Homeschooling with Baby
3/24/2014
We homeschool. And yes, we have an infant in the house. How do we combine these two?
Well, I figure it's never too early to start the education process?! :-)
Honestly, we took about 4-6 weeks off of school when the baby was born. That was just out of necessity for my own sanity. We school year-round and one of the major benefits of this approach is being able to take breaks as we need them. This year, we needed a long break around Christmastime, as adjusted to life with a newborn. No problem. We're still basically on track to complete our 180 days of school within a one-year time frame.
What we continued to do during those early weeks was read. While I was tied to my "nursing chair" for many hours each day, I read to the kids. We read some "school" books and some leisure books. My 6-year-old especially liked reading through favorites like Charlotte's Web, Ralph S. Mouse, The Trumpet of the Swan.
We also worked on practical skills. My 10-year old learned how to make some basic lunch meals. We have had many discussions about how babies develop and grow, what they can and can't do at each stage, what toys they like, etc. I've heard it said before, "the baby is the lesson." That is so true. While we may take a break from traditional homeschooling, much learning is still going on.
Now that baby is around 3 months old, we're back into the swing of school. I continue to work through this book "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" with my 6-year-old. He's doing great as he learns to read. And my 10-year-old is old enough to do much of her work independently, requiring only supervision and sometimes help. She's studying human anatomy this year for science, which has dovetailed nicely with life at our house with pregnancy, baby, and growth.
Again, I will say how thankful I am that we homeschool. There's flexibility in our schedule - we don't have to get up early each day, which is a blessing with a newborn! There's flexibility in our yearly schedule - we can take a maternity leave and it's fine! We can lighten the curriculum load in some areas and focus on others for a time. And there's no rigidity even with teachers - Dad can help teach!
And ultimately, my children get to grow up together. My 10-year-old gets to interact with her baby sister... and grow and learn through the experience. My 6-year-old is learning how to be a big brother. We're all learning and growing together. It's a beautiful thing!
