The Impact of Social Distancing :: Homeschooling with a Toddler (In the House)

_{Homeschooling is one thing, but it’s a whole other ballgame homeschooling with a toddler in the house.}

Especially when he gives you this look…

Right up until two years ago, it was just Little Mama and I. She was my partner, my tiny little extra appendage that came with me everywhere. Running errands, learning, doing activities, even sharing an icecream treat was, well – easier. Not necessarily better…

Just easier.

That is, until a mighty Little Man came and threw a huge, tornado-like, and incredibly scrumptious wrench into the mix. From that moment on – my time and ice cream treats have been shared evenly between the two…

I’ve learned that my heart is more than capable to save space for more than one child. In my case, it’s made room for over 11. But I digress… let’s talk about my two, earthside: My now homeschooled child (thanks to the safer at home order put in place – no really, thanks… we actually like homeschool), and my 1 year old toddler. In a roundabout way, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise that I had the two nearly one decade apart, because there are some wonderful benefits. My firstborn got all the time in the world with me and when she entered school, I had the ability to be involved – both on and off campus. When I had my second, it was like giving him only child status between the hours of 8:45AM – 2:30PM. He got my undivided attention and has managed to match the unruly amount of photos I have on my harddrives as his big sister. That almost never happens for the second child (trust me, I know – I’m the second child and have maybe 5 solo baby photos to my name).

But times have indeed changed – and now that we will be homeschooling big sis for an indefinite amount of time, that same amount of quality time with the little guy has changed exponentially. But it’s not even the shared attention – it’s the ability to keep this guy busy ….

And the mama of these two…

Sane.

Here are some tips on how we have managed the impact of social distancing while homeschooling with a toddler in the house.

HOMESCHOOLING WITH A TODDLER (in the house) :: LET YOUR LITTLE STUDENT BE THE TEACHER

We have been fortunate to receive online projects from Little Mama‘s teacher that require some creative thought. Anything remotely creative is Little Mama‘s love language. One of her assignments was to go around the house looking for objects that were 2 metres long or apart from one another. Little Mama decided to invite her baby bro to “learn” from her. Here she is teaching him the art of social distancing. When you take a step back, and let your kids do all the work – homeschooling with a toddler has never been so, well… easy. <Uh oh… I may have just inadvertently jinxed myself…>

HOMESCHOOLING WITH A TODDLER (in the house) :: GIVE THEM A PLACE TO HANG OUT SAFELY

Does this look like a guy who feels neglected? He knows as well as I do that a ball pit surrounded by toys at his disposal is the better option between being homeschooled and being the toddler.

While his big sis is in her space, and the littlest is within earshot (you don’t see us, but we’re literally beside him at the kitchen table. She’s doing multiplication, and he’s playing the ball pit version of addition and subtraction (of which Mama, the sucker, has to pick up multiple times in any given hour. Oh well… I guess there’s my cardio for the day).

And if a designated toddler oasis isn’t something you have easy access to, a spot on the floor next to your workstation would be the most sought after seat in the house. Especially with a plethora of playdough toys at your chubby little fingertips. 

I would love to say it’s hours and hours of fun… but I would be flat out lying to you. Having admitted this fact, even if you can get 15 toddler-kept-busy minutes out of it – that’s 15 minutes of fractions that your homeschool kid can suffer through enjoy with your undivided attention. I don’t know about your school-aged kiddo – but that’s about as much math attention I can get out of her, so it’s a perfect compromise.

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HOMESCHOOLING WITH A TODDLER (in the house) :: GIVE THEM SOMETHING TO READ OR DO

I can’t really read to my toddler at the crux of my homeschooling drama, so the next best thing is to give him his own reading material. No, he’s not some one year old genius that can read – but he sure loves pretending that he can. Giving him the independence to handle his own “work” is both empowering for him and practical for the rest of the household. We can’t always be hovering over their play, so give them the benefit of the doubt and let them school themselves! Again… even if that lasts all of 10 minutes. Trust me friends, these short spurts of minutes add up. Any mom of a toddler would probably agree – we can only take what we can get when it comes to the world of toddlerville!

