Do you have more than one child that you are homeschooling? Is it hard to get the child you are working with to focus when siblings need you or are distracting? Here are some tips on how to keep siblings busy while teaching homeschool.
Disclosure: I was compensated for my time writing this article. All opinions are my own.
Have A Homeschool Plan
You might read a chapter book to all of them in the morning at 9 am. At 9:30 am, you do a science project with all of them at the dining room table.
At 10:30 am, you will teach your 2nd grader with math manipulatives, while your 6th grader is doing a writing lesson on her own and your 4th grader is reading on his own. Your Grade K child could be learning on the computer and your toddler could watch him or play with toys.
You might read a chapter book to all of them in the morning at 9 am. At 9:30 am, you do a science project with all of them at the dining room table.
At 10:30 am, you will teach your 2nd grader with math manipulatives, while your 6th grader is doing a writing lesson on her own and your 4th grader is reading on his own. Your Grade K child could be learning on the computer and your toddler could watch him or play with toys.
Keep The Young Ones Busy
If you have a child that is too young for school, you know he needs to keep busy and distracted or your toilet paper will be all over the house, the cereal will be all over the floor, and the books will be off the shelf!
We like to use “Tiny Totes” which are small boxes with covers about the size of an adult shoe box or smaller. These can be easily carried by a young child to where they want to play. Have ten of these set up for each school day in a location they cannot see, like in the attached garage or in a closet with the door shut. Only you have access to get each tote when the other one is cleaned up. You want to have about 30 totes, so you can rotate them every three days. In each tote, you will have related age-appropriate toys that go well together. Here are some examples:
- little cars with a foldable cloth road to drive on
- small people with furniture, vehicles or small buildings
- blocks
- food toys, dishes, utensils
- characters with some accessories
- a different character with some accessories
- yet another different character with some accessories
- magnet tiles in different geometric shapes
- dress up items with a small hand mirror
- trains and track pieces to build a small track
- animals and something to fence them in like logs or fences so they can play zoo/farm
- play dough and accessories
- scratch pads and wooden scratch utensil
- water color paint, cup for water, brushes, paper
- magic ink marker books of their favorite characters
- sticker books
- shape toys and shapes
- ball toys with holes to put balls in and watch them roll
- stacking cups or toys
- tiny stuffed animals
- interactive toys, like toy phones, mini laptops, toy tablets (this one is noisy)
Sometimes my child will have a favorite and ask for it every day and I let her use it, especially if it keeps her attention longer than most boxes.
Yes, it takes time and energy to get up and exchange boxes, but take it from a mom of eight – it takes more time to clean up the mess without it!
Homeschool Learning On The Computer
When you are not teaching them all as a group, you should always have one child on the computer. Try to rotate whose turn it is, so no one feels like it is unfair. The timing may not be the same as older students often have more to do and need more time than the younger ones.
I always want my children to be learning during the homeschool hours, so my younger children may use a game-based homeschool curriculum support for their computer time. I like to write down something about what they are learning each day in my homeschool lesson planner. In the subject part of the planner, I write what online curriculum I am using. In the date part, I will write what topic or lesson they were learning that day.
My older children often use the computer for research, a writing assignment they are working on, or for a curriculum they are using on a CD or online.
The younger children often don't have anything they have to do on the computer as part of their curriculum, so I like to choose an online homeschool curriculum support that includes a wide range of topics. I like it to include math, reading, art, science and social studies so they get a little bit of everything.
Since I homeschool multiple children, about three days a week I don't have time for all four kids to be on the computer. On those days, so that everyone gets a turn with “eye time”, I like to be able to use a multi-platform curriculum that can be used on the web, tablet or phone. This is especially handy if we need to have a shorter homeschool day due to sports or activities. I can put one child on the computer, one child on the tablet, one child on my phone and work at the dining room table with the other one. If you are looking for a multi-platform curriculum, I recommend you visit Homeschool+ and let me know your thoughts below in the comments.
Conclusion
If you are homeschooling multiple children, I hope these tips will help you to spend quality time with the one child you are trying to teach while the others are still busy and learning.
A Giveaway
The 2025 Back To Homeschool Giveaway is hosted by Hope In The Chaos and will run from Friday, August 1, 2025, through Friday, August 8, 2025, at 11:59 pm EST. Entrants must be 18 years old or older and be a member of a current homeschooling family. Participating bloggers and members of their households are not eligible to win. By entering this giveaway, you agree to be added to the email lists of the participating blogs represented here. The winners will be drawn randomly via Rafflecopter and notified by email no later than August 11, 2025. They will have 48 hours to claim their prize. Unclaimed prizes will be forfeited. Hope In The Chaos reserves the right to draw new winners if a winner is found ineligible or if the winner forfeits their prize. Prizes are non-transferable. Void where prohibited.
a Rafflecopter giveawayBack to Homeschool Giveaway Bonus Offer!
 |
Snag your FREE Virtual Gift Bag – a $475+ value filled with exclusive offers from our partners & sponsors. Claim yours between August 1–8, 2025. |
Related
HOMESCHOOL LESSON PLANNERS
Homeschool Reviews
Our Books on Amazon
Our Etsy Products
Subscribe so you never miss a post.
If you find my tips useful, feel free to support my work. Thank you in advance!
Want to remember this? Pin it to your favorite Pinterest Board!
Leave a Reply