Homeschooling With a Newborn

I get it... Newborns are hard!  But something that I didn't realize that might be a little more difficult is homeschooling with a newborn baby.  With all the stops and goes, feedings, naps, crying, diaper changes, and more feedings, pumping sessions, ALL THIS STUFF and on top of it trying to get Math, Language Arts, Music, Art, Science, History packed into one day... I have to be honest.... we haven't done ANY homeschool since baby was born.  There were a few days when my mom was here to help for a few weeks, that we did some formal school, but it didn't last very long.

One day, overwhelmed and feeling guilty, I asked a homeschool group online, "How in the world do you do this?!?"  One lady referred me to this.  http://www.lovetolearn.net/most-important-homeschool-lesson  And what exactly is this?  It's called "The Baby IS the Lesson."

Sure, formal education is important.  But it's also important to not run faster than you have strength.  The guilt lifted off my shoulders.  Right now, during these few months, I've been teaching my children a very valuable indispensable lesson through EXAMPLE.  Teaching how to care for another human being, being selfless with things like giving time to read a book, cleaning up spit up, changing clothes, wiping boogers and tears and countless other things.

So, let's talk realistically.  Curly Girly will be six years old in May.  Technically, she won't be in 1st grade until fall.  I COULD even hold her back another year if I really wanted to and do another year of Kindergarten.  This means, she'll be ready to learn how to read, add, subtract, learn how to spell and learn different reading rules throughout the 1st grade year.  Well, I think we're quite ahead of the game... She can do most if not all of those things listed.  Turn the lens toward Ferdinand, who is only four years old, turning five in December.  He'll be entering Pre-Kindergarten.  Learning the letters of the alphabet, sounds, shapes, colors, etc.  Again, I think we're on track.  There's plenty of work to be done with both of them, but I'm not worried.  We aren't behind in anything.

So what's the moral of our blog post today?  Each day is valuable.  Each day my little scientists with their white lab coats and safety goggles are observing what mom thinks is important.  What are my actions saying to them?  What are they learning through their observations?  I definitely hope and pray the lesson they learn is that MOM loves her family and that they know that THEY are LOVED.

The Best Thing About Homeschool Is...

Homeschooling has its perks.  I love being able to see my children's progress.  Curly Girly's eyes glow with anticipation as we learn new concepts.  She reads from the scriptures every night and she's at the point where we don't hardly need to help her anymore.  I owe the credit to All About Reading.  If you need a supplement or full out curriculum, check it out at https://www.allaboutlearningpress.com

Another thing I love is that you can get them started at any age.  The Sprite has recently showed interest in coloring, like her big sister.  I showed her how to hold a pencil while coloring and while she isn't doing it the best in the picture below, she's now holding it like an adult.  She's 2!  I see another artist in the making.

I'm not sure if we'll continue to do notebooking or not in this fashion.  I love the idea of the 3-ringed binder with tabs separating the different subjects we cover.  I think it will be fun for Curly Girly and Ferdinand to see their work that they've done throughout the year.

With a newborn baby, I've really tried to implement lessons on how important parenting is.  Babies take lots of time and I hope that as they grow older, they will know how important a calling it is to be fathers and mothers.  I'm not perfect, and I'm pretty sure my children know that, but the absolute best thing about homeschooling is that we get to learn and grow together.  I love learning from my kids.  The best lessons to be learned are from the mouths of babes.