From the moment we first decided to homeschool, I knew we would be homeschooling with a baby in tow and I was terrified. Homeschooling by itself seemed daunting enough, but homeschooling with a baby, too? I was filled with trepidation!
At that time, I had a 3rd grader and a kindergartener plus a brand new baby. Since then, we’ve added another little bundle to the mix so I’ve learned a thing or two about homeschooling successfully with a little one in tow.
It can be done, mama! It’s not as hard as you might think and comes with plenty of special little blessings you might not have even expected. These 8 simple tips helped our family have a fabulous school year while homeschooling with a baby, and I’m sure they will work well for you, too.
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Homeschooling with a Baby Tip #1: Use Nap Times
Babies sleep a lot. In the newborn phase, they take 4-5 naps a day and even as older babies, most of them take at least 2-3 naps. Use those times wisely! I arranged our homeschool schedule to reserve the toughest subjects for when baby was asleep and I knew I could give my school age kids my undivided attention. Just be flexible! Babies don’t always sleep on demand or stay asleep as long as we have planned. Roll with it and make it work!
READ: Who is GOD? Your Little One Wants to Know.
Homeschooling with a Baby Tip #2: Use Feeding Times
Babies eat a lot, too! My little ones always wanted to nurse as soon as they woke up, so I used those times for specific homeschool lessons we could do out loud together. For example, you can nurse or bottle feed baby (or give a snack to an older baby) while reading a story aloud or teaching a Bible lesson. We used baby’s first feeding time to read History and Science lessons aloud together. Later in the day, baby’s 2nd feeding session was also the big kids’ snack time. I would set them up with a snack while baby nursed and I would read aloud from a chapter book. Years later, these moments are some of their most cherished memories!
Homeschooling with a Baby Tip #3: Wear Baby
Hands-down my favorite way to occupy baby while homeschooling is to wear baby. With my first two kids I tried various baby slings and front packs. I must have gone through a dozen but could not find one that was comfortable enough to actually keep on longer than 10 minutes. Then with Baby #3 I got a Moby and fell in love! The Moby gave me just the right amount of back support and distributed baby’s weight so I could wear her for hours without feeling weary. I even learned (from YouTube videos) how to nurse her in the Moby – hands free! Babies love feeling safe and cuddled up next to Mommy! It’s a wonderful won-win for everyone and makes homeschooling with a baby so much easier!
Homeschooling with a Baby Tip #4: Assign Sibling Duty
Bringing home a new baby is exciting for everyone in the family and the older sibs naturally want to be involved. Capitalize on that sibling love and get them to take a turn “babysitting”. In our daily homeschool schedule, we assigned each older child a block of time, around 15 minutes each day, to watch over baby, read books aloud to her or play with her. As baby got older, she really enjoyed this special one-on-one attention. My kindergartener was super proud to have a captive, grinning audience to “read” his listen to him read his beginning readers. Thee moments helped contribute to precious sibling bond and wonderful memories!
READ: Unique Baby Girl Names and Rare Baby Boy Names Snatched from History
Homeschooling with a Baby Tip #5: Blanket Train or Pack-n-play Train
During those early years, I was googling about homeschooling with a baby and came across the idea of blanket training a baby. I had never heard of this concept! It is basically where you train a little one, right as they are beginning to crawl, to stay and play on a blanket. In other words, the blanket creates a boundary line for baby. After reading about it, I decided I didn’t want to mess with the training involved, but I loved the concept. So, I changed it to a Pack-n Play that we tucked into the corner of our homeschool area. Our little one loved being right there with us as we were homeschooling. She giggled and laughed as we did school and thought she was part of everything. As she got bigger and wanted to play, I put together several little baskets of toys that we would rotate through her Pack-n-Play to keep her engaged. Of course, she wasn’t kept in there all the time, but she learned how to play quietly and be content just being near the family.
Homeschooling with a Baby Tip #6: Baby Proof
I never did baby-proof my home with my first two children. (I know – gasp! Right?) Instead, I simply taught my kids what they could and could not touch. However, when we started homeschooling with a baby #3, I realized that my attention was often diverted to my school age children and the little one, as she began to explore the house, was getting into trouble! The first thing we did was install a gate on the stairs to prevent her from going upstairs and then I covered sockets and make a few other baby-proofing changes to the house. Knowing she was safe gave me the sense of security I needed so I could buckle down and be the teacher to my older kids.
Homeschooling with a Baby Tip #7: Hire Help
Life with a baby is busy! Add in homeschooling and it can start feeling a bit chaotic. If you think about it, all moms get help in some aspect of life. Some parents send their children to public school, choosing to look to others to meet the educational need of their kids. Other parents hire out yard work or let someone do the grocery shopping for them. Some families hire cleaning help or eat out, allowing others to do the cooking. There is no shame in hiring out help! In fact, smart moms know they cannot do it all and make plans to delegate tasks to others. That’s part of good home management and is especially important if you are homeschooling and juggling a baby, too!
Especially if you have a big project going on like moving you’re going to need some help. For example, you could hire a company like Yes! Moving & Storage if you are planning to relocate. This moving company does residential and commercial moves but is also fabulous if you just need help with the heavy lifting of items like pool tables. They are the best pool table movers in Dallas! Mommies with little babies probably don’t want to be doing heavy lifting like that anyway so soon after giving birth. Yes! Moving & Storage, located in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area, can make life so much easier by doing all that hard work for you.
Homeschooling with a Baby Tip #8: Give Yourself Grace
Hands down, the best tip I can give you as a Mommy with a new little one in your arms, is to take it easy and not expect too much from yourself or your big kids. Bringing a new baby home is a huge change that affects each member of the family differently. Homeschooling is as much about teaching life skills and social skills as it is about teaching academics. And learning how to take care of a baby and love another little human being is one of the most important life skills you can ever acquire!
So, let the older ones take part in caring for the baby. Big siblings can learn how to feed baby, change diapers, fold laundry, play with baby, and answer their cries. If you don’t finish all of your academic work for a day – who cares? Just pick up where you left off the next day. Remember, one of the advantages to homeschooling is that you can school on off-days or in the summer. So don’t worry that you will get behind! Your big kids are learning invaluable life lessons in learning to care for this new little one. In fact, when our last little one was born, we took off several weeks when she was born to just enjoy her all together and adapt before plunging back into school. You can make up those weeks later in school, but you can’t get back that time with your newborn.
READ: What’s Your Homeschool Style? The 7 Most Popular Methods
You Can Do This!
Your little one is only a baby for a year and it passes so quickly! Live life slowly and soak up all that sweetness! These moments are just as important as learning math facts or the 50 states & capitals. In fact, I would venture to say that the love that forms and the bond that grows is of much greater significance for YOU, your older children, and your baby. Yes, mama! You can have an awesome year homeschooling with a baby!
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