Homeschooling with a 2 year-old

[St. Artemius Academy]

Hi All,
I started homeschooling my 3 last January, and now that we are gearing up to start up next week, I'm looking for advice for my 2 year-old. I have a 4th and 1st grader as well.

My hang-up is how to keep the 2 year-old occupied. She's not quite old enough for the file folder centers, or anything truly academic. On the other hand, I don't have enough hands to play with her the whole time we're schooling. I've started implementing the workbox system into our day, and have set up a set of boxes for her. The problem is what to put in them. Right now she'll get out a box, play with it for a couple of minutes, and then she wants to move on. In 20 minutes or so, she's already bored!

Any ideas? She turned 2 in May, so she's a fairly young 2.

Thanks!

Ashley

[Mama2Three]

My DS turned 2 in Aug. Some of his favorite activities on which he spends longer than 2 minutes -- dried beans in a baking pan with measuring spoons and cups, math manipulatives (linking cubes, pattern shapes, etc), playdough, anything with water. Mostly he loves pouring. I don't let him have his favorites every day. We officially start next week, and I'll have plastic shoe boxes with a different activity for each day of the week. The Monday box will stay the same until he gets bored with the activity (or it's too messy or whatever). That way I don't have to keep thinking up so many new ideas. I also hope to get my act together and work in Slow and Steady Get Me Ready activities for him.

Looking forward to hearing other pp suggestions!!

ETA: Just remembered... my older DC loved hammering golf tees into styrofoam when they were 2+.

[my2boysteacher]

I'm facing the same challenge. My DD is 17 mos and we will start school next week. I plan on getting her her own set of workboxes as well. What I found she really liked last school year was 'Lauri' crepe puzzles. She loves the peg board one where she can move pegs around. She also really likes some little plastic animals I found. I give her a little container of water and tell her to give them a bath. That'll last at least 10 minutes. Another thing she enjoys is bubbles from the sink. I fill up a bowl w/ soapy water and skim off the bubbles. I plop them onto her high chair tray and she scoops them and splats them. As a last resort, I keep a bag of mini m&ms and give her a few in a little container. I'm hoping she'll play more independantly this school year, but it's kind of a 'hope for the best, expect the worst' scenario.

[St. Artemius Academy]

Good ideas! I will have to try the beans. I have some of the Lauri products, and she does like them. A friend suggested that I buy a small inflatable pool, and put it in the schoolroom as her "area". It's to help her see where her toys can be, and she would take a workbox to the pool, play with it in that area, then put the box back, and bring the next one into the pool. I found a small pool on clearance today for $2.50, so I'm going to give it a try. She tends to "spread out" and create a trail. This might also help to contain any small things like dried beans!

I also may try makikng my own list of her school toys and dividing them up by day so that I can rotate them and she doesn't see the same stuff every day.

Keep the ideas coming!

[kmacnchs]

TraysforTots

Look to the side and click on tools for tots and 1+1+1=1.

My 22 mo dd LOVES doing "small spaces", stickers, sorting...
My 3yo dd LOVES cutting, lacing, gluing...

Also, after we get dressed for the day, my infant goes down for a nap (around 8:00) and my 22mo dd goes to her room for "room time" for an hour while I do math and reading with my 3 yo dd. I highly recommend room time so you can focus with your 1st & 4th grader for 1 hr uninterrupted. (Of course, I worked up to this hour (and it was "playpen time" until she got more self control))

Good luck!

[tuckabella]

get a dollar store kind of bowl with a lid. Hole punch around the rim of the lid (as far in as you can get your hole puncher). Next, buy some golf tees. They fit in the holes perfectly. Keeps DD busy for 30 mins.
Get some stickers (that your 2 year old might like) with multiples of the same sticker. Place one sticker on say a 3x3 inch piece of cardstock or something else a little stiffer than paper. Have him/her find the matches, or simply enjoy "finding" elmo or whatever is on the set of stickers that you bought (I have some Sesame street ones, some fruit ones, some popsicle ones, some animal ones)
I got business card holder pages from Staples. It holds 10 cards per page. I put pieces of ribbon or lace in each slot and then taped the openings shut. I also put some matching pieces of ribbon/lace in the envelope so she can match them up. You could also do it with buttons, learning links, paperclips, etc. My DD never put things in her mouth, so I don't worry about size much since she is also near me anyway when she does these.
I have some small foam pieces in different colors and shapes and went to Michael's craft store and hot glued a small ceramic magnet on the back of each one. My DD LOVES LOVES LOVES magnets. I also glued small erasers on the magnets.
DD loves to put the change into my small piggy bank. I just keep emptying it for her when all the coins are in it.
If you can get rulers cheap since it is back to school time, get a bunch. DD likes to line them up end to end (which practices some fine motor skills) and "measures" things. Not that she realizes it. She just tries to see how many rulers she can fit across the coffee table or from the steps to the door, etc.
SPONGES!!!! Holy Cow, I didn't know how much DD would LOVE these (about as much as the darn magnets!). Get sponges (say 3x5 inches) that are NOT made out of cellulose. The cellulose ones are hard when they are dry. They usually say that they are made of cellulose on the wrapper, but the other ones might (though not all mention it) would say polyfoam or something like that. The ones I found said they had Estracell in them. Basically, they are sponges with the tiny holes, like car wash sponges, but you want the 3x5 standard size sponges. I cut them in different shapes (across lengthwise, across widthwise, cut diagonally, cut into 3, left a couple whole). Wow, can't rave enough about these darn sponges.
Save some plastic containers with screw on lids (for a couple months down the road). Your child can learn to sort them to try to see what fits what.
If I can think of more, I will post again.
I really hope these ideas might help you!

[crl]

Thank you so much for posting the Trays for Tots page. It's inspired me to do something like that for my 3 year old!

[joannqn]

I blogged about what I'm doing with my two year old (turned two on 2/28). Here's a link. We've finished the first week and I can tell you that I learned to be flexible. We fit in the activities when we could. Many things on the schedule didn't get done because he wasn't interested. Some things he really liked. He's a much happier kid now.

Here's an art project I helped him with that he's particularly proud of. He's also learning how to use scissors, help with laundry, and "wash" dishes. In fact, he's cutting paper with safety scissors right now and every cut (even 1/4 inch) or tear ends with an enthusiastic "I did it!"

[modest-mama]

One time I put a whole bunch of trays of ice cubes in the bathtub and let my three and 18 month old in there fully dressed. They had a ball for over an hour.

[Aletheia Academy]

Here is a wonderful website devoted to homeschooling with preschoolers. Kendra is a wonderful lady. I saw her speak at a convention. And she speaks from experience with honesty.

http://www.preschoolersandpeace.com/