Posted: 11/May/2009 at 11:22am | IP Logged

Hello,

Anyone have any tips or tricks for keeping younger children (especially toddlers) occupied while trying to do stuff with older kids? 

I have a problem with my 21 month old.  A lot of things I can give her an easier version of something to do (color, paint, crafts) but reading is a real problem for us.  My almost 4 year old loves to sit and read books together.  But, whenever we try my toddler needs to be right there.  Which wouldn't be a problem except she just wants to flip the pages back and forth, or rip them to shreds if its a real (not board) book.  She has to be on my lap and my arms are just not long enough to keep the book out of her reach. 

I've tried sitting her next to me, with my son on the other side.  I've tried having special toys that only come out at reading time.   Unfortunately neither works.  I have a selection of board books that are available all the time so that the books wouldn't seem such a special thing but that's not working either.  And, unfortunately, she's not much of a napper.

Anyone have any ideas?  What works for you?

Thank you,

Posted: 11/May/2009 at 1:23pm | IP Logged

LOL.  We've definitely been telling her no whenever she rips the pages.  I'll take her and put her in "time-out" for awhile. Unfortunately, completely removing her from the situation is not possible.  Very small house, the kids don't have a room of their own and she's too young to be unsupervised.  No crib since she was climbing out of it.  So, I'm definitely disciplining but of course that causes disruption and we're still not getting any reading done.

I guess I'm looking for suggestions on how to make it fun for both of them while still actually managing to read anything.  Anyone ever try a "circle time" type arrangement?  Where the kids sit on the floor looking at "teacher"?  I'd have to sit on a stool or stand and hold the book facing out but I'm not sure this would benefit my son very much.

Posted: 17/Jun/2009 at 8:42am | IP Logged

CNBarnes wrote: This is going to sound kind of harsh - but it's not meant to be.   I just happen to be a very direct person. Try discipline. Telling your 21 mo "No" would be a good start.

seriously? I've homeschooled my kids for over 9 years now and it's very hard when there is a new baby in the house. When I had my second child I had to have someone watch her a few hours per day so I could have more time to homeschool my oldest back then.

My husband does not help with the homeschooling of our childrne whatsoever. He does the fun stuff like showing them life skills (chores he doesn't want to do basically) and music because he is musically talented, whereas I am not. I'm thankful for those things but he doesn't have a clue as to what it takes on a daily basis and what I deal with mentally/emotionally in the course of a day when "not" homeschooling. Add on homeschooling (and the fact that I work from home) and that just makes it all even tougher.

Posted: 17/Jun/2009 at 8:45am | IP Logged

dottieanna wrote: Anyone have any ideas?  What works for you?

So your 21 mos old never naps? or are they the type that will nap but not nap for very long? If you can get your 21 mos old to have some quiet time then that would be helpful.

Also, how old is the child you are homeschooling? How much time do you expect/want to put in to each day as far as academics? My youngest child is 7 and we did good to get in 1-1.5 hours daily this last year while she was in 1st grade level. I don't expect that to get any better once the baby comes in the fall and that's fine. I know what level she is at and how much she knows so I don't worry so much.

And lastly, is it possible for you to wait until your husband is home and do the brunt of the school work while he tends to the 21 mos old? Do school work on Sat/Sun and that would give you a couple days break during the week. The best part about homeschooling is that you can do it at any time of day and any day of the week and year round if you want.

Posted: 29/Jun/2009 at 1:04pm | IP Logged

Unfortunately, no my youngest does not nap (or at least, very rarely and not for long).  I've been trying different things to keep her occupied and quiet - the Clickstart computer, coloring - unfortunately she needs to be monitored pretty closely and loses interest very quickly.

My son will be 4 in August.  I'm not trying to do a ton but he's very interested in learning to read and I want to jump on this while the interest is there.  I'd be glad for 15 uninterupted minutes.

Unfortunately, since they are so young and don't nap, they are usually getting pretty tired by the time my husband gets home.  He's not home until around 6:30 and by the time we do dinner, baths, etc. they are pretty wiped out.

Right now, I'm trying reading at the table while they eat breakfast and lunch.  So far it seems to be working okay but it doesn't give me too much time.

Posted: 30/Jun/2009 at 6:05am | IP Logged

Do you still have a high chair for your 21 mo?  Put them in there, with coloring, food or board books while you read for 15 minutes.  As you read it can be "teacher style" with your 4yo next to you then when you finish the page turn the book to show the toddler. 

