[numericmama]

My son is 3.75. I am starting to lay the foundation for unschooling right now.<br><br>
Lately he has expressed interest in dinosaurs, so we went to the science center to see some, and then we picked up some books at the library. He wanted me to look at the books with him this morning. I was just surfing, so I interrupted what I was doing and looked at the books with him right when he asked.<br><br>
Sometimes though, I need/want to set aside an hour a day for working from home. I don't want to interrupt those times. For me this is a really important part of us finding our way and making HS work for us. I do need to bring in some funds for the family.<br><br>
I am concerned that if I don't catch the learning moment then I will miss it. Although, this may be a rookie concern. There have been enough times that I have had to come back an appologize for a poor discipline moment and he has been able to talk about it and we've worked through it. It may be that as soon as I am done with my hour, if I remember to come directly back to his question that he can wait that long and still be interested.

 

[xanandali]

I could have written your post. My son is 3 also and I have my own business and its very hard to get stuff done unless is 2am lately because I need to be on the computer to do stuff. I too feel the need to drop everything to do stuff with him. I hope someone else replies with suggestions!

 

[moominmamma]

There is nothing wrong with missing an occasional learning moment. There will be plenty more, and your child will learn persistence, patience and ownership of his own learning if he sometimes has to work at getting your help for this or that.<br><br>
Some WAH parents have found it helpful to create a clear signal or boundary for their young children so that it is clear to the children when they are not available. A red "Mom at Work" sign on top of your computer monitor, or a kitchen timer that you set for him defining your hour of time, or a routine that the first hour after lunch every day is the time you need.<br><br>
Miranda

 

[SagMom]

Honestly, at that age, I'd have someone else to look after him while I worked. Even if it's only for an hour. Even an older child just to play with him or hlep him if he needed help.<br><br>
At 3 y/o, none of my kids had a good grasp of how long an hour was, and, while an older child might understand not to interrupt mom unless there was an emergency, an "emergency" for a 3 y/o might mean he needs more juice, yk?<br><br>
As for missing learning moments--that happens. Lots of times, something comes up while I'm driving and by the time we get to where we can look it up, the interest has passed. If the topic is something that really interests your ds, then waiting an hour won't change that. Many topics of interest have been revisited here months, even years after that first spark. I wouldn't worry about that.

 

[dharmamama]

We are unschoolers. I don't drop what I am doing every time my kids express an interest. I have certain times of the day that are reserved for me to do some housework or just lie on the couch and veg.<br><br>
Unschooling is, to me, a philosophy of how to live a learning lifestyle, and that includes every member of the family. I think that one of my important jobs is to model for my kids that everyone has needs, desires, and interests and that everyone in our family pursues these things.<br><br>
Uschooling is not, to me, total focus on my children to the exclusion of other things that I need/want to do.<br><br>
dm

 

[Kindermama]

Well, if your DC sees you taking time to yourself to do your own work (that counts as learning, right!?) then he will emulate you......so no worries!

 

[fullofhope]

My son is 3 too, and we do an hour of quiet time right after lunch. He knows not to talk to me unless he is hurt. If he has a burning question, though (and what 3 yr old doesn't, so we limit it to one question per quiet time) then I stop what I'm doing long enough to write it down. That satisfies him that I took him seriously and he waits until the timer goes off before running back to find out the answer. If he were older, I'd have him write,draw the question himself. I wouldn't worry that he'd lose interest in learning- if he doesn't still want to find out the answer, it wasn't that important to him in the first place, and another question is probably already waiting. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/orngtongue.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Stick Out Tongue">

 

[numericmama]

Thank you so much! I don't think I will get a full hour every day, but it is probably a good routine to start. He does have several imaginary friends to keep him entertained.<br><br>
I think I will also start writing down any questions he comes up with. I probably should do that anyway as I have forgotten a question or two that he had in the car when I didn't know the answer and didn't have access to resources.