Preschool

One of the complicated parts of homeschooling at this stage is trying to have one on one teaching time with each of the girls. We used to get time during the first hour of D’s (age 2) nap. Unfortunately he has stopped napping and will only play in his crib for an hour.

This means that I have a choice between using that hour to do school with the girls OR putting the girls down for rest time at the same time so that I can rest. At this point, I need the rest time each day so everyone goes to their room for an hour, preferably when C (age 4 months) is napping as well.

Of course, this means that I lose the ability to do math and reading with the girls without distraction. Math is the subject that it is absolutely necessary for me to have some one on one time with K. T (age 5) requires some one on one attention for math and phonics.

I decided that the solution would be to assign one of them to be D’s playmate while I worked with the other. Then they would switch. In order for this to work, their assignment is to “play with D and KEEP HIM HAPPY”. I had to explain to T that this means that if she is playing with a car and he wants it, then she has to give it to him. Just for this time period each day.

I had no clue what a fun solution this would be! T and D had a great time playing cars together without any arguments. She was so proud that she kept him happy and it was clear that they had fun.

K took it upon herself (since she is just like her mommy) to run a preschool for D while I was teaching T. At the end of my 20 minutes with T, she has helped him make five bookmarks with stickers and they were working on shape puzzles. It was clear that they also had a blast together.

I know that every solution will have bad moments and rough days, but I think this is going to be a good thing. The solution will definitely serve its purpose for me, and I think the kids will grow in their relationships with some special one on one time as well!