Entertaining the Littles: Part Two

This is the second part in this series about keeping my younger children busy while homeschooling my older ones. Read the first part for some simple, practical ideas that only require a little bit of planning at the beginning of the year.

This post contains affiliate links, but all opinions are my own.

Preschoolers
The Middles are a little over three now. They are almost potty-trained; they can almost dress themselves; and, over the summer, their pretend play has blossomed. It’s been amazing to watch them develop from toddlers into preschoolers. They disappear into their bedroom quietly for an hour or more at a time!! But, then I check on them to find out what they are doing… Sometimes they’ve emptied their entire dresser onto the floor or pulled all the clothes off the hangers; sometimes they’ve broken all the crayons into fragments and ripped the wrappers to shreds; and usually their diapers are poopy (yes, we’re still working on that potty-training thing). All these developments show me that their “education” needs have changed from last year. 

I am painfully aware that a directionless preschooler can be destructive and disruptive. I could do a three-year-old program with them, but I am convinced that, at this age, they learn more from free play, being outside, and helping out at home. Charlotte Mason, an influential educator from the 19th century, says:

"… the chief function of the child - his business in the world during the first six or seven years of his life - is to find out all he can, about whatever comes under his notice, by means of his five senses; that he has an insatiable appetite for knowledge got in this way; and that, therefore, the endeavour of his parents should be to put him in the way of making acquaintance freely with Nature and natural objects; that, in fact, the intellectual education of the young child should lie in the free exercise of perceptive power..."    - Charlotte Mason

I want to give my three year-olds lots of free time and space to develop at their own pace. I didn’t have to teach them how to walk or speak; I know that they do need my direction sometimes (hello, potty-training!), but I also believe they are capable of following their own curiosity to learn what they need right now. They are born curious and designed to learn: three year-olds don’t need workbooks and academic lessons. However, I can give them activities that engage their senses and imagination.

​To find activities that fit my education philosophy for the Middles, I talked to other moms, watched what other teachers (like their Sunday School teachers) did with them, and browsed Pinterest. I have to keep my plans for them simple, otherwise, I won’t follow through… So, I selected five not-too-messy activities to rotate through during each week, most of which use things I already have in my house. Ideally, the Middles will stay at a table for these activities: 

1. Art: watercolors, crayons, markers on large pieces of construction paper, add stickers sometimes; have them wear a paint smock because dressing up is fun!
2. Tongs/tweezers/clothespins: picking up and sorting objects like cotton balls, small blocks, marshmallows; I’ll change up the type of container that they sort into - egg carton, mason jar lids, nesting buckets, measuring cups - anything different makes it more interesting.
3. Puzzle hunt: hide the pieces of a wooden puzzle in a tub of rice for them to hunt through; I might need separate puzzles for each twin, so I’ll have to test this one out.
4. Scoop and transfer: pouring beans, popcorn, or dried pasta with a small scoop into another container such as an ice cube tray. Keep everything on a cookie sheet to contain the mess. If they start getting extra messy with this one, I immediately put it away.
5. Playdough: a classic activity - I will always include playdough in this list. It builds lots of great skills, even cooking because you can make it together! I will pair it with a variety of other toys, such as dinosaurs, cars, or silk leaves and flowers, to add interest.

Toddlers
While I’m grateful to not have any little babies this year, the eighteen-month-old phase is a challenging age for me. The Little twins are climbing on e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. They know how things are supposed to work and try to do it themselves (you know: spray bottles, trash cans, drawers, scissors, light switches, step stools, the toilet bowl brush…). So, my main tactic for them is containment and distraction.  If the Middles have a not-very-messy activity on the table, I’m planning on having the Littles in their cribs with some new-to-them toys (from our extra stash at Grandma’s house). I don’t mind letting them play alone for thirty minutes because it’s great training for entertaining themselves. 

I also plan on bringing our plastic slide into the school area so they have something safe to climb on. Then, with a long snack-time activity, I’m crossing my fingers that they’ll be content enough during the rest of school time. But, just in case, I have a pack ‘n play for when they are especially obnoxious.

A New Routine for the Year

“The mother who takes pains to endow her children with good habits secures for herself smooth and easy days.” - Charlotte Mason

Every year, I try to keep each weekday’s routine similar. Ms. Mason speaks of “smooth and easy days.” I need the mornings to go smoothly for my sanity. I still struggle with waking up before the kids some days, but I’m working hard on making it a habit.

Another thing that helps with smoother mornings is that I’ve finally gotten my kids to stay in their rooms until 7:00 a.m. (it’s only taken eight years to teach them how to do this!). A lot of the credit for this goes to the Middles’ okay-to-wake clock. We didn’t use one with either of the Bigs, but wish I had; it has saved my mornings. But, the Littles somehow just wake up happy and play in their beds until I get them up - my other kids didn’t always do that in the morning, so I guess I got lucky this time! 

I’m moving school time earlier and hoping that we can get through breakfast and morning chores (getting dressed, making beds, unloading the dishwasher) by 8:30. Our school time starts with reading a picture book with everyone. I love having a selection of library books on hand that relate to topics we are studying. I’ll pick a picture book and plop down on the couch with everyone to get school time started. I’m also hoping to do our Bible time as a whole group. Then, we’ll move into lessons for the Bigs and activities for the younger ones.

The first two or three weeks have always been the most difficult for me - as the mother, it’s my responsibility to enforce the new routine long enough for it to become habitual (for both me and the kids). There’s a balance between sticking-to-a-new-routine-to-build-new-habits and finding-what-works-best-for-my-family-this-year. I prayerfully consider what to adjust in the first few weeks and what I need to push through and make us do. 

To ease us into the routine a bit more gently, I plan on taking three weeks to finish the first two weeks of work. Each grade level is a bit harder than the last. I want the Bigs to be excited and challenged about the workload, not overwhelmed. And, it's the same for me - I’m figuring out a lot of management in the first weeks, so it’s a relief to not feel such pressure from the curriculum, too.

I’m praying for everyone who is homeschooling in the coming year - whether it’s your first year not! Each year brings new challenges and changes as our children continue to grow and change, too. I want to provide some encouragement that, even if you have a houseful of little people to manage, you can successfully educate your school-age kids.