Homeschooling with baby and toddler

[BradleyMomma2]

I decided to hs my son for first grade this fall. I sent my notification and have accumulated most of the materials I need. He is excited to try hs. But I'm having serious doubts. My daughter will be 2.5 and I'm due with a third in September. I'm afraid I will be too exhausted to give him attention he needs. I would rather him go back to ps then or get the attention because I'm too tired or the little ones are too distracting. I am just really second guessing myself. Especially because I don't tend to be a scheduled and organized person. Any words of wisdom?

[Cynthia Mosher]

Welcome to Mothering BradelyMomma2! I was in your shoes when I homeschooled my girls. I didn't find it difficult at all but we were really relaxed in our approach - more unschooling than homeschooling. We did some structured learning - as the girls wanted. It worked well for us. :)

[CindyCindy]

I am due with a baby in November, so I am starting to homeschool now (during the summer).  That way I can figure out how it works before the baby enters the picture and also so I am head of the game and can take some time off when the baby arrives.  Other than that I have no advice.

[phathui5]

You can do it!

Homeschooling a first grader doesn't take a lot of time per day. What the school does in 7-8 hours, you can really do in around two. You can work in schoolwork time around your baby's naptime or do it when your partner is home to help with the baby, or have your partner do it.

What saves my sanity (especially after having a baby) is planning times to get out of the house. It's hard to be home all day, so we go to the library once or twice a week, the park when it's nice out and we sign up for any homeschool group field trip that comes up.

[iowaorganic]

I agree with the PPs- totally doable!  we spend about an hour and a half a day on 'school' for DD- who is in first grade.  We also do a lot of unstructured learning and reading and grocery list writing and whatnot.  Nap time for little ones is a great time to do school with the oldest!  Although I find that if I wait until that time I am tired too- but that is because most of my tribe has quit morning naps...