Would anyone mind sharing what their typical day looks like (or did look like) with an advanced 4, 5, or 6 year-old and a toddler? Also, how much independent seat work, if any, have your given your 5 or 6 year-old? Thank you!
My 6 year old has a regular homeschool day. She has a lot of stamina for school and is a great student, but she is the youngest of 6; which may account for her ability to sit for so long doing school. She is doing third grade work for mostly every subject, but for grammar and writing she is working at about a 4th grade level. We are working on:
A Beka Math
Classical Composition for writing
Writing With Ease
First Language Lessons
Latina Christiana
Spelling Workout
Vocabulary Cartoons
Story of the World
Apologia Science
Fallacy Detective
Building Thinking Skills
Typing
French
Little Musician
Our school day takes between 5-7 hours, depending on the day. The problem I have is that there is so much more I want to do with her/them, but I run out of time. 
Thank you! I guess I was wanting more details of how you would get that full workload done, while also giving a toddler full learning attention throughout the day. Sounds impossible just looking at that sentence - lol. Basically - how do you go back and forth between the two? Is your six year-old okay staying focused on seat work if you leave the room for a bit? Would she stay focused on seat work if you were doing a fun hands on activity nearby with a toddler (or would she be distracted and want to join)? Or, instead, would working in large blocks of time with each child work better (but still have to keep one from distracting the other)? Just seeing what is happening in other EL families!
And also - on your list of subjects, are any done independently? Are you reading SOTW aloud or she she reading it herself (or listening to the audio) and then just answering questions with you afterward? The same question for the Apologia science. Others, like FLL and WWE - I assume you’re right next to her since they’re teacher driven? The math? Thank you!
Since she is my youngest I spend more focused time with her than my 9 and 12 year old. She does some things by independently, but a lot of them are done with me sitting there. I love learning about history, so I like to read SOW with her. The same is true for science. She does her math by herself but I am available if she has a question. I basically run a three ring circus with my homeschool. Some subjects we do together and then I take turns working with each of them on their independent work.
I think she would be distracted if I was doing something with someone else. I know that my older kids get distracted when we do things that they want to be a part of as well. Erika from Confessions of a Homeschooler has a preschooler and she has lots of ideas for keeping the youngest busy with stuff while the other three kids work. It is definitely a difficult job to manage. Is there a way to keep the toddler involved on a lesser level? Usually they want to do what everyone else is doing anyway. My little ones used to climb on to the school table and sit in the middle of it. Talk about making your presence known. lol I hope you can figure out something that is helpful. Juggling kids so each one gets what they need from you is hard work!
I was here…and it was tricky. I also had non sleeping toddlers…no daytime naps was even harder!
I worked it like this mostly. My kids are up early ( with the sun which is 4:30-5.15!) when I wasn’t working I would get up by 6:00. They played happily in the toy room until I got up. My youngest one wanted attention as soon as I was available so that’s when we did LR on the iPad snuggled on the couch together. Often I would read a book also and the others would often come to listen ( even my 10 year old still enjoys a good picture book :laugh: ) we had breakfast, I had coffee then while they ate or soon after we did little musician or watched a YouTube clip all together. I taught any subject I could teach together as a group just adjusting the level as I needed too. I usually pitch to the older crowd as the younger ones soak it up anyway. I still do this now actually. All our history is at the same level on the same topic. As is our geography, languages, science and music. The science I adjust to levels ( oldest is learning the periodic table, youngest one is being taught by her what the elements are used in in everyday life) but the rest I pitch at the same level to all. I find the older ones will hunt for more information if a topic is interesting to them.
I expect all my kids to do their math independently. Always have pretty much. That way the oldest ones who take 40 minutes a day on math are busy long enough for me to spend some quality time with the youngest one. To be perfectly honest a toddler only needs a couple of short sessions daily to be “educated” so 40 minutes is plenty! The rest of the time you are just trying to keep them busy and not distracting the older one from work.
An iPad is useful. A small portable DVD player with headphones would be too. A toy library visit will get you some piece as they explore new toys.
All kids can be trained to leave you be with guidance. If you consistently say the same words and have the same expectations your toddler will learn to give you the time you need for the older one. Just give them their learning in short bursts between activities and they won’t be left out or too upset about it.
It does get easier and this is I think the hardest stage so good luck.
Ekk - 4:30?! :blink: I have nothing to complain about - Lol!