Posted: 30/Jun/2009 at 3:11pm | IP Logged

That's pretty much what I'm doing.  While they are eating (she's in her high chair) I read the story to them with the book facing them.  Fortunately I can read upside down, especially a kids book, so it helps.  I have a bunch of games and activities that I want to do to reinforce the phonics and sight words and I haven't figured out a way to do them without interference yet but its a start.

Posted: 12/Aug/2009 at 6:26pm | IP Logged

I understand that it's frustrating to have to be disciplining her when you want to be teaching him, but here's the deal.  You're never going to be able to teach him if she doesn't learn to mind her manners and sometimes let you read a book to him.

Honestly, it sounds more like she's jealous.  She's trying to get attention and she doesn't care if it's good or bad attention.  Put her someplace safe (high chair, playpen) and return her to it if she gets out.  Do not make eye-contact or talk to her, just calmly return her.  She'll get worse at first, then throw a fit, then learn you mean business. 

She is should be able to either sit while you read or find something else to do.  I know it's going to be tough, but hang in there.  Be firm--one of you is going to win.

Posted: 12/Aug/2009 at 6:29pm | IP Logged

Well, I just re-read the whole thread.  I guess we're not telling you what you want to hear.  You want to know what will get her to be interested in the learning time.

IMHO, if you can't read to one child because of the other one's behavior, it's probably not going to change if you stand on a ball, sing all the words and wear a clown costume. 

Posted: 16/Oct/2009 at 7:36am | IP Logged

We do circle time!! Mine are 4 almost 5 and just turned 3. We  do a "dancing" acitivite first( somthing to burn off a little energy, like a letter hopscotch game or something) then a  song like B I N G O and THEN we sit down to read and I do the reading THEN Show the pictures. If there is more than one book that wants to be read, we do ANOTHER energy activity and then read and so forth. HTH!

Posted: 22/Oct/2009 at 10:58am | IP Logged

I'm reading this and finding that i've been lucky I have 4 kids here and everytime we added a child they just went along with everything that happened I put the baby in the swing next to us or in the bouncer or in a snuggly and they got used to "school" but my now, almost 3 year old did have some rough moments when she wanted attention at times that i could not give it. i found that having activity boxes set up helped a lot.I found some shoe boxes and each box had a different activity One is beads large enough to be safe, another has lacing cards ,another puppets,pipe cleaners are fun ,...

hang in there it will all fall into place and 10 years from now you'll say "how did I do that?"

I Know what life is like without nappers none of my kids ever napped .

it can be hard hold your ground.make school the priority and they'll see that.

Posted: 31/Oct/2009 at 8:30pm | IP Logged

I agree, I have six that I homeschool and the last is 2.5 yr old. She does want more of my attention than I can give at times- but the more that you make them feel like they are a part of things the better it will be. 

I have made her up her own set of school things - her own pencil box and color/work book - then when we have time for reading or Bible - she does her work and is supposed to be quiet. Obviously I have to remind her that she is to be quiet. But for the most part it has worked well.

Posted: 06/Nov/2009 at 4:12pm | IP Logged

Thank you everyone for all the replies and suggestions.  We have found some things that are working at least some of the time and she's a little older now, which also helps.   We don't have room for separate desks and even our kitchen table is too small to really separate them so my 2 year old was constantly stealing her brothers worksheets.  I started letting him do his work on a clipboard sitting on the couch and that has helped a lot.  They each get their own clipboard with a few worksheets on it and markers/crayons/pencil to do their work (she has to be watched closely since she will color everything if given the chance).  This helps keeps her happy because she's also doing school.  She also loves to cut up sheets of paper or foam although she has to be watched very closely with this as well.  I'm hoping to get a chalk board to hang on the wall soon so that she can always draw/color on that without me having to worry about the walls and furniture since chalk is removed much easier.

She is better about the reading now.  We try to do a lot during meals, so she's occupied, even though she's no longer in a high chair.   I'm feeling much more optimistic now since I'm seeing how quickly things can get easier (I first posted this in May).

Posted: 07/Mar/2010 at 3:30pm | IP Logged

2 b honest i havnt read all the replys ..so if this has been said i apologise

If my ds who is 3 doesn allow me to do dd reading i just wait till his nap time or i use bed time story time to read with her

also TV is a awsome tool...there are lots of educational shows that your younger one could watch