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~Rachel~
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| Posted: Aug 01 2007 at 4:30pm | IP Logged
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Or more importantly... a 3 year old distraction.
My almost 8 year old says that he is having a hard time concentrating on his schoolwork, because the 3 year old distracts him. Now, mostly this is exaggeration, because he CAN work while she is there, but she can definitely be very much a distraction.
I was wondering what other people do to entertain the toddler/preschool set while older brother and sisters work?
I would definitely appreciate some ideas  to use with her!
ETA: I wasn't quite sure where this best fit, so if it needs to move, by all means feel free 
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~Rachel~
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teachingmyown
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Workbooks work here. Not messy, and usually don't need too much "Mom attention". Your little one will feel part of the action, so she won't need to vie for your attention.
Another idea I have heard over the years are "surprise boxes". Have several different shoe boxes filled with special toys or activities and pull a different one out every day. Hopefully, your preschooler will be so interested in a "new" toy that she will stay occupied long enough for your son to get his work done, which at his age, shouldn't be long at all.
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joann10
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I am having this same trouble at our house. My ds7 and dd5 are very easily distracted by ds27months and dd15months.
The babies are still too small for anything structured and cause a lot of trouble,  when we try to do schoolwork.
I happened to spend an amazing hour and a half yesterday in the library with ds7 and dd5 waiting for some older kids to go to a writing class. I brought our Blueberries for Sal lapbook project along with everything we needed to work on it. We accomplished more in that time than we could have over two days if we were working at home.
When we got home I discussed this with my dh and I may just start heading to the library two mornings a week for 2 hours with just these two children. (I have a ds20 who works in the afternoon-so he could be in charge of the babies when I am gone.) I think that what we could do in that time of quiet would do wonders for my ds7 and dd5.
It also is great to spend time with these kids without being distracted myself.
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jugglingpaynes
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| Posted: Aug 06 2007 at 8:29pm | IP Logged
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I used a timer Flylady style to keep my kids on task after my third was born. If they could see the timer ticking away it helped keep them focused on task. After all, life is distraction. If it isn't a baby, it's the pets, it's the wildlife outside the window, it's the pattern on the floor, etc. Kids need to learn how to work around it.
We also do use two libraries each week and my older two tend to work on research papers and other writing projects at that time. It's a great idea because we know the nicest librarians that don't mind a little noise from our youngest and I can sit and read picture books in one section with her while the other two have lots of quiet time to write in another section. Bonus is that they have an abundance of reference material at their fingertips.
Peace and Laughter,
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CKwasniewski
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The Kumon workbooks for littles are great! Cutting, pasting, folding. Very simple, colorful and cute.
I also like to put them in the bathtub with very little water and lots of toys!
We have also had great success with pattern block magnets. This keeps them happy for up to an hour!
Or what about a story w/ book on tape/cd?
If you have 5 ideas, then you can rotate--one for each day of the week! 
hth
CK
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AnaB
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Our best schooling time was during my littles' naptimes. Now, I have 3 older ones and one toddler and too much schooling to fit into the haphazard naptime (she may be growing out of it), so I have saved some of the more important read alouds during the naptime. I'm not sure what I'm going to do this year.
I did buy 5 Rubbermaid boxes and spent $100 buying puzzles, lacing activities, beads, etc... to put in each of the boxes for my toddler's school time, but she ends up wanting me to do it with her. Kinda defeats the purpose. I'm really not sure how I'm going to have to re-work things this year. She is put down for a nap but doesn't always sleep or stay in bed. We're working on it.
It's hard to juggle it all. It's also hard to plan the year out. Our first few weeks are going to be full of trial and error!
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His By Grace, AnaB blessed WIFE to Jeff and mama to 4 blessings!
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jugglingpaynes
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AnaB wrote:
It's hard to juggle it all. It's also hard to plan the year out. Our first few weeks are going to be full of trial and error!
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I can't help myself. When someone mentions juggling they've entered my world. This is a little piece I wrote about juggling on my blog. On Juggling
I know it might seem simplistic, and I only have three, but I have found that if I relax a bit about what needs to be done and not assume that I'm all alone here, things get accomplished. I am fortunate to have backup from my husband and parents, but also, when my youngest was a baby and toddler the older two knew that I depended on them to focus on their table work when I was dealing with their sister. It helped that they truly enjoy being homeschooled. They knew they had to be responsible for their work if I were to continue schooling while dealing with a baby. With the consistency of our morning routine of subjects and the promise of afternoon activities (friends, park, library,etc.)the older ones were able to overcome the distraction of a (extremely needy) baby sister.
Peace and Laughter,
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Cristina
(mom of MayBabies dd15,ds12,dd6)
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Angel
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Um. I am not sure you can really make the distraction go away. But some of the things we have done:
1. Make sure the little one(s) have activities of their own to keep them busy. Know that this may buy you about 5 minutes.
2. Spend time with the little one(s) first, so they're happier and will occupy themselves afterward. (But this also backfires sometimes.)
3. Be flexible about the older child's (children's) workspace(s). My 10 yo and 8 yo are highly distractable. They do a lot of their sit down, independent work at quiet time, by themselves in their rooms -- completely alone. If they don't understand something, they skip it and ask me later. For work they do in the morning, when our house is VERY LOUD (a 4 yo and two almost-2 yos), if the distractions get to be too much, they don't have to work at the dining room table. They can bring their work outside, or into a different room.
4. And sometimes, if the little kids aren't really doing anything terrible and they're not being too loud and the big kid is just being picky (which sometimes happens in our house), the big kid just has to learn to deal with it.
But I don't think there's a perfect solution to this problem. Some days/weeks/months are just better or worse than others no matter what you do.
--Angela
Three Plus Two
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At_His_Feet
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I don't really have anything concrete to add, except that I have just realised that this time in our life is a season that will pass.
I just have to accept that for the next little while all three of my boys will be at a stage where they all need me! Internalising this is helping me to relax and go with the flow.
When we start our seatwork, I put out paper and markers for our ds who is 3. I tend to bounce from one child to the next. Our eldest is 9, and is happy to play with the little one for a while I help our middle boy, who has recently come home.
We have also started taking some of our work outdoors, which helps.
I think rotating toys is another good idea, as is activity bags. Not that I've tried this one yet.
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Tricia
Mum to 3 boys 17, 15, and 10.
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: Distractions During School
