5 Tips for How to Homeschool with a Toddler in the House

One of the most frequent comments I get whenever I talk about homeschooling is how to homeschool with a toddler in the house (or two toddlers. Or a baby). 

When Ella was in first grade and we homeschooled full-time, Ani was 3.5, Star was 1.5 and I was pregnant with Tally.

So I know something about the chaos of homeschooling with toddlers around.

For reference, we did around three hours of school per day (about 9 a.m. to noon), and Ani attended a co-op preschool twice a week for two hours in the morning.

I was also not involved in every bit of Ella’s schooling.

Obviously, there were many parts she needs me for (reading aloud, spelling, history, science, cooking, etc), but there were plenty of things she could handle mostly on her own like typing, math, and handwriting.

And, of course, some days were better than others, but here are the things that helped us mostly have smooth mornings where school gets done without the little girls feeling abandoned or me feeling like I’m losing my mind.

And we’ll be using these same tips as we start hybrid school (two days in person, three days online) this week!

how to homeschool with a toddler in the house

1. Start low-key. I think there’s sometimes a tendency to make the first few days or weeks of school a bonanza of activities for the little kids, which sets the stage for this being a time when they deserve constant entertainment. I don’t do a dang thing for them the first week – they play with Legos, look at books, run around in the backyard or color, which are basically all the kinds of things they normally do. It’s much easier to add a few exciting things in as they get restless down the road (say, play dough or a new toy or coloring book) than to try to maintain that high level of constant stimulation. Plus, one of my big goals for my children is for them to be comfortable being bored, entertaining themselves, and inventing games or turning to books and toys on their own, so I think of this as daily practice while I’m right there to assist as needed.
   2. Figure out what setting works best for you. When we homeschooled Ella during kindergarten, we did homeschool in our large basement/playroom. I would have continued that the next year except that when we redid the girls bedrooms, we ended up using the homeschool table as a desk in Ella’s room instead, so the basement was no longer a great spot for homeschooling. We moved upstairs to the kitchen/family room and I couldn’t believe how much better it’s been. The couch meant it was easier to read with more than one girl at a time, the kitchen meant I can load or unload the dishwasher or put dinner in the crockpot while I read out spelling words (so I don’t feel so far behind after a morning of homeschool) and the girls’ bedrooms were just around the corner, so Ani often would wander into her room and look at books, color, or play with her dolls and Star frequently joined her. This never happened when we were downstairs and basically everyone felt trapped in one space.
2. Harness the power of snacks. Snacks are like magic when you need a toddler to give you 20 minutes with an older child. I particularly like a snack that lends itself to taking FOREVER to eat, like pretzel sticks and hummus or blueberries eaten one at a time.
3. Switch back and forth between subjects that your child needs help in and ones they don’t. Ella usually started out the morning with math and handwriting, which she could do on her own, and that gave me a chance to read at least a couple of books with the younger girls on the couch. That way, by the time she was ready to read aloud with me, the other girls felt like they’ve gotten some quality time and they were much more likely to be ready to run around on their own while I focused on Ella. When she moved on to typing or coding on the computer, then I could pull out some puzzles or games or a cooking project with the little girls just as they started to lose their minds again.
4. Involve them when possible. We did biology in first grade for science, starting with animal biology, and all my girls are obsessed with animals, so Star would happily sit on my lap as we worked through different animal species and look at the photographs for a while. When Ella did her history projects, I bought myself a lot of time if I gave Star and Ani both a paintbrush or a pile of sugar cubes or whatever the project was and let them work alongside Ella. If I was putting dinner in the crockpot or wiping down the kitchen chairs or unloading the dishwasher, I asked them to help me and they were usually delighted to be included – Star happily put away every utensil very carefully, and Ani still loves any task that involves the broom or a sponge.

Is it more work to homeschool with a toddler or baby in the house? Absolutely.

But can you make it work? Also, absolutely yes!

If you have other great tips for how to homeschool with a toddler in the house or manage multiple distance learners, I’m all ears – please leave your advice in the comments!

 

If you liked this post about how to homeschool with a toddler in the house, you might like these posts too:

• 15 fun ideas for homeschool (or supplemental learning) 
• How we do preschool at home
• My favorite parenting books

Photos by Heather Mildenstein