[zebrachick83]

so i've been semi-home schooling dd4 for the last year or so, but since having ds7mths and getting pg again

, i've really slowed down on the structure. lately i've been working with her on her handwriting and teaching her sign language and basic spanish. (she already reads well) but i feel guilty, like i should be taking her to museums and stuff. honestly, i just don't have the energy. anybody else hsing while waiting on a new babe?

 

[famille_huggins]

We're homeschooling and getting our core work done, but I just said to a friend yesterday that the weeks are flying by for me. My kiddos are involved in extracurricular activities that we're still keeping up with (children's theatre, soccer, tumbling, church activities), but I feel like every spare moment is consumed. My original plan was to keep schooling through mid-July so we could extend our summer on the back end (to have more time to adapt to the new baby), but lately I'm wondering if that will be possible. I'm wiped out at the end of the day and so far I've had very little time and absolutely no energy to get ready for baby.

 

[ohiomommy1122]

I homeschool 8 and 3 yr old while caring for my 1 year old. Some days can be real tiresome and I feel like I'm slacking but we school year round with lots of breaks so if I get to exhasted we take a week or a couple days off with my last babe we took a 4 week vacation after babe was born and jumped right back into think its easier schooling with a NB than when preg because I'm sooooooooooooooooo tired, like today DS is doing lots of independant work and DD isnt doing much I having such bad BH this moring all I want to do is lay down

 

[famille_huggins]

I'm so encouraged that you were able to jump back in after only 4 weeks post-birth. I'm hoping it's the same for us and that we end up ahead (allowing for more breaks through the year).

 

[zebrachick83]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ohiomommy1122 its easier schooling with a NB than when preg

that's good to hear! i was worried that i would be so wiped out afterward it would take forever to get back on a solid schedule. dd will be 5 in october and i would really like to start her on a full day k program by january at the latest. (we don't have to register her until next october because of her late birthday) so, i'd like to plan a 3 day/week basic program to start in october and run until january to ease into a more structured curriculum....i bought the teach me mommy ebook and i'm thinking i may start with that...

 

[holyhelianthus]

We're homeschooling but right now doing a lot less than I'd like. Pregnancy has never been the best time for me and this time around it's even worse.

:

I plan on taking a month or 2 off PP.

 

[Grumpy72_ga]

Another homeschooling here.... 7 yr old and 3 yr old. The 7 yr old is getting the core, stuff.... the 3 yr old is getting lots of play time!

We have been slacking, but the 7 yr old is really good at "make your own adventure" education (ha she comes up with the darnedest things to look up and learn about online.... so while I feel a smidge guilty... life goes on.

 

[Guinevere]

My kids are in a half-time charter school program where I homeschool the other half of the curriculum, which translates to about 15 hrs. a week of homeschooling. B/c it's a hybrid program, I have to log our hours and they have assignments/projects, etc. due regularly, so I don't really have the option of easing up for a few months until I feel better.

I'm homeschooling my 10, 8, and 6 yos right now.

It's been hard, b/c I am just plain wiped out by mid-afternoon, when we usually have our homeschooling time. We have a lovely homeschooling room downstairs with lots of inspiring artwork to look at, our library of books, all our art and school supplies, a white board, a great table with good lighting, etc., but we haven't used it much this spring at all. Instead, we all pile onto my king-sized bed in the afternoons and I homeschool from there, lol. Clipboards help when the kids need to write, and they use my laptop to type/research, etc. It's not ideal, but it has enabled me to get stuff done when I'm exhausted and nauseous.

I agree that I find HSing easier with a newborn than while pg. Pg tends to be very hard on me; I'm always relieved when baby is born!

Guin

 

[Rev1053]

I am still HSing my 11yo. Lucky for me he is doing a lot of the work on his own. So its not sooo hard to do. We utilize the library a lot so I have been slacking about getting to the library to pick up the books but its been good so far.
So far my plan is to start back up HSing in mid September (due end of Aug) and I plan on buying more of the books so I dont have to be running to the library in the winter with a newborn and a 2yo.
So far so good!

 

[wombatclay]

We "pre" homeschool since dd1 is only 4yo. I wouldn't worry too much about not going to museums or out on structured activities at this point unless you and your little one really enjoy it.

Pregnancy is the perfect time for "close to home" activities or "in the kitchen" activities... handwriting, reading, language, science experiments that you can do in the kitchen/bath, handwork projects, etc.

Once the babe is here and ready to be out and about despite the winter weather we'll do more organized projects in town with the other homeschool kiddos. But for now dd1 has her waldorf playschool group three times a week (where she gets to needle felt, crochet/knit, play the recorder, feed the bottle lambs and chickens, and go on messy muddy hikes with a group of 5 other kiddos aged 3-5yo), we go to the Science Center once a week for dd2's therapy session and dd1 and I play with the exhibits while we're there, and we do learning projects at home that don't involve a lot of "mama effort" (reading, phonics, handwriting, geography, math). And I make sure that she gets involved in the general house stuff I do... we're DIY remodeling and building an addition so there's plenty of hands on opportunities along with general stuff like proportional increases in a modified food recipe.