I really haven’t had much of a problem keeping my youngest busy (his favorite is playing in the tub next to the room with some kind of educational music or audio book playing :)! ) - so that’s not big of a problem, fortunately. I’m just wondering if there was something I hadn’t thought of to get more minutes to completley focus on my youngest - instead of just “trying to keep him busy.” I know it doesn’t take much time for EL type learning…I guess I’m thinking of all the lost opportunites when he comes up to me to read a book or build something and I tell him he has to wait, etc. I am even more impressed with large families now :)! Or maybe it’s easier, because the kids would always have a buddy if mom is focused with a student :)!
I’m curious though, since there was a lot of talk on this forum about independent work not too long ago, at what age do people head in that direction. I didn’t know if it would earlier for some EL students (since they can read directions) or if it’s much more related to age. I keep seeing age 8 being thrown out in what I’ve read?
Also, I’m curious about how both of you have math independent at a young age. Right now, my son works pretty fast if I’m with him. If I leave him with problems to do…he takes forever and ever…and I thought I would be getting him in the habit of wasting time if I kept that up (and it wasn’t prodcutive)? I also didn’t want him to start not liking math (he loves it now). I think I got that thought after reading about Charlotte Mason’s emphasis on short lessons?
Thank you for sharing your experiences!
Age 8 is mentioned because that is the age most kids learn to read the instructions so that they CAN work independently. For EL kids it is much younger. However there is definitely an age and maturity factor in play also. Kids under 4 don’t like to work alone for long ( loner than 5 minutes and they are lonely) but that doesn’t mean you can’t work up to longer. From about 3 years and 9 months my son was able to complete a page of math problems independently. This was the same age he suddenly was able to practice piano independently also. I could actually leave the room and have him continue the piece without me! He usually called me back to show me the score but it was a dramatic breakthrough in our lives.
We work mostly in a central room of the house so no one is alone, just working independently. Your EL 5,6,7 year olds are perfectly capable of completing work independently they should be able to do a page of math, copy work, spelling, write a report on something you have read with them and read without you there. Perhaps it will take longer but their is enormous value in having them learn to focus, think for themselves and complete work by themselves. By the time your kids can read easy novels and understand basic math concepts (basically by the time they are at grade levels between 2 and 3) they can benefit from more independent study habits, your job then becomes more of a coach that’s a teacher. You organise their resourses and they complete them.
Of course there are some subjects that are just more fun with mum and perhaps you and your son enjoy your math time together, if that is the case by all means keep doing it! :yes: just be aware that as they progress and you select new curriculum that you can choose between self study curriculums and teacher intensive ones to suit your needs. Some teacher intensive curriculums are well worth the time ( first language lessons for instance) others are not.
We all wonder about the lost opportunity time with our EL kids. Especially the youngest ones! :yes: I try to remember that any time I spend teaching them is more than most kids get…and then try to squeeze in as much as I can while we go about our daily activities. Have you read Marshmallow math? I like it because it gave me so many ideas on how to do math while I do everything I normally have to do. It also opened my eyes to the amount of EL I do in everyday situations.
Good ideas, Mandy. Another thing that helps my students work independently is the list of the work we have to do each day. I have a plan for each one of them, so they easily jump around the list doing stuff they can do without me if I am working with another child and checking it off as they go. They read their Bibles and do some copywork, typing, spelling, math, read poetry and book work on their own. I have a lesson plan with the work for each day telling them what pages to read or what lesson to do. I started a formal version of school with my kids between 3 1/2 and 4 years old. Since they were early learners we skipped through a lot of basic stuff they already knew.
Mandy, we start school here at 5 AM. I try to finish my part by 9 AM because we have family devotions then. On a good day I do. On an average day I finish at noon. I also work from home so I cannot be tied up with school forever. I would like it if my kids were up on their own at that time, but most days I have to wake them. That is my least favorite part of our school day. I like it when they are already up and we can start.
I have a just turned 6 year old and a 2.5 year old.
We start the day with singing and watching some stories or educational videos on youtube as both children can do this - some will be for the younger child and some for the older though they usually both watch each others videos. We may also eat breakfast while youtube is on.
We then do Bible study - a quick story for the toddler with a worksheet or colouring page and then she can play or she continues to colour/draw (my youngest loves to write, draw and colour unlike my eldest at the same age)
I then swicth from one child to the next all morning.
