Congratulations, you have a new born in the family. Get ready for the chaos that is sure to follow. Having a baby to care for, is an exhausting task in itself, add in the couple of older ones who need to be homeschooled and you may be ready to call it quits on your homeschooling venture. Here are some suggestions that could make your life a little bit easier.
Plan Ahead of Time
Every homeschool mother gets at least half a school year advance notice before the new born shows up. This means you have about 6 months to plan out what your homeschool students need to be doing when the baby is born. Call in a friend who has strong organizational skills if you can’t do this on your own. Take a look at the material that needs to be covered with each of the elder children for the next academic session. Schedule loosely what you want them to cover each month and each week.
Educational Toys and Learning Activities
Stack up on educational toys that you can get your elder kids to play with on their own. Same with learning activities like puzzles and activity books. Have them practice the more complicated ones with you right now when you have the time to spare. Then hide them away for later when the baby comes, so that they are happy to reconnect with these old friends. Also there will be the added bonus of them being able to handle this on their own without your constant supervision.
Invest in Open and Teach Curriculum
There are some curricula available that need minimal effort from the teacher. These can be expensive, but will be well worth the time and effort that they save you in terms of lesson planning and execution. The idea is to pick these up for the academic session when you know that you may not have the luxury of time to spread your creativity into what the elder homeschool students are learning. It will make your life easy and allow you the extra time you need to spend with your new born baby.
