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Posted by MrsRitchey

What do you do with your preschoolers? Mine seem to continually interrupt my day, and our school day lasts too long to get it done while they nap. What do you do? Maybe this is just the way of things, and I will have to cope!

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Posted by mommyx3

I'm certainly no expert, as we have just started and my first two good days may just be a fluke! I do have some problems with the preschoolers interrupting, but so far nothing unmanageable.

My three year old loves to do school. He is even more eager than my 5 year old who would much rather be off doing his own thing. So he is usually right there joining in on whatever I am doing with his older brother. I also do one or two preschool activities with him as well. He loves dinosaurs so we spend some time reading dinosaur books or doing dinosaur crafts. He does get disruptive sometimes though as he is a big talker. This can make it difficult. I try to calmly explain to him that he needs to be quiet right now because it is difficult for me to concentrate on teaching his brother if I am interrupted, and I can't properly listen to what he needs to say to me either. I try to convey to him that it is not his talking that is a problem, it is just the timing of it. So I give him the option of staying there quietly and participating in the lesson or I set up some structured play for him in another room. Then I make sure I take a short break after my older son and I are done working on whatever it is we were doing. I consider his incessant talking during school to be a need for some attention from me and I find that even 5 minutes of one on one time with him makes all the difference. I'll often use this time to do his preschool stuff and give my older son a break.

As for my 14 month old, the biggest challenge is to make sure he doesn't find something he shouldn't put in his mouth, as he seems to find something even after I've just vacuumed. He is generally very good natured and doesn't make too much of a fuss. He stays with us where we are working until he gets a little fussy. Then I'll either nurse him or gate him in our family room with some toys. He takes a good 2 hour nap during our school time so that is a help. He is usually just content to be where the action is and so far has not been a problem. I am sure I'll change my tune once he is walking though, which I imagine will be soon.

I also feel I have it rather easy in that we're only doing kindergarten. Yes at this level they need you there constantly to guide them as they can't really do any of their work independently yet, but it is very relaxed and easy material for me to teach. Regardless of what you are teaching though, constant interruption is very frustrating and can make you feel a bit overwhelmed.

My advice is to try to find a way for the preschoolers to be a part of your school and see if that meets their needs. You can put away toys that they can only play with during school time so that they are interested in playing with them. And take short breaks to hug them and talk to them and play with them, even if only for 5 minutes. This will not fix all of the problem, some days you will just have to cope with distractions. But hopefully we can all find something that works for our family so that the easier days out-number the more challenging.

Good luck!

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Posted by Endoftheroad

Welcome tot he homeschool world! Teaching the youngers is so much fun... I know you will have many more fullfilling years ahead!
Lea

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