HOMESCHOOLING WITH A TODDLER (in the house) :: BRING THEM OUTSIDE

We all know that time spent outside is invaluable. Especially with an active toddler. Bringing them out once or twice during the day (ideally corresponding to school recess) is probably the best learning experience for any and all of your kids – no matter if they’re a year old, 9 years old, or 35 years old… In light of the safer at place order, we are told to stay clear from engaging in close contact with other people – so that means playdates are a no-no. As sad as it is – we’re learning to live with this new norm. Luckily, our Donkey neighbor might actually be an exception to the rule.

HOMESCHOOLING WITH A TODDLER (in the house) :: LET IT GO (Within Reason, of course)

One thing I have learned from quarantine life is that I really need to let go. Obviously, I can’t just let the kids have free reign and run the household in their usual unruly fashion – that would just lead to a whole other state of emergency within the confines of my headspace. But not always adhering to the “plan” or the “schedule” or the “rules” of homeschool – can’t hurt anyone. Let it go, Mama. Let them belt out tunes on the microphone (bonus points if your sensitive ears can tolerate the notes off-key). Let them spin ’til they fall. Let them dress up like superhero unicorns and bang on pots and pans (especially at 7PM every night to support our superheros of Covid-19). Let them run around in their skivvies and build forts out of freshly washed towels. Just let them. Yup – it’s a mess. Yup – it’s noisy. Yup – all your folded laundry precious hours have gone to waste. But guess what? You just gave them 15 minutes of pure bliss and bought yourself 15 minutes to do what you need to do with your other kiddo sitting quietly at the kitchen-table-turned-study-corner. Currently, while I’m writing this – I am letting my homeschool student write in her “own” journal, in her own grammatically incorrect way, while my 1 year old is dancing around to the Wiggles… on repeat. I am getting work done, and they are in their happy place.

There are far worst things that could happen in your life… so LET. IT. GO.

HOMESCHOOLING WITH A TODDLER (in the house) :: SPEND ONE-ON-ONE TIME WITH THEM

I have to admit, when it comes to my school aged kiddo, I’m a bit of a hoverer. This is not something I recommend to anyone, but it’s the only way we have efficient learning happening in our house. I have to micromanage most of my daughter‘s work. She’s typically a reluctant and very distracted student (home, school, or otherwise), some may even refer to her as the quintessential “beautiful daydreamer”), so I have to be physically next to her to keep her on track. BUT… and this is a very big and welcomed but – there are those moments of pure joy, where I can walk away and let her complete work on her own; when she grasps a concept, and needs to complete a page of practicing the same skill on repeat. Or when she writes her own journal entry. Or when she’s in “art class” and drawing directive illustrations from an online teacher. These are all opportune moments I can safely walk away from my student, and trust that she can fend for herself. These are the moments we can spend some one-on-one learning with my tiniest student-in-training.

And if you’re feeling ambitious, why not check some items off your to do list, like the multitasking rockstar queen that you are, and spoil your littlest with a bubble bath. Don’t forget the extra bubbles and the obligatory post bath selfie to mark the occasion. 

HOMESCHOOLING WITH A TODDLER (in the house) :: ALLOW SOME SCREEN TIME, GUILT-FREE

I recently came across an awesome article that basically freed us parents from the innate guilt we feel when we plop our kids in front of the screen – especially for purposes of connection during social isolation. We don’t do it often, as I completely stand behind the theory that too much screen time plays a cruel joke on their brain cells and their behavior. Believe me – we’ve tested this theory many times – and sister… it’s just not worth it. BUT, if you’re looking for a good 20 minutes of uninterrupted math time with your homeschool student (notice I keep bringing up math?), a solid toddler learning video on Youtube or Netflix (please watch it in advance first – or always have your eye on it as they watch – I see you, Momo… grrr), is what I call the “big guns”. When my husband, who is also working from home, and I, have run out of ideas on how to keep this active little one safely entertained during homeschool hours – we pull out the big guns. Having said that, we try to keep it in the tone of learning, conversational, colorful, and musical. Essentially – we kill two birds with one stone (Not a fan of this saying, but hey, it works in this case)… and give him opportunities to learn, all while keeping him out of our homeschool periphery.

