Homeschool Chronicles #6 - Kicking the Baby Out!

in #homeschool7 years ago

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One thing about homeschooling multiple kids is that you have to get creative in keeping everyone occupied. We always start our school together with morning prayer, scripture reading and devotion. Afterwards I assign certain activities for the older kids as I do lessons with the younger ones first. It works pretty well because I know that my older kids can follow directions and do the activities independently until it’s their turn to do their lessons with me.

The activities I assign vary from reading, writing practice, fun learning games they play together etc. When you have very little ones...specifically a one year old toddler that walks around getting into anything he can get his hands on, things can get tricky.

Currently we are living together with my mother-in-law and she has a cat named Sasha. My one year old is fascinated and intrigued by this cat. He follows her around when he sees her and yells her name “Sasha, Sasha!” Now this is a patient cat as she sometimes lets him pet her but she slowly sneaks away as he’s doing so and then BOOM, she takes off fast like lightening to get away lol. Then when my son doesn’t see her he asks “Where’s Sasha?” So my other children know how much he loves her and he will stop what he is doing to follow her around.

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Last week as I was working with my daughter, all of the boys were in the room having playtime. At this point they were all finished with their daily activities and lessons. I heard my older two sons yelling,

Stop it, No that’s mine, Give it back, Quit it!!!

I figured my one year old was up there terrorizing them and their belongings. So the next thing I heard my four year old say as he opened the door to their room,

Where’s Sasha? Is she here? Come see if it’s Sasha baby brother.

So of course my one year old storms out of the room to see if he could see Sasha. The next thing you heard was a door slam!!! 😂😂😂 Both of my older sons had plotted a way to get their baby brother away from their belongings and out of their room. We then hear the baby banging on the door and screaming to be let back in.

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Okay now several emotions came over me. My first thought was “did they just trick my baby and kick him out like that?” Then laughter overcame me at the thought of “wow, my sons put their heads together to think of a way to kick the baby out, that’s pretty darn smart and clever.”

So I have learned my sons have skills in planning and plotting to get to an end goal. They literally found a way to get their brother out of the room and keep him out. This is one of the reasons I love homeschooling because I get to witness my children developing these thinking skills and see how they learn to work together in different ways. Eventually he came downstairs with me and my daughter as we did her lessons. The funny thing is I don’t blame them for doing what they did. Our baby has the habit of hitting his siblings when he doesn’t get his way AND he throws their toys down the stairs when he’s frustrated with them. We have a lot of training to do.

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Thanks for reading!

All photos are my own and were taken with our Canon EOS Rebel T6

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I am so amazed how you manage homeschooling. Really. I can't imagine how you are able to prepare lessons for so divers old children and organize your household, be creative with crochet meanwhile and write funny and infoarmative posts. Perhaps you have clones? Or fairy helpers? Or a secret method (pleasssseeeee share your secret... ok. I assume you are just more hard-working than me)
I send you hugs <3

Awww thank you so much! You are so sweet! LOL I don’t have clones but I sure could use some from time to time! It really takes a lot of motivation and dedication which I struggle with often. I have to discipline myself to stay on track because it’s easy to loose focus. I think the main reason I’m able to do it all is because I love being able to stay home with them and I want to keep it that way. So I know I have to work hard to make everything work. Crocheting and Steemit is my outlet, a time to take a break from all the work! 😄 You are so funny, you made me laugh at your comment!! Hugs back at ya! 🤗

Lol - too funny that they figured out a way to get him out of the room. Sounds like you have a good schedule going. I need to get a better morning one down. Right now it's basically just getting stuff done and then we do school work right after lunch (when it rains in the rainy season). Cute pictures! We have a lot of training to do as well... ;) Keep it up!

Lol it was hilarious! Thanks I’m really trying. Not sure how it’s going to work once the new baby gets here. But thanks to @redwellies she has given me the idea of wearing my baby in a wrap all day. This will keep my hands free and not have to worry about going to Check on the baby because she’ll be with me.

Sometimes I don’t get to school until lunchtime too. My thing is as long as it gets done it doesn’t matter the time. Our day doesn’t always go as smooth or as planned.

Thanks so much for the encouragement! You keep up your great work too Mama! 😉

Now that is one funny story.. lol I actually laughed a lot while reading. Kids can sure be tricky and your teaching has taught them how to critical think. Which is one of the most important things you can teach your kids in these days. It is no doubt important tool which will benefit them through life. :)

But, how they got rid of their brother is just genius. lol They used his love for Sasha against him. lol

I am not a parent yet, but from your stories, I can say it will be one big adventure when I do. :)

Thank you for sharing and for the laugh. Have an amazing day. :)

LOL!!! I’m so glad I could make you laugh with this story! Thank you for such a wonderful comment and encouraging words. Critical thinking skills are so important to develop.

Lol they sure did use his love for Sasha against him!!! 😂

Oh yes you will have sooooo many fun experiences with your kids, it’s a lifetime of fun and learning!!! Have a great day!!! 😊

You've endless commitment and energy.

You need to stay playful all the time to get your kids enthusiastic about learning, design a curriculum that suits your kids and work it out, be disciplined yourself to deliver your consistent teaching, and also may need to house chores.

Family and kids should be proud of you, super mom, hats off to you!

Thank you for this encouraging comment @prch! I definitely believe in Fun learning! We use a Christian curriculum that we really love and has worked for us so far. I add on other things I think is good for them to learn too. I definitely have to keep myself disciplined because it’s so easy to get lazy and off track. It definitely takes a lot of Will power to make things work. Thanks again for your kind remarks :)

This is one good aspect of homeschooling, you can extract good things from each curriculum, supplemented by life experiences, and blend them in to have your own customised one that fits your kids most.

Again, allow me to say: “you’re absolutely stunning, super mom!”

Exactly! I really love the freedom to be able to customize our children’s education. Thank you again for your kind words :)

We did a bit of homeschooling and one thing I appreciated is the opportunity children have of interacting with different ages and not just relying on being with kids of their own age. I think this helps to establish their own self... I imagine how busy you must be @crosheille...

Absolutely @cryptocariad! That’s one of the things I love about homeschooling all of my children together. I sit back sometimes and watch them learn from each other. I’m Amazed at what my one year old can do just from watching his older siblings, it’s quite Amazing!

Oh yes! There’s hardly a dull moment at our house. Someone is always into something or needing something. 😅

Incidentally, @pennsif has just posted a contest for a homeschoolers ...

Thank you for the heads up! I’ll check it out ;)

My mother-in-law had cats and my eldest son, when was a kid, they were always pursuing them. Therefore, when the son entered the mother-in-law's room, the cats sat already at the top of the cupboards and watched from there. Cats quickly understood where they could hide from the child)).
Your older children simply switched the attention of the baby . And it worked)))).

Lol! Those cats knew where to go to get away from him! I’ve noticed that about Sasha, she knows exactly where to hide from the baby. Yes their plan surely worked :)

@crosheille You certainly have your hands full and what a gorgeous head of hair the baby has. Your boys were very illustrious in their method to oust the baby by using "fake Sasha" for bait, lol!

Now the question is, will the baby fall for that trick next time?

Oh yes they keep me busy! Thank you! His curls have a mind of their own lol! That’s a very good question! We’ll see if he catches on to their trick schemes lol! 😄

This is SO funny! Your kids are smart.... 😁

Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed reading. They keep us laughing! 😁