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lovebeingamom
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| Posted: Dec 05 2009 at 1:15pm | IP Logged
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How do you plan your day with a 3 yo and a 1 yo? From everything like prayers, chores, exercise, *teaching* a preschooler, play time, spending time working with the 1 yo, etc??????
More days than not, I feel so overwhelmed on a routine/schedule of things for myself and both kids.
Any suggestions, ideas, advice???? They are all welcomed. Thanks ladies!
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Dec 05 2009 at 1:26pm | IP Logged
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I'll try to get back later with a few more details for you...but briefly...
lovebeingamom wrote:
| How do you plan your day with a 3 yo and a 1 yo? |
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I don't.
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19 , ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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*Lindsey*
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| Posted: Dec 05 2009 at 2:50pm | IP Logged
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Yeah, that's a hard thing to do with such little ones.
When my first two were that little, I tired to have a rhythm to our day but the thought of trying to do any formal teaching at that age isn't something I can muster.  They learn so much through playing, and helping/working along with you while you talk to them about what you're doing.
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Lindsey
Mama to DS (11), DD(9), twin dds(7), DD (5), DS (4), DS (3), and 5 angels in heaven.
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stellamaris
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| Posted: Dec 05 2009 at 3:26pm | IP Logged
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The "planning" technique which I have found to be most helpful with younger children is to have "pegs" throughout the day and a few standard rituals. For example, regular mealtimes and snacks help maintain everyone's blood sugar in the "happy" zone  . A small set of rituals before eating (a short prayer and, for a little older child, a napkin in the lap) helps set a pleasant tone. Mid-morning you might set an exercise/gross motor "peg", either a walk outside or a fun kid-oriented exercise/dance/movement video. Another "peg" might be a pre-nap story time(this counts as language arts at the young ages of your children). A little routine, such as lunch, short story, sing a song, then nap/quiet time, helps children move from lunch to rest. After a midday snack (around 3?), a small math activity or fine motor activity could be scheduled, such as a counting time or playdough. Perhaps you might like to follow this with another story time, but I'd be careful how many different activities I set up. The idea is to be consistent. This helps children to know what to expect, makes it easier to gain their cooperation, and relieves you of planning a new program every single day! A few short learning sessions, very low key, spaced throughout the day will encourage their interest and give them a little change of pace. These scattered activities also help them know you are paying attention to them, and usually (but not always!)they will then play happily for a short time afterwards so you can do whatever chores are necessary. At night time, again a set series of events helps settle everyone down. We always did dinner, teeth, a bath, a nice massage/rub with lotion, a story, prayers, and a song. Sounds long when I type it, and there were plenty of days I didn't want to do this whole routine, but it really helped the little ones settle down at night.
You'll notice that basically this worked because I hardly had anything planned. Just meals, nap rituals, and then a very few activities scattered throughout the day. Younger children do not need formal instruction. Let them help you around the house, run errands in the community, and play with toys such as blocks, plastic animals, and dolls that encourage imagination. Less is more!
Oh, and one other thing, you just will not be able to get everything you would like accomplished with young children in tow. Try to put less pressure on yourself, maybe accept that your house won't be as neat and clean as you might like, and don't plan more than one extra project each day...and a small one at that! Basic dishes, necessary washing, cleaning, and cooking, essential errands, and caring for the children will be pretty much all you will be able to do for a few years (like, in my case, 26 and counting! ) As time goes by, you will develop some shortcuts that will help you when the time comes to formally school your children. Also, they won't be 3 and 1 when you are doing more schooling, so don't worry about that now! 
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In Christ,
Caroline
Wife to dh 30+ yrs,ds's 83,85,89,dd's 91,95,ds's 01,01,02,grammy to 4
Flowing Streams
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Angel
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| Posted: Dec 05 2009 at 5:56pm | IP Logged
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My first two are two years apart. When they were 3 and 1, homeschooling was not even on my radar. I was pretty much just trying to get through the day.
