Homeschooling with toddlers and preschoolers around can feel like an impossible task. I’ve done it and you can too, especially if you use these ten tried and true tips that will save your sanity. Homeschooling a big family is both challenging and rewarding, but it takes planning to pull off successfully.

Toddlers and preschoolers have short attention spans and need a lot of interaction. Planning for their frequent interruptions will make interruptions less frustrating when they occur.

Here are ten tips that worked for me and hopefully they’ll be helpful to you too.

Spend time with your younger children before doing schoolwork with your older children.

By spending a good twenty minutes reading and playing with your youngest children first, you’ll find that you can count on having just about the same amount of time or more to do some schoolwork with the older children. You can give your older children some independent work to do while you’re engaging with the younger ones.

Before starting school with the big kids, make sure the little ones have eaten, and have some special toys or activities ready to keep your younger children busy.

Teach younger kids that fun happens when you’re working with the older kids.

Teach your child that when you work with their older siblings, they get to do something that they really enjoy. My youngest son liked to watch Daniel Tiger. When I worked with the older kids or had to be busy doing something, he often watched an episode of his favorite show. I also reserved special toys for my youngest kids to play with while I worked with the older kids and I rotated the toys so they were fresh and fun when got to play with them. Kids play longer with toys that are “new.”

Offer a lot of praise for good behavior.

Little children want to please their parents. Offer a lot of praise when you “catch” them playing nicely on their own and making good choices while you work with their older siblings. This positive reinforcement encourages desired behaviors and motivates your children to keep making the good choices.

Keep as consistent a schedule as possible

Keep a consistent schedule of meals, naps (if they take naps), and activities. Children are much more compliant when they know what to expect and when. Ever changing schedules are hard on kiddos and in turn, hard on parents.

Do harder academics when the younger child is napping or in bed for the night

If you find that you’re still not getting as much done with your older children as you would like, save the harder academic subjects for when your toddler is napping or in bed for the night. There’s no hard and fast rule that says you must do all of your schoolwork during normal school hours. You can wait to do math or science experiments when the little ones are sleeping.

Consider changing your curriculum to one that allows all ages to learn most subjects together

Some curriculum is more conducive to multiple age learning. This allows your youngest children to be part of what you’re doing rather than being something to deal with so you can work with your older children.

Teach older kids to be more independent

Sometimes the issue is that your older kids might be ready to be more independent, but you’re so used to working with them that it’s become a habit more than a necessity. Children are ready to be more independent at different ages, so there’s no hard and fast rule about when it’s appropriate for your children.

Multi-tasking is a myth- do less for more success

Don’t try to take care of your children, do your homeschooling, work from home, and do housework all at the same time. Schedule focused time for each activity rather than trying to combine them. You’ll be amazed at how much more efficient and less stressed you are when you’re NOT multi-tasking. Mompreneur, business coach, and homeschooling mother, Alyssa Wolff, teaches homeschool moms how to achieve a homeschool-work-life balance. Check out her website, Unbusy Business.

Take planned breaks.

Plan a mid-morning snack break and lunch time. Don’t try to eat while doing school to get more done. Making sure you and your children are nourished is very important to getting through the day well versus just surviving. Little children are prone to be hangry if they go too long between meals. Consider packing lunches the night before to make lunchtime easier on everyone. A benefit of having pre-packed lunches is that you can grab them and get outside for lunchtime.

Lighten your schedule for a while

When my fifth child was born, my other children were 8, 6, 4, and 2.5 years old. I struggled to get everything done each day while caring for a newborn when I had an epiphany! I decided that we would pull back our schoolwork to just the basics- reading, writing, math, and the weekly homeschool park day. This gave me some breathing room while adjusting to having another little person in our family.

I filled our home with lots of educational materials and put on educational videos for the children. They learned a lot and we kept up with the most important subjects until I was able to reincorporate the other subjects in our curriculum.

Wrapping up

When you have little children in the mix while you’re homeschooling, the days can feel never-ending. But all too soon, those toddlers and preschoolers will be old enough to join everyone else. Until then, give these tips a try and see how they can help your days to go more smoothly when you’re homeschooling with toddlers and preschoolers around. Best wishes and Happy Homeschooling!