HOMESCHOOLING WITH A TODDLER (in the house) :: LET THEM PARTICIPATE IN “PHYS ED” CLASS

I don’t know about your child’s curriculum, but Physical Education is just as significant to a successful year of learning, as any other core subject. Plus, it gives our little student‘s brain a much needed breather. We don’t have much of a backyard, but we’re fortunate to have a trampoline (thanks, Springfree!) and a water table made just for our little toddler. While big sis is doing her jumps and flips, homeschooling with a toddler means getting their hands (and everything else) wet – so take them outside, blast out some tunes, and get them moving! Their hearts, and your head, will thank you.

Taking my little student and her toddler sibling on a short biking or scootering tour around the neighborhood is a brilliant way to keep them active. We find long stretches of bike paths near the house where layers upon layers of lush green break all rules of social distance from its little visitors. This helps give Little Mama a much needed break from the books, and the Little Man a good dose of healthy oxygen. Something our four walls could never do. 

HOMESCHOOLING WITH A TODDLER (in the house) :: INVITE THEM TO JOIN IN

More often than not, my little guy loves to come to our work stations and check the ETA as far as when he’ll get his dose of Mommy/Daddy/Big sis time. So you can imagine his delight at being invited into the kitchen during “Home-Ec” when our tiny chef breaks out her chef hat and apron and gets her hands deep into a big bowl of cookie dough. Since the onset of lockdown, he has inadvertently become our resident taste tester. How fun is it to join in with some “pretend” pretzel smashing, followed immediately by a big plate of Nachos made with love from his favorite Sous Chef sister. Homeschool has never been so tasty.

HOMESCHOOLING WITH A TODDLER (in the house) :: GIVE THEM SHORT SPURTS OF ATTENTION

I know we have assignments to complete. We have Zoom calls to attend. Dishes to wash. Dinner to cook. (Sidenote: is it just me, or have our hours spent cleaning and cooking jumped to obscene amounts in the last 4 weeks of this global pandemic? I know – once again, great cardio for the day!). Anyway, we have all these things we are expected to accomplish in a day. But the biggest accomplishment is knowing that we’ve kept our family and ourselves safe yet another day. This acknowledgement has allowed us to literally smell the roses, aka, our little ones’ flushed little cheeks or that adorable little curl at the top of their head – and to see just how lucky we are.

Yes, there is tons to do, and very little time to get it done, but a sniff or a snuggle or a quick game of toddler chase isn’t going to hurt anyone. These little stinkers aren’t going to smell this cute forever.

So hit the pause button, and take a nice, deep, sniff.

Or a big, enthusiastic, juicy squeeze.

Even if your toddler is not having any of it…

Life, as we know it, is filled with so much uncertainty. Mama – I know it all sounds a lot easier than it really is. Trust me – we probably have more tears than smiles these days. And I’m not just talking about my overstimulated, under-exercised kids. We don’t have much control over the world around us during this pandemic, so all we can do is go with the flow, find what works best for our situation, and lower our expectations. Just know that you, as these little people’s mama are beyond capable to make this work.

And if none of it works – well… just throw the kids on a gynormous unicorn floaty, and call it a day.

Don’t worry – there will always be tomorrow.

Homeschooling with a toddler is no easy feat, but like everything else, it will work itself out. What do you do to keep your little ones entertained while staying safe at home?

Like everything else, you’ve got this sister…