My 3 yo needed a VERY predictable routine, but it was never anything I wrote out on paper or anything. I would *try* to get up before the kids to take a shower. I would get them breakfast, maybe let them watch Blues Clues or something. Or we might read a book. Then I would get them dressed and we would do some chores. After we did chores, we would go outside. We were fortunate at that time to live in a neighborhood with lots of young mothers who stayed home with kids the same ages as my kids, so we would all meet out in the court and play till lunchtime most days. Then we would come in for lunch. We might do a couple of chores, then it was outside again if it was nice, or the kids would play inside if it wasn't. Maybe do some art. I would read them a book or two (or three or four) before naptime, usually related to whatever my 3 yo was interested in at the time. Then it was upstairs where I would put my 3 yo on his bed and attempt to rock my 1 yo to sleep. My 3 yo would talk to himself, play, etc. for a long time, then *usually* fall asleep. My 1 yo dd would also usually fall asleep for a while. When I put her in her crib, I would run downstairs and work on my novel as fast as I could until the first kid woke up. 
After the kids woke up, I gave them a snack and if it was nice, we went outside. If it wasn't nice, they would play inside while I did some laundry or whatever and then fixed dinner.
Of course this makes it sound as if our days went off peacefully and without a hitch. HAH! My house was always a mess. (I was outside all the time and not a good housekeeper anyway. When I had time, I wrote.) My 3 yo had very little expressive language, was incredibly intense, threw tantrums at the drop of a hat, was often awake for 3 or 4 hours straight in the middle of the night, could not take a change in routine, refused to wear pants, be touched, or get anything on his hands, and would only eat cheese sandwiches. Even my rather more easygoing daughter often had nights where she didn't go to sleep until midnight, and she had soooo many ear infections. My dh had a really long commute and never got home before 7 PM.
When you're just beginning your family and your kids are very small, just getting dinner on the table can be a victory. It's not as if you have a 13 yo to help you do the dishes after all. It's all you. So I wouldn't worry about "formal" teaching. Just try to make your days as regular as possible, get outside a lot, involve your children in your chores as you can, read some good books... and honestly, anything else is gravy.
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Angela
Mom to 9, 7 boys and 2 girls
Three Plus Two
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violingirl
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| Posted: Dec 07 2009 at 9:11am | IP Logged
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I have a 4 and 2 year old and my 4 year old needs a routine to do okay during the day. We have pegs like a previous poster mentioned- meal times are set, nap/rest time, and bedtime at night. And just so that you know a full picture of our day my boys are with grandparents or Daddy while I work from 1-7 Mon.-Fri., so it's not just me with them from morning to night.
In the morning I aim to get at least one picture book read, something artistic, something my 4yo wants to do (usually math or counting stuff) and something my 2yo wants to do. After breakfast we have a circle time of sorts that kind of signals the start of our day. We include different things in circle time for different seasons, but right now we sing a Christmas carol and if they ask for other favorite songs we sing those too. We read a book and talk about what we're going to do that day.
I do loosely plan things I want to do with them for the month. Like right now for Advent I have a list of books to read this month and I mark them off as we read them. I have a list of crafts and activities that I want to make sure we do, and we mark those off as we do them. We never get to everything, but because I have the list I don't have to think on my feet.
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Erin
DS (2005) DS (2007) DD (2012)
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happymama
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| Posted: Dec 07 2009 at 11:52am | IP Logged
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I choose to aim for a "routine" instead of a "schedule", the difference meaning that I think toddlers function better on a daily repetition of events, but not one dictated by the clock.
Despite what the rest of the world tries to tell us, I think it is okay to not try to do too much, but to enjoy sitting around playing, wrestling, snuggling, reading books together, going for meandering walks, and so on, when the kids are little. I know we feel overwhelmed by their constant needs and tiredness and so on, but really, take care of yourself and enjoy this precious time!
Meals are "pegs" around here in the routine.
Although I didn't love the book A Mother's Rule of Life, I did love the importance she gave to spending time writing down your priorities in the natural order: what you owe to God minimally each day, your self, your spouse, your kids, and then everything else...
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Kathryn
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| Posted: Dec 07 2009 at 11:41pm | IP Logged
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By the seat of my pants...
Seriously, I have a 9 1/2 and almost 11 yo but that 2 yo in the mix reallllly puts a wrench in any scheduled plans so my plans for them happen when she's down for a nap.
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Kathryn in TX
(dd 16, ds 15, dd 8, dd 5)
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4Real Forums : Nurturing the Years of Wonder
Topic: How do you plan your day?
