Toddlers and homeschooling sometimes feels like oil and water when you put the two together. BUT, it doesn't have to be that way. While it will always have it's challenges and hurdles, there are a lot of options to keep them busy with a purpose while you get your homeschool lessons accomplished with your other children. Bringing them along for the ride, is just a beautiful part of homeschooling (and sometimes it's not beautiful per say, but the opportunity to have all of your children together and learning side by side surely is).
People often ask me what I do with my toddler during homeschool time, and honestly it changes from day to day and sometimes minute to minute. The key is to have some easy ideas and tricks up your sleeve on hand and ready to go in order to help you get them through your lessons. My friend Jaimie from @simply.learning.together and I have come up with 10 easy ideas or tips that you can try out with you toddler during your homeschool time. Jaimie is a mom of 4 and has been homeschooling for the past few years. While Jaimie and I do not claim to be experts, we have both been (and are currently) homeschooling with toddlers underfoot. These are some tips and ideas that we have found helpful.
Idea #1 Table Toys
Have a set of toys that are only used at the table or right underfoot during school time only, it makes them special and new every day. I also often swap out the table toy options. I have things like counting bears, popsicle sticks, squigz, unifix cubes, little figurines, lots of math manipulative type things. Also, playdoh is a great table activity.
Idea #2 Posting Activities
Seems very basic, but putting objects into containers is very satisfying and age appropriate activity for toddlers. This is a HUGE developmental skill for toddlers of fine motor skills, hand eye coordination and object permanence 👍🏼
Idea #3 Magnets on the Fridge
When we homeschool, our kitchen table is right beside the refrigerator, and so, I like to have magnetic containers (from dollar tree) and to have various letters, numbers, shapes and animal magnets that keep my toddler busy off to the side while we work.
Idea #4 Sensory Bins
You can make these as simple or advanced as your toddler can handle. For my younger toddlers, I skip on the beans and rice and just add the loose parts with lots or containers and scoops for pouring. and posting as mentioned above. I keep her in her high chair or close by so I can keep an eye on her and work with her siblings simultaneously.
Idea #5 Use Your High Chair as a TOOL
Don’t be afraid to use your high chair for a portion of your homeschooling time. I'm not saying strap them in and forget about them for hours, but using small chunks of time to let them look at books, color, or play with a table toy isn't going to hurt them at all. Also, while they're in their chair don't forget the snacks.... lots and lots of snacks. ;-)
Idea #6 Play with a Sibling
This obviously depends on the age and responsibility of your older children. Now that I have a couple older children between 6-8, we have used this strategy almost every day of this homeschool year and it has been so helpful. It takes patience and training to make it work. I think sometimes we assume "watch your brother..." will do the trick, but I've learned the hard way that it takes a little more than that. Start with short amounts of time and work on providing the activity for your older child to facilitate. After some practice, you should be able to stretch your time a bit and eventually even allow your older child to come up with the activity/game on their own. *Credit: Jaimie @simply.learning.together
Idea #7 Take Work Outside
There's something about the outdoors that makes everyone just a bit happier. Now that the weather is nicer, we are able to do this a lot more. Sometimes we work on the patio or lay out a blanket to complete school work. My youngest is a boy and is just happy to dig in the dirt! But the options are endless - bikes, scooters, sidewalk chalk, water tables, trampolines, swings, and more! Pick a spot outdoors that you can sit with your older children while supervising some fun outdoor play. *Credit: Jaimie @simply.learning.together
Idea #8 Blanket Activities
This idea came from a podcast I listened to from a mother of eight. She used a blanket to teach her children to play in a certain spot while you work. Start with a few minutes at a time and gradually get longer. The hope is that one day soon you can build up to a decent chunk of time so that your younger child can play on their own without much disruption to your lessons. I haven't been consistent enough to do this for long periods of time, but I will say that even just five minutes is so helpful when working with another child. *Credit: Jaimie @simply.learning.together
Idea #9 Stickers
Another way to be close to mom is to have my youngest at the table with us. This can get tricky since he's not really able to color or complete an organized activity just yet. However, we do have some fun with stickers! Now, peeling them off can be tricky for little ones so we like to have a little fun with it! I will usually just peel a bunch off and stick them right on my son! His arms, his shirt, his hands...I try to be gentle and only stick a part of the sticker so it doesn't hurt coming off. The thing is, he loves it! He finds them all over his arms and hands and sticks them right on to the paper. I continue to teach my older child and keep an eye out for when he starts to pick off all the stickers. I'm ready with more to keep him going as long as he'll let me! *Credit: Jaimie @simply.learning.together
Idea #10 Mama's Lap
Some days the only solution is for me to hold my little one in my lap. Although this doesn't give me completely free hands, it still is better than listening to a cranky, loud toddler. I find it best to grab a favorite interactive book - like a lift-the-flap book. This keeps his hands busy . I've also used other quiet things like play-doh, stamps, and stickers while sitting in my lap.
"As a mom, you just do what you have to do, and sometimes that means homeschooling one child with another right there with you! As with anything, remember that....
This is just a season."
While I know that sometimes that's hard to remember in the thick of it, it's so true. And soon, when this season is over, I don't believe that you'll ever look back and regret bringing them right along for the journey. While you balance all of this craziness, your children are learning from your character, learning how to be a servant, and how to demonstrate patience, self-control, love, and joy even in those tricky situations! While we want them to learn to read, write and compute mathematical equations; the most important thing we are teaching them is how to serve and love others. I know I'm not an expert in this area, so, in all transparency, when people ask "what do you do with your toddler?" Honestly, I pray and ask the Lord to help me, because there are a lot of days that can get a little chaotic if I don't go into the day with a plan. Everyday it is my prayer that the Lord helps me and leads me. I'm asking the Lord to give me the kind of patience and wisdom to school my babies, and I know that I can count on Him and HIS strength for this season and beyond.
John14:13-14 KJV "And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it."
I hope that these easy ideas and tips that work for us are helpful to you! If you give any of these a try let Jaimie and I know! I love to see your littles in action!
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