How do you homeschool when you have other small children at home?

Question:Is it difficult to maintain structure and attention when you are bombarded with interruptions? thanks! I have four kids, and my youngest is four. I teach him as well, but a different curriculm of course. He does lots of arts and crafts, coloring and such, while I am teaching the others. Then when it is his time, it is just one on one time with mommy. When he was younger, I use to have a tv upstairs in our classroom to keep him busy as well as his own school box, as we called it. He had his own place to sit in the classroom during story time and such. It can be quite difficult, but you have to be organized and plan, plan, plan. One thing, I always tell people, is dont worry if the little one screams out during your teaching time. You have plenty of time, you are the teacher to go over it again if you need too! I have 2 kids my youngest whom is 4 well i bought her a desk and things for the computer to keep her still while i teach my son and shes learning too. I'd say, relax a bit on the structure. But it depends on how small you're talking and how many other kids you are trying to homeschool.

Babies? Toddlers? Preschoolers? Toddlers and preschoolers can be kept busy with their own activities, but right near or with you so you don't have to go off and see what that horrible noise was. Also, try to structure things around baby and toddler schedules. Make the most of nap times. And high chairs. My children are 10, 7, and 5. I had this problem a few years ago. I solved this problem by making up "lessons" for them like in preschool. I printed up worksheets for them to color. Let them have a plastic box for crayons and pencils. Below are the main two sites I used. HOME SCHOOLING.

Are you developing a lesson or unit? Use the links below to let technology help!

http://www.techsparc.com/

Using Technology to Develop Lessons

http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/

http://www.e-tutor.com/

http://www.funbrain.com/index.html

http://www.how-to-study.com/

http://encarta.msn.com/

http://www.techsparc.com/

http://www.apsva.com/schools/gunston/people/teams/elective/jenny/index.htm

http://www.americanschoolofcorr.org/

http://homeschooling.about.com/od/teachi...

http://www.homeworkspot.com/

http://www.picadome.fcps.net/lab/currl/abc/

http://www.apples4theteacher.com/math.html

http://school.discovery.com/

http://teacher.scholastic.com/index.htm

http://www.readwritethink.org//index.asp

For Math.

http://mfeldstein.com/index.php/weblog/national_library_of_virtual_manipulatives

Interactive Math.

http://www.subtangent.com/maths/index.php

Kevin, Liverpool, England.

Teaching Resources

This is a shot in the dark but I hope that some of the links will help.

Teachers use these resources; see if they are useful to you.

http://www.techsparc.com/

http://www.funbrain.com/teachers/index.h...

http://www.funbrain.com/index.html...

http://www.awesomelibrary.org/classroom/...

http://www.edhelper.com/

http://www.apples4theteacher.com/math.ht...

http://www.theeducationcenter.com/...

http://school.discovery.com/

http://www.refdesk.com/

http://www.homeworkspot.com/

http://teacher.scholastic.com/index.htm...

http://www.readwritethink.org//...

http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/...

Interactive Math.

http://www.subtangent.com/maths/...

PRESCHOOL.

http://www.coloring-page.com/

http://www.coloring.ws/

http://www.funbrain.com/index.html...

http://www.letsreadclyde.com/

http://www.picadome.fcps.net/lab/currl/m...

http://www.starfall.com

http://www.pbskids.org

http://edtech.kennesaw.edu/web/3-5.htm...

http://www.schoolexpress.com/

http://gamequarium.com/

http://jambav.com/jambav/games/games.php...

http://www.techsparc.com/ealrs/kindergar...

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subject...

Zoom Dinosaurs is a comprehensive on-line hypertext book about dinosaurs. It is designed for students of all ages and levels of comprehension. It has an easy-to-use structure that allows readers to start at a basic level on each topic, and then to progress to much more advanced information as desired, simply by clicking on links.

Kevin, Liverpool, England.

More Questions & Answers...

How do you homeschool when you have other small children at home?

Education Q&A Topic