Homeschooling with a baby in the house!

So, I haven't posted anything for a REALLY long time! This school year has been a HUGE learning curve for me - homeschooling with a baby! "But you've already done that before", you may say! When little sis was born, big sis was in kindergarten. And at Rodriguez Academy, kindergarten is only very slightly structured - lots of play time, perfect for life with a new baby. However, first grade was much more structured - we had a wonderful schedule for big sis and for the younger siblings - it was a well-oiled homeschooling machine (okay, perhaps I'm romanticizing it in comparison to this year)! Well, the machine might as well have been thrown out the window because we started the year off with a busy boy and he has only gotten busier and busier as the year has gone by! So, as I've revised ALL of my plans many times this year, I have learned a few things along the way -

1. Containment is not a bad thing. I love the open set-up of our house, but when trying to keep up with a baby while you homeschool older siblings, it's not so nice! As the older siblings have gotten past the toddler/prek age, baby-proofing takes on a whole new aspect - there are lots of very tiny items that were not present before. And lots of precious books and papers that they don't want baby brother to destroy! Any door than can be closed must be closed during school hours. The playpen is used frequently! We've pulled out the baby gates (which surprisingly were never used til this little guy!), and we have used chairs and bookshelves to block him from getting into things!

2. Engage the services of older siblings. Now I never had a younger sibling, but from talking with friends and family who did, I understand that it can be annoying to be constantly asked to watch your younger brother/sister. That being said, there are times when my older three enjoy being with their brother. Big brother loves to play with him early in the morning. They're both my early birds, and sometimes (especially after a night of being awakened by aforementioned baby brother) I am dragging to get myself ready for the day. So big brother steps in, pours some Cheerios and they play while I get ready! Little sis loves to play with him while he's in the playpen - I don't know if it's just the novelty of it or what, but she often finishes her "schoolwork" and then hops into the playpen to entertain baby brother (and that will easily give me an extra 15 minutes of uninterrupted teaching time!). Big sister would love to forget all about school work and just be "mommy" all day long! However, since that's not an option, her turn usually comes at recess when she takes him outside. I can see them out the window, and I can do some laundry or fix lunch, knowing he's in his favorite place - outside playing in the dirt!!!

3. Use the Internet as a learning tool. Any teacher knows that you can lose control of your classroom in about three seconds flat if they are not engaged. And any mom knows that with a baby, there are constant needs to change diapers, put them down for a nap, chase them down to fish small objects out of their mouths, cleaning up the Cheerios they dumped everywhere and then stomped on, etc., etc. So, the Internet has become a definite necessity for us this year - for quick diaper changes, I love Harry Kindergarten videos ("If You're a Kid," "Get Fit and Count to 100") and we've got a song to memorize the presidents that they can listen to; while I put him down for a nap, often they'll watch a history or science video, depending on what we're studying that week - we've seen some great ones on Discovery for kids and some good history videos on Youtube.

Yes, it's chaotic homeschooling with a busy toddler in the house, but you know, I don't remember things being any less chaotic when I taught public school in a classroom of 22 students - the noise, the interruptions, the distractions, it was all there too!