine flows before baby, the easier it will be homeschooling when baby comes.
Outline the Rest of the Semester
I normally make my weekly school schedule at the end of the previous week. (I have a whole post about that process here.) But when you’re expecting to have a lot less time in the day, it’s not something you’re going to want to leave to chance. It’ll take quite a bit of time, but I recommend drafting out the rest of the semester. In pencil. Are you going to stick to it exactly? Hardly. But even on the roughest days – the most sleep-deprived of Monday mornings – you’ll always have a starting point.
There’s an expression, “simplicity on the far side of complexity”, that I heard quoted in an awesome podcast and I think really fits here. Planning out your weekly schedule for an entire semester might sound like a lot of work upfront, but it will make life so much easier when you’re in the trenches of homeschooling with a baby.
Streamline Your Schedule
I’m all about upholding ideals when it comes to academic standards and not doing the bare minimum. And I’m not about to advocate for the bare minimum now. However… there is a difference between doing the bare minimum and streamlining your schedule. I’m not saying to cut out anything, but this is also not the time to be planning any major projects or experiments.
Of course, if things are running smoothly and you want to add in a science experiment or a history project, by all means, go for it! But I would NOT put it on the schedule. Maybe jot down the idea on a post-it note so if you feel like it when you get to that week you can go for it. But if not, you can crumple up the post-it note like it never existed and stick to the original streamlined plan.
Prepare Independent Work
My oldest daughter is in second grade. And while she is quite independent, she still relies on me to be actively teaching a lot of her academic work. Of course my 2-year-old needs attention during the school day and my daughter and I are used to short interruptions. We’re working on how to handle the inevitable moment when she needs (or just wants) help with an assignment but I am temporarily busy. Sometimes it’s a matter of finding me and bringing her question with her. Other times, it’s a matter of skipping a problem and coming back to it when I’m back with her.
Even though babies sleep a lot during the day, I’m still planning on longer interruptions when homeschooling with a baby. So the more independent work I can arrange for my daughter, the better. For us, that means more self-correcting worksheets and fewer activities that need prep or a second person. (I’m thinking of you, French class!) I’m not a fan of worksheets all the time, but they do serve a purpose when you have to step away from school and let your student work independently.
Simplify Everything Else
If you haven’t already, simplify as many of your other tasks as possible. Anything absolutely necessary, like healthy food and clean clothes, should be on autopilot. Making decisions about what to eat and when to put in laundry shouldn’t be taking up precious energy. One of the best things I did before my son was born was to do the freezer meal thing. I planned several meals, cooked them, divvied them up into servings and put them in the freezer. Healthy meals, ready to go, no energy required. I was so proud of my self for putting in that effort beforehand. No, freezer meals won’t get you through a semester, but it’ll help you jump back into your routine much more quickly.
When it comes to laundry, I know exactly when I have to put in a load to make sure nobody runs out of clean clothes. I do the same loads on the same day of the week without thinking about it. Whatever those tasks are for you, take the time now to schedule them to the point that they require no brain power. You’ll thank yourself later!
What did I miss? Are you homeschooling with a baby? What do you wish you had prepared before baby came?
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