Whenever I tell people that I am homeschooling the most frequently asked question is "What do you do with the twins?" Now I am going to be brave and answer that question:
I put them in a box!
OK, before you turn me in I obviously don't really put them in a box. Last year I just did what I could. I was usually running between two worlds- in the kitchen was homeschool world where I was needed to teach math and answer questions while in the living room was baby world where I was needed to change diapers and comfort boo-boos. I'll not sugar coat it:it was hard and I didn't do my best at either. I had a lot of guilt that the twins got the shaft because they didn't get as much of me as they would've if the big kids had been in school. However, I realize they also got a lot of attention from their big siblings that they wouldn't have had either.
This year I am determined to do better. I am trying to be very purposeful in my planning and implementing "Tot School". My favorite go-to blog for ideas (and where I borrowed the title Tot School from) is Carissa's wonderful blog. She has lots of great Tot Tools and Tot Books I look forward to making for the boys.
As I get this more worked out I hope to share how I organize it and implement it simultaneously with the big kids' school. For now, I have decided to use the workbox system with the twins as well. I am using the shoeboxes and shoe rack that was Jackson's last year. It is portable so I can bring it into the living room with them or bring them into the kitchen with their siblings. Currently, we are only doing 6 boxes at a time. Ideally, I'd like to alternate 6 activities every other day for a week with different crafts worked in every few days.
I'm also planning to have themes like farm week where we do crafts and read books to teach them the different animals. All this depends on me. I'm a little overwhelmed right now between planning for a 1st and 3rd grader and then 2 tots. Not to mention the house keeps having the nerve to get dirty over and over!
Oh well, at least I have a plan that doesn't involve putting anyone in a box!
1 comment:
Yeah … right there with you. Except I have one tot, but somehow she seems like two sometimes! :))) I think it might have to do w/ her Momma trying to get her "caught up" faster than is reasonable.
So, I did great w/ Tot School for one week. And now, I've lost my drive. And the workboxes for the boys, well I'm not there yet either. But we're working on it.
I really think I am still dealing w/ *unschooling* them a lot too. I have to tell them what to do next a lot more than I should have to do, but I know they have been in robot land (I mean that funny; hope it comes out that way) for so long that it is going to take time.
Thanks for your blog. Gives me ideas and encourages me that I'm not alone in this!
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