 

[KQCC4mama]

I homeschool my 9 and 7 year old - this is our first year of it. My DD2 will begin kindergarten in Sept with us as well.

I'm able to still do it as well as I would like. We are currently on our first week of a two week built into the curriculum spring break. Fun times! What I love about our curriculum is that it has built-in Weds. off. That is the key for me to be able to do this. Otherwise, I think I would burn out pretty quickly. My DS (7) will be done 4 weeks after our break is over. My DD (9) is done the third week of June. And then it's a whole summer off to play and be really pg and enjoy our pool!

 

[Mamabeakley]

DH & I were both home/unschooled and this will be our educational lifestyle as a family - and already is. I need to get DS1 registered as an official homeschooler before this baby comes since he just turned 5 and is required to be official this fall. But honestly, we see play as providing the most important education he needs right now, and so we keep our focus on helping him learn good social and play skills w/his brother and us & friends & family. He's interested in lots of things and obviously getting ready to read and experimenting out loud all the time with numbers. It is so clear to me that he is learning all the time and won't stop learning just because I'm pregnant and can't do much (in fact, he's learning a lot of self-care skills and about being considerate of someone who doesn't feel well) or because a baby is around (wow - what a great learning experience to know exactly what it's like to have a new baby and see that baby grow and develop . . ..) My "goal" is to get him into one structured activity a week (well, he already has church and storytime at the library, so I guess one more structured activity, really) this fall - probably some form of martial art since he is very graceful and interested in all forms of physical, mental, and spiritual combat

:.

 

[zebrachick83]

okay, i will immediately stop complaining.

some of you ladies are getting your hs done even with several kids! that's awesome!

at any rate, i'm glad to hear that i'm not the only one feeling cruddy but trying to push along anyhow....

thanks for all the input!

 

[crazycandigirl]

I am homeschooling my 9 year old while caring for my toddler (18 months) and being oh so very pregnant (I do not have very easy pregnancies- its like having the stomach flu for months on end- yuck). We have been homeschooling for 3 years now

:

Our style is almost unschooling, only we do work on a couple of curriculum worksheet pages everyday. While I am so sick and dealing with the craziness of pregnancy, DD does about 3 worksheets a day, helps out with house hold chores, reads a ton of books (5-6 a week), plays alone, plays with her sister, plays video/computer games, is learning to cook, working on her crafting skills in knitting and sewing and it is almost all child led activities. It sounds like a ton, but because we are so laid back with homeschooling, it is actually very natural feeling and does not feel forced or like too much work. (expect for the worksheets- she sometimes fights those tooth and nail-

)

Right now the big topics we focus on in our day to day is pregnancy, reproduction, how our baby is growing developmentally at the moment, breastfeeding, and of course spin offs into impromptu learning about how animals do all of this (she wants to work in veterinary sciences when she is grown- so we spend a lot of time on biology and such).

We had no problem with continuing with her homeschooling after DD2 was born. Within a week we were back into our natural routine. We also really don't take days off, like even the weekends or anything. We learn everyday, we just sometimes take a break from worksheets for a day or two, but it is not very often.

Oh and I had to edit in to add that we do not do a lot of museums, field trips etc. Honestly, being a one car family in an area without great public transportation, and then add in the really tight budget that we have and we just can not afford to do things like that more than a few times a year. We can not afford extra curricular activities either. We do go to the park (this has slowed down because of how sick I am) and play outside and create art and do what we can. Its more of a money thing than it is a pregnancy thing though.

Wow I can babble on ... oh well

 

[famille_huggins]

Really, I'm so encouraged by how many of you are jumping back in after having the baby. That has been my biggest concern. I'm tired and ready for summer break to get here, but I've been planning to extend the year all the way up to 36 weeks just so we could have plenty of time at the end of summer to get used to baby.

My kids are 8 and nearly 7, and while I'm a big part of their schooling, they're fairly independent. We do a lot of extracurricular stuff, though, which is wearing me out. Son is in golf and soccer, daughter is in tumbling, we have monthly tickets to children's theatre productions, weekly trips to the park and library, playdates with friends, field trips to local sights and museum, church activities every week, etc. Normally, this is the life we love and I don't plan to change it for the long run, but boy, at the end of the second trimester, it's EXHAUSTING!

Fortunately, soccer ends in two weeks, golf ends in four weeks, and we have one only more theatre show before summer. I have no upcoming field trips in the planner, and the library and park are easy to do. We're winding down our core -- in the process of reviewing the term in Language Arts. Still have a bit of math to go, but when we finish the other, we'll just focus there. I'm really looking forward to summer and swim lessons and lots of lazy days by the pool. Knowing that there's a good chance I can jump right back in after baby, I'm thinking we'll have more of those than I originally planned.

 

[ComfyCozy]

Homeschooling my 12, 9, 7 and 5 year olds here (and the 3 year old does her books when the others are schooling). The first tri was a bust. Then I was anemic and couldn't do squat with them...I was just in a terrible foggy haze for so long. We're finally getting back in the swing of things, but I'm afraid we're going to end up schooling until the birth. Our years usually start in Oct/Nov, so we're actually due to be on break when the baby comes. I'm going to work hard to try to get them done before I have this baby, so we can take September and October off and then start back in November.