The eldest does two lots of Math (we are using a mixture of Singapore 2a, Horizons and Life of Fred), reading (she still reads aloud to me from books I have chosen for her), SOTW2, BFSU1, spelling (I am not using a currculum for this - I just dictate a sentence with whatever we are working on in it and she writes it), handwriting, creative writing, grammar and then I still read aloud to her from a number of books about whatever we are interested in as well as fiction.
The Math she does partly independently (with me there but seldom helping), I am reading Life of Fred to her, but just because she likes the time with me, SOTW2 I read to her also for the same reason - she needs to really love the books to read them so I seldom force her to read something that doesn’t thrill her a lot, BFSU is very teacher intensive. Basically most of it I have to be there - there is nothing really independent where I can leave her and turn to my toddler - the elder goes out to play outside inbetween her subjects and that is when I deal with the toddler. Does she interrupt us? Of course she does - she’s 2! We just work around it.
The youngest does reading with flashcards as well as phonics and also some reading from early readers, we play with numbers and shapes, she does jigsaw puzzles and we have started early handwriting with her as she enjoys it. I also try to play with her with legos and blocks and other construction toys as this seems to help her language development more than other things I have done with her.
I also make sure both children spend time outside and we discuss things we see out there (this is mostly for the youngest though we have done more indepth studies with the eldest) They also are swimming daily at the moment usually in the afternoons and the eldest has gymnastics and dancing in the afternoons - my toddler comes to these classes and draws pictures or plays with toys - they do have some educational toys there and also jungle gyms that she can play on.
We do not do everything everyday and if pushed I can finish with both children in 2-3 hours, though usually school takes from 08:00 til 13:00 with many breaks inbetween.
My 6 year old is not independent - she can read the instructions and follow them and I rarely have to say much, but she needs me there sitting at the table with her else she will waste a lot of time or get up a thousand times. She is very busy and does not sit still easily (never has - she would be diagnosed ADHD in a school though she does not have it) so we move from place to place all day - she’ll read in the lounge, do Math in the schoolroom and creative writing in the diningroom and so on. I have been working to get her to at least do one or two pages of math by herself and I can now get out the room and expect something to have been done when I come back, but I cannot be gone more than a few minutes.
My 2 year old has not napped since before she turned 2 so she has always just taken part with us no matter what we are doing.
Tanikit - What is BFSU1? I am trying to figure that out but have no idea. :unsure:
It is Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding.
My schedule just changed drastically and I am still playing around with it.
My son is 3 years 10 months, but I also watch a 20 month boy from about 6:30am to 5:30pm. We used to start our day at 9am and end at 11pm.
I guess the easy way for us is to work with my son when the little one leaves. But we don’t always do that or do we have have to.
Firstly the little one naps. He goes down from noon-4pm. My son on the other hand goes down from 2:30-4:30. So i have a 2.5 hour period to work with my son with no interruptions. That is more than enough time to cover a lot of one on one.
While my son is still napping the little one wakes and I get a full 30 minutes of one on one with him.
However when the boys are awake we do a lot of learning taking turns. I am a big believer of a child having alone playtime. So I will do something 1 on 1 with each child for 15 minutes each while the other plays alone. Then they both play together for 30 minutes, or I play with them all together. I also teach both boys at the same time. And my son also likes to teach the little one.
As for independence… James is pretty independent. We could seriously go through a day of studies without me having to actively teach him a thing. He reads to himself several hours a day. I just have him tell me what he reads and he is pretty good about telling me. I don’t actively teach reading anymore. However we also spend about an hour a day reading together. We buddy read, he reads to me and I read to him. During this time we cover non fiction as well as fiction. While reading we informally cover grammar, and literary elements.
I also take advantage of video, we rent DVDs from the library, use YouTube and stream from discovery. Mostly James gets to watch a 10 minute math show. And a 20-30 minute science show that compliments what we are reading. Sometimes the TV time is even less as we might just watch a 3-5 clip on YouTube. Or a section of a show. Several times a week we cover history and geography the same way that we cover science. Several books and a complimentary show or clip.
We also have discussions when we walk. We walk a lot. So we discuss what we are learning then also.
Both boys watch LMus. James spends about 10-15 minutes in the evening practicing piano. I play nursery rhymes for both kids in the afternoon and I get up and sing and we have a dance party.
James is pretty independent with math. He can complete a few pages of his workbooks and does this daily. But he also has several apps that he works with. Currently he is using 4 math apps daily and I set the timer for 5minutes on each app and he has to be focused and do his best work. When the 5 minutes is up he gets free app time. And 90% of the time he continues the set math app. He never sits and does the whole math app time in one sitting.
