How is it to homeschool with a newborn?

[majazama]

I am due in July and I have two girls that are 7 and 5 1/2. They are old enough to not need my attention at all times, but I'm wondering how it is for moms who homeschool with kids these ages (plus a NB).
Right now, they are in the school, only because my oldest loves her teacher and the youngest has a really nice teacher too.. but next year there will be other teachers that I don't jive much with. I'm pretty picky!
I was keeping them at home for a few weeks since mid-april, and loving homeschooling them .. they were really into learning whatever they were wanting to know, of course. They still have that love of learning. I became more aware of making sure that their days were filled with learning experiences, even if just measuring flour to make cookies. I don't have them registered in lots of activities, because I don't have a vehicle, but I think it's good to be in a few while homeschooling, right?
So I'm wondering how does it work when one has a NB to take care of as well? Do you ever feel like it's too much?

[4Blessings]

Mine are 8,7,2 and 4 mo. Having a newborn in the mix was a challenge but you work through it. If nothing else, they learn to have a little patience!

We do participate in outside classes but I took a few months off right after this babe was born. It was nice to have that break in "needing" to be somewhere.

When I hear the school bus go by at 7:30 and I'm still in my pj's, in bed, nursing the baby I'm happy that I don't have to have the kids ready for school. Homeschooling gives you quite a bit of flexibility with a newborn.

Of course there will always be days where 3 (or 4 kids) seems like too much! No matter how you choose to educate your kiddos you'll have those days

Enjoy!

[majazama]

thanks for the reminder

[HeatherB]

I've done it once with a newborn and will be doing it again in the Fall. It's a challenge, but I think it's easier than a toddler. I also think it's easier than packing up a newborn to take kids to/from school. (I had one in preschool when I had my last newborn.)

The reality is you can do a lot with a sleeping baby on your lap or a nursing baby in your arms. Especially at 5 and 7, they're capable of grabbing the next book for you, getting you a glass of water, picking their own snack from the basket, etc.

Mine will be 8.5, 6, and 3 in the Fall when baby comes. I'm really trusting that we CAN do, and hopefully even better than it went last time.

[scheelimama]

It's been tough, not gonna' lie. But I also have a toddler in the mix and she accounts for much of the difficulties in the day. And like other's have pointed out, 3 or 4 children will seem like a lot many days no matter how you educate them. Everyone learns to be patient, that's for sure. You'll be fine. And taking a newborn along to coops and whatnot is easy, they'll sleep anywhere usually. It gets tougher when they get a bit older and start resisting sleeping on the go. Then you become a bit more housebound in the afternoons. But you'll be fine.

[crunchy_mama]

We are pretty laidback but the transition went pretty smooth. The first 6 wks we took pretty easy, but after that jumped back in- my older two were only 5.4 and 2.7= I can only imagine it would have been so much smoother w/ them even older. The carrier helps a ton- lots of reading and nursing time together and capitolizing on the baby's sleeping time.

[majazama]

thanks for the encouragement, ladies I think it will work out great, I just needed to hear it.

[zjande]

We've homeschooled through 3 newborns' arrivals, and lemme tell ya- they're easy peasy, it's the toddlers that are super challenging!! LOL Newborns sleep all the time & are quiet. Even when they're crying it's not really loud. Try homeschooling while a toddler screams! lol Or throws everything off the table & colors on Brother's school work, etc.

Seriously though, we homeschool with a newborn like we do everything else with our nb- by slowly but surely finding a new routine. And it all works out.

Until they reach toddlerhood.

[MammaG]

I have a 5.5yo, a 4yo and a 5mo. This was our first year 'officially' homeschooling and it's been great. Baby thus far has been happy to just be included in the sling...he even naps in there most of the time.

But I'm a little bit dreading the mobile baby stage...

[craft_media_hero]

I have been wondering this, too. It's good to see the encouragement on this thread.

Glad to see you here, majazamama!

[Believing God]

I have a 10 yo and a 9 yo, and we added a baby into the mix in August. In preperation for the slower pace, I schooled them through the summer last year. While I have no problems with the kids playing outdoors (and encourage it!), I don't feel they need to be out all. day. long. Doing that did help. It took us until some time in October, I believe, to get back into the swing of things. Baby didn't really work herself into a predictable routine until the past month or so, which made things challenging. We are going to school through this summer, also, in anticipation of the lovely thrill of schooling with a toddler next year, and to also finish up this year's work. My kids do get breaks, such as the two weeks we just spent at my parents' house, and the week they'll be at their other grandparents' house next month. I'm actually looking into an online program, at my husband's request. He doesn't think I'm doing a bad job, he just wants to help out and give me a bit more time for myself (since he's gone long hours). Any way, long story short, schooling with a newborn didn't seem that challenging, just slower.

[GiantGi]

This was our first year as official homeschoolers. We had a baby in August too! We started officially schooling in July that way in August we could take some time off. Its been pretty easy so far. My two year old... now that is another story. LOL!

[mamaXmia1090]

My mother helps a great amount so I cannot not take all the credit. I was homeschooled as a child so my mom was all for stepping in and helping homeschool the two older while I care for the babies.

On days she is not here, I have to say, it can get pretty hectic, but it is NOT something that can't be done. I try to schedule my dc's work around the babies naptimes. Since they're only 3 months, not much of a schedule, but we know it will only get easier as they get older, until they can walk, lol.