The Little Interruptions – What My Little Kids Do During School

I’ve lost count of all the times people ask me, “But what do your babies do during school?”

It’s a valid question. Many, many, many times I look at all the little bodies writhing around me and wonder what in the heck I’m supposed to DO with them.

My short answer to this is: Have a plan. I expounded on this in detail over at Simple Homeschool today.

But there’s a second part to my answer and that is: Plan to be interrupted.

Just go ahead and expect it.

Sometimes, the interruptions become the lesson. I’ve been pleasantly surprised to discover that my children can comprehend their math lessons even if the doorbell rings, the baby cries, somebody spills their water, and I dash off to change a poopy diaper. Remember, if our children were in a classroom setting, they’d have a room full of peers to distract them. Learning to concentrate is an important life skill. Our Littles are providing the curriculum!

Other times, interruptions are opportunities for training. Little people with gnat-sized attention spans respond to immediate correction and then forget and move on. And so will we. Do not put it off until later.

At all times, our response to interruption is THE Lesson. Our children are watching us. Do we react with grace? Are we patient? Do we roll your eyes and sigh a lot? These actions are training our children, too. Our response to our small people during school time is an example of how to cope under pressure, of diligence, consistency, patience, loving correction, and joyful attitude.

I wrote this out here because I need to remember it. Every. Single. Day. I am my children’s best and worst example, everything to do or not to do. That’s something I can’t take lightly or ignore because it doesn’t fit into my lesson plans.

…And now I need to rethink my plans for tomorrow. We need more wiggle room for my Wigglers. Meanwhile, go check out the full article over at Simple Homeschool and leave me some more tips for juggling Littles and schooling.