While I make dinner he either helps me, he reads to me, or he does his math or handwriting at the table. If he gets stuck I am right there to help. We have more discussions. And we often write an essay on the fridge. Usually it is a science one based on what we have been learning.
We don’t really do many science labs at home. Although we do bake a lot.
James has science class once a week which is about 30-45 minutes long. He does gymnastics twice a week and story time once a week, which covers crafts.
Hope this helps. I should note… Our lives are pretty fluid and in a month we might be doing everything differently.
This is the current schedule for my just turned 3. We try to strictly follow it 4 days a week. We skip few things on busy days.
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LR (for languages and EK, usually matching the themes we’re working on in science, geo and history), LM (Skip counting to prepare him for multiplacation) and LMs during breakfast.
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Math (Either RS B or Singapore 1A).
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Handwriting (HWT level K)
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Reading ( Multi-syllabic words from the The Ordinary Parent’s Guide to Teaching Reading)
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Vocabulary: Vocabulary Power 1st grade
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Spelling (All about spelling level 1)
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Grammar: First language lessons level 1
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Reading a fiction book (we’re currently reading WInnie-the-Pooh)
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Reading a bunch of non-fiction books matching our science (BFSU) and math lessons, if we still have time, we read from the Nat Geo Beginner’s world Atlas or Usborne History Encyclopedia.
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Lunch Break and free time playing on the iPad or watching Discovery Education videos
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He doesn’t take naps anymore so we read short fiction and non-fiction books in French, Spanish and German.
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Free play: puzzles, Zometool, etc.
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Snack and LR, LM, LMs. I see if I can sneak math card games, it depends on his stamina and energy.
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Playing outside on the playset when my husband comes back from work, or we go to the park.
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Lego with my husband while I prepare the dinner
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Dinner/ Bath
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Arabic Reading lessons, fiction/ non-fiction books and Quran before bedtime.
I am currently pregnant so the schedule may change dramatically very soon, I have NO idea what to do as my son does not study independently and needs me next him almost all the time…
Our “typical” day changed a few times over the last year :yes:
I work late, and then prepare kids school, activities and some meals for the next day till late. So in the morning when they get up, they usually have some free play time in the living room, while I am resting and nursing the baby. They typically go to their reading corner and read books. I am trying to supply new books regularly, and they are always excited about that.
My 4 yo can read any book, so when the book that they want to read is too complicated for my 3 yo, she would sit there and read it to him.
I usually have breakfast planned from the night before, and if I dont my husband cooks it.
During breakfast we would talk about new books they red that morning on their own, and if they had any questions. We have a lot of non-fiction books available, so often our breakfast talk revolves around those.
Then we do dishes together, while 11 months baby has his play time on the floor with toys and cloth books. Then we do his LR, and older kids joining in for fun, but it is officially for the baby :laugh: . We typically would do LR English, LM for the baby. Then LMs for everyone with everyone participating and dancing. Play some music game, and do another session of LR but this time Chinese.
Then we do some dancing to music or quick round of some physical activity and do another Little Reader session, this time it is Classical Themes Recognition aimed at two older ones, Full Sentences and stories course from Little Reader and Encyclopedic Knowledge Little Reader activities.
Then we usually step out outside, thankfully we have yard and so going outside does not have to be too involved. And we do either pool play, brachiation ladder exercises, trampoline, playground activities or gardening.
Then we are back and while my oldest one has her independent reading time, I spend time with my 3 year old doing math and reading hands on activities. Baby is usually with us. Sometimes he is playing with different things right next to us, sometimes observing or even participating.
Then 2 older ones have their educational video, while I am making lunch. My 11 year old is usually “making lunch” with me, riding in Ergo carrier, as I am narrating everything I am doing.
Lunch, clean up, story time. Nap for everyone, no exceptions. Sometimes my 4 yo takes “reading quiet time” instead.
After nap we usually do some art activity, music or ballet classes.And I spend one on one time with my 4 yo one. Someone else takes the kids for a walk at the beach or to ballet class.
We have logic ( tangrams, logic blocks, patterns, etc) games before the dinner together with daddy. Usually the baby gets his LR, LM and LMs before the dinner as well. After dinner there is usually story time together.
Every spare moment throughout the day kids gravitate to their reading corner, so they get a lot of independent reading time. They have toys as well, and sometimes they play pretend games, but not nearly as much as reading.
Our “typica” day changes all the time though…