How to Homeschool with a Toddler

Homeschooling isn’t easy. Add in a baby or toddler and it can be down right difficult. We know this from experience.

This past year, while we have been homeschooling Alexie, we also have Zoé with us. Zoé has been sitting next to us since the beginning. When we started homeschooling Alexie, Zoé was only 16 months old. But she has never complained and she actually loves the whole home education experience.

How do we do it? We’ve got 3 simple tips that you can implement to make homeschooling a little easier while you have a little one.

Consider Your Timing

With a little one around, timing is everything. Before you sit down to a block of seat work, make sure everyone (baby included) is well rested and well fed.

It’s also important to keep the length of the seated work short. We aim to keep any seated work limited to 10-20 minutes tops. This is about as long as a young child (under 6) can handle. This short block helps keep both kids focused on their activity and keep everyone happy.

Get Them Involved

Zoé goes everywhere with us. If we go on a field trip, she’s there. If we are doing an experiment, she’s there. If we sit down to read a book, she’s right there with us.

Having them with you means you can keep everyone entertained and involved. And you’d be surprised how much they will pick up. While doing our letter scavenger hunt at the park, Zoé ran around finding letters, repeating sounds back and having fun.

Be Prepared

Having a few activities to entertain your little one is key. I like to keep a few things aside that we usually only pull out during “school time”. Play-doh is popular around here. So are colouring, lacing cards and little figurines. Have something for them to do (that they love) while you work with your older child. This will help you focus on your older child’s work and keep everyone happy. I’ve even used a jolly jumper to keep Zoé entertained for a few minutes while we work on our worksheets.

Homeschooling with a little one can be challenging. But hopefully these tips can help make it a little easier.