A Year of Homeschooling with a New Baby

So, I last posted in August.  It's been quite a year.  Adding a baby to the mix (right after an interstate move) was not easy in any way.  What got us through was our resources that involved a minimum of effort from me.  My boys took multiple outside classes.  Bee went back to taking writing from WriteGuide.  He kept up with Homeschool Spanish Academy for much of the year.  We used Khan Academy.  They took piano lessons.  Bee did robot team.  They read many books on their own and listened to hours of audiobooks.  They joined a rock climbing class.  They performed in a play.  Bug took two science classes, a writing class, a sewing class, and a puppet class. 

We did a weekly park day that I organized.  It helped us to make some new friends.  I'm not going to continue that park day, but I have networked enough to figure out what groups I want to be involved in.  Some of them are secret, invitation-only type things, which I find frustrating but understandable.  I have met dozens and dozens of people and networked my butt off.

My boys learned a lot this year, even if it wasn't exactly how I planned in the way I planned it.  In addition to their academics, they learned a lot about babies, which I think will help them immensely one day when they become fathers.

I held my baby, I snuggled my baby, I nursed my baby, and I gave her a million kisses each day.  My baby took her naps on my body. 

And my boys missed some things they might have done.  I would have liked to take them to more places.  Bug really needs to work on his handwriting, and Bee really needs to work on his language mechanics.  But we'll do that next school year. 

Now, baby Dot is about to turn one. She is much easier to take places, and we are able to be outside more, which is how I like it.  We're taking May and June off from any formal school that we do at home (although they are still taking some classes that end next week). 

What I would recommend to any homeschooling mom adding a baby to the mix: 

• Outside classes, if you can afford them.  Get your kids out of the house and with a friendly homeschool teacher.   
• Online classes, if you can afford them.  
• Free online resources, like Khan Academy.  
• Audio books.  See what you can borrow electronically from the library and consider an Audible subscription. (I wish we'd done more of this for the car). 
• Documentaries.  Get some playlists ready for your kids.  (I wish I'd done this.)  
• Buy some books ahead of time to read to your children.  Keeping up with library books ahead of time may be stressful (and expensive if they get lost!)
• Friends.  Take advantage of any offers of help.  And don't move far away.  : (  
• Generally find resources that will not require much planning and effort on your part.  Try to enjoy your children and minimize stress.