Just before lunch time today I got a call from the city’s truant officer. He said the schools have reported that my kids never showed up. I sighed and told him that months ago I sent in my paperwork, before the school year I spoke to the Karmiel city representative who is handling this who told me she received my homeschooling request with the accompanying paperwork from the central norther office and she’ll get back to me to schedule a home visit (prerequisite to receive the permit), and that I notified the principal of the boys’ school months ago, before I ever sent in my paperwork. We had a short but pleasant conversation during which my kids fortunately were relatively quietly occupied.
Below is a list of different ideas of activities to keep your young children occupied while you take care of other things – like the dishes or helping an older child. I’ve used most of these ideas over the years; some I’ve done a lot of, others hardly at all. I made this list for myself I pulled this list out again when thinking about how to occupy ds4 and ds6 constructively. They aren’t tiny anymore, but they still need to be constructively occupied or things get wild very quickly. Most of these activities work well for kids in the 2 – 6 age range (and even above); I vary the offering according to ability (eg a toddler gets a very simple puzzle, a six year old gets a 100 piece puzzle).
I’m not a fan of structured curriculum for young children, and this list is chock full of meaningful learning activities and skill development. Remember – don’t get caught up thinking that if it’s fun it’s not learning! It’s exactly the opposite; the more fun they’re having the more primed they are for learning. And particularly in the earlier years, you can easily learn just about anything with hands on activities and games.
- cutting and pasting activities – shapes
- games
- puzzles
- playdough (you can make it together from scratch for added fun)
- audiobooks
- educational videos
- outdoor play
- read books together
- string and beads – you can also string pasta shapes, straws (smaller items better for older kids with more advance fine motor skills)
- rice and measuring cups – you can also set up a pouring station with water, cups and a pitcher (I do this on my porch in warm weather)
- lacing cards – you can make your own using oaktag of thin foam, punching holes around the edges with a hole punch
- dominoes
- bubbles – my kids have used who knows how many bottle of dish soap creating their own bubbles, and this has occupied them at time for hours
- blocks – foam, wood, Duplo, Lincoln Logs, bristle blocks
- coloring – use different kinds of crayons, markers, chalk – if you have the outdoor space then chalk is particularly fun
- geoboards and colored rubber bands (I have a five point board for little kids, eleven point board for older kids)
- pattern blocks
- teddy bear counters (my kids like to use them when building to stand in as people)
- felt board set
- magnets with baking pan – I picked up a small cookie sheet for this at a thrift store for a nominal price
- sorting activities (tricolored noodles, silverware, anything you can mix up and have them group) – for added fine motor development you can give your child a pair or salad tongs or a tweezer to pick up the items
I know that some of you reading have great ideas that aren’t listed here, so please share them with us!
Avivah
Thanks! What about kids under 2– like Yirmiyahu?
Yirmiyahu has a very easy going and happy nature. He loves to sit in the middle or next to me or the younger boys when they’re playing and they either play with him or alongside of him; either way he’s interested and engaged. I try to sit with him to play games or do activities with him, but for the most part I do this throughout the day rather than in big chunks. I do sit with him to specifically play with him, but that’s not most of the time. He doesn’t like to be on his own but there are enough people for him to be with that being alone isn’t an issue.
I try to do the most intensive homeschooling during his long morning nap.
Thanks! What was your experience homeschooling in the past– were any of your other babies more “high maintenance” in a way that caused challenges to homeschooling the older ones? What would you recommend to someone in that situation?
Another great activity that my little ones love (mostly girls :)) is pretend play with their dolls. Whey they are in the mood, they can play with their dolls for hours. They get fine motor skill practice by dressing and undressing their dolls; sorting practice because they always sort the doll clothes when deciding what they want to use. Sometimes they even get ‘money’ involved if ‘store’ is part of their play. Along with this, they also love setting up and re-setting up their doll house with all their mitzvah kinder! We’ve had weddings, and sleepovers and school and everything else happen in that doll house 🙂 Their play kitchen is also another great activity. They love pretending to be a restaurant, or making Shabbos dinner, or Yom Tov dinners or birthday parties…whatever strikes their fancy.
I find that my 3 yo loves to have “schoolwork” when older kids have their work. She will do “chumash” ( aleph-bet coloring book) when they do theirs, will doodle on paper when they write, and leaf through books when they are reading. The younger ones will imitate whatever the older ones are doing.
One other activity is stickers, the more, the merrier! We used up old address labels this way, and kids who cannot read yet do not seem to care what is on that sticker, as long as they can peel it and stick it.
how do you keep the supplies for all the activities organized in a limited space?
Lol, it’s an ongoing challenge! I’ll try to respond in the next couple of weeks to this.