Saturday, June 29, 2013

Juggling another full-time student.....



You all know how it is.  Providing hands-on, one-on-one attention to all your kids who seem to need it all at the same time is very hard.  It never fails that while I am working with one child, another needs help with math or is having a computer issue all at the same time.  I have to admit that I am a little nervous about adding Caty into the "full-time" schooling mix.  She is very hands-on.

I have discovered a way to keep Caty going a couple different ways.  As I start getting pulled toward another child while working with Caty, I flip over toYouTube or ABC Mouse.

Here is an example of what might happen....

Joey:  "I can't get logged in.  It's telling me my password is invalid."

I roll my eyes, and say give me a moment.  I flip over to You Tube quickly find one of Caty's favorite books that she enjoys watching.  (No I don't turn her loose by herself on Youtube.)  Make sure she is in my seat and go to help the kiddo in need.  All the while I can watch over my shoulder that she is staying on a "stay involved" track.

She loves to watch any books online, one of her favorites is the Pigeon series by Mo Willems.


At storytime recently she has discovered a love of Pete the Cat also.



and her real favorite (it's not all here, but she loves it anyway)



If I am going to be more than a few minutes.  Maybe a child has hit a road block on a subject and needs some more help, I finish with Caty and then set her up on ABC Mouse and she is also loving More Starfall.  These are both great sites that allow me to give her educational playtime so that I can keep her in a little bit of the structure she thrives on, while living in a chaotic day.

Another favorite thing, is when I need to step away to another child, I will let her just explore on the All in One Homeschool (Easy Peasy) page we are working on.  She can watch all the little videos she likes.  Most of the time she really enjoys watching favorites repeatedly.

I never realized how many stories are read on YouTube.  The amount of fun educational songs is only limited by how much time you have to watch them.  With parental supervision, it can be a great source for your homeschool.  Check and see if one of your child's favorite stories is on there.

So far this seems to be working well for us, hope this helps someone find a few moments of peace and sanity.


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