Every year, I see mothers sharing that they are pregnant and they want tips on how to add a baby to their homeschool family without interruptions. I added both my younger kids to our family while homeschooling my oldest, so I’m going to share what worked for us.
New Baby
First of all, even if this is your fourth baby, and you are a pro, you are allowed to take maternity leave. Let everyone have a few weeks off from normal life. Ask friends or family to help out. Request meals. Request they take your older child(ren) to the park, the zoo, or the library. Ask other moms to borrow your child(ren) for playdates so you can nap. How long you need to focus on your recovery is personal, so don’t let anyone else tell you the timeline you should be on.
Early Months
If your kids are elementary age, whatever they were supposed to do the first weeks or even months after the baby arrives, can be caught up later. It won’t matter at all. Making a list of educational shows, games, and apps your kids can use to entertain themselves in the early days will help. Liberty’s Kids, The Magic School Bus, or a wide variety of PBS kids shows can educate your kids while you recover. There are tons of great choices, so don’t feel guilty for using them.
If you have middle or high school students, I do recommend planning work they can complete on their own. This might mean signing up for online classes, using apps, or other self-paced programs. Work with them in the months before the baby arrives to make sure they are settled in to use those programs. You will probably still need to remind them to use the programs and check their progress, but it should be something you can do with the baby in your arms.
Getting Back Into It
For me, the lifesaver of all baby products was a sling. I wore my younger ones while teaching my older ones. Baby was cuddled up and happy. I could even nurse in my favorite carriers.
My daily routine included putting the baby in the carrier while we all had breakfast and then doing a morning lesson time while baby was still happy in that sling. I had diaper-changing stations in each room where we had lessons, which really meant I had a basket with diapers, wipes, and a changing pad. That way, the baby could get changed without everyone having to take a huge break, and I could keep an eye on the toddler when the youngest arrived.
With my second child, we could put him in a bouncer, or swing where he could see me and the oldest while we worked. He was a happy baby, so homeschooling in the infant stage wasn’t too hard. However, when my youngest came along, her now toddler brother wanted to help “push” her in every swing, bouncer or Johnny jump-up. For fear of my baby being launched into space, she spent a lot more time in that sling.
Toddler Phase
The toddler phase is definitely the most challenging to homeschool through. Toddlers need a lot of attention. They aren’t safe alone and they are very demanding. Plan accordingly to always have a plan for how your toddler will be entertained during school time. This may be a good time to check that your youngest is hitting their milestones by showing them how to stack blocks and other age appropriate activities.
High chairs can be very helpful if you homeschool at the kitchen table. Baby can play with food if they are ready to eat. However, they can also finger paint with pudding or mix non-toxic finger paints to explore colors. Keep in mind that the more messy the play, the happier the baby, but also the more clean-up time you will need to plan. My middle child’s first exploration of finger paint included dumping it on his head…. So my advice is to factor in bath time.
I found what worked best most days was to set up a playroom with toddler safe toys, and a table for my older one to homeschool at. The toddlers had a play kitchen with play foods, which I ate a lot while teaching. They had cars I could roll to them, or roll for them to chase when they were very young. I got good at multitasking as I sat in the floor to stack blocks with toddlers while also explaining work to my oldest.
It also worked well for us to do school time in our yard. My yard was fenced and toddler-safe. So, the oldest could listen to me read out loud, do messy experiments, or discuss whatever we were learning, while the little ones played. As they got older, there were times they all sat on a blanket or lay in the hammock to listen to a story together.
Preschoolers
Preschoolers are also challenging. They are ready to learn about their world, and my advice at this age is to work with them before your older children. Give them attention just before any important lesson with your older kids. Twenty minutes of your focused attention will often lead a preschooler to be content to go play alone, or nearby for a little while as their siblings are taught. Their need for connection with you has been met, and they are less likely to interrupt because of jealousy over your attention. While the educational system is pushing for preschoolers to start doing school work, they are not developmentally ready to read or write, so it can be hard to include them in school time.
Keep in mind that preschoolers may do a variety of annoying things in a quest to find a connection with the rest of the family. Planning to have family art or game time together, where the older siblings are doing the same thing as the preschooler, can help with this. In my experience, as long as everyone has their own supplies, drawing, coloring, painting, and other art activities can be done by all ages together.
Giving Birth
If you are here reading before having your new baby, I want to share my best advice for a good birth. Make a list for your partner of what to do while you are in labor. The very best husband will often panic when he sees his wife in labor. Everything he ever knew about what he was supposed to do will leave his head. Telling him to pull out his list will help. For the births of our younger children, my husband’s list included: kiss me (it will help you dilate), make me laugh (reduces pain and helps labor progress), put on my playlist, call these family members at these times, and call the sitter for the older kids.
I wish you a beautiful birth and a healthy baby!
About the Author
Laura Sowdon, OTR/L is an occupational therapist, writer, speaker, educator, and creator of the Five Senses Literature Lessons homeschool curriculum. She has worked as an occupational therapist with children in public and private schools, as well as private practice. Laura has taught and managed homeschool co-ops as well as homeschooling her own three children. Laura is dedicated to the idea of educating children at a pace that aligns with brain and physical development milestones and respects neurodiversity in all its forms.
