Day 38: How to keep the toddler busy during school time

I would lie if I tell you that homeschooling is easy when you have a toddler in the house. I mean to have one of those is hard enough, but trying to get some teaching done is hard. For a while, we did school while she was sleeping. That worked great. But the older two are getting older and their work load becomes bigger. And this little cutie from the picture above doesn't always take a nap.

So we had to get creative. Sometimes it works to send her to a different room to play by herself, usually that is for a short time only. Mostly, she wants to be where we are. So coloring has helped a ton, especially if I tell her that she is doing school like the big kids. And then we have those toys that only come out doing school time! Here she sits with her Threading animals. And while she sits there, she listens and she learns. It amazes me what she knows already.

So if you ever wonder how to keep the toddler out of the siblings' Math book, try a 'new' toy, a toy that hasn't been seen for a while. They get so exciting about 'finding' it. I have heard people use a blanket with those special toys. Toddlers can be trained to stay on the blanket for a period of time and entertain themselves. Really, all they want is feeling like a part of the family, of school.