I’ve seen a lot of frazzled momma posts on social media lately asking for advice on how to homeschool (or accomplish anything at all) with littles underfoot. It’s an age-old problem and I think one that gets sweeter and more manageable the farther from that season you get. But what to do when you’re in the thick of it? When you’re trying to manage testy tweens, a stubborn six-year-old and a three-year-old who thinks he’s Evel Knievel? Or, how to encourage the tired mommas who are balancing homeschool and a passel of littles all under six? Wow. I’ve said before, homeschooling is NOT for the faint of heart and if it was easy more people would do it. I think the trick with littles is to come up with ways that incorporate them into the school day rather than trying to come up with new ways to trick them into leaving you alone. (They seem to have a very keen sense of when they’re being put off and most resist. Loudly.)

Here are a few tips to help you homeschool with littles and have fun doing it:

FILL LITTLE LOVE TANKS EARLY AND OFTEN

Dr. Gary Chapman teaches that everyone – even your littles – have an emotional “love tank” that needs to be filled each day in order for us to feel whole and be successful. Children, especially, often misbehave as a sign of an empty tank. I find that spending some quality snuggle time with my littlest first thing in the morning is a great way to get his day off to a healthy start. He loves to sit with me as I enjoy a morning cup of coffee. Sometimes we chat; other times we just enjoy some closeness; but either way I’m filling his tank from the start, which generally leads to a better day. If our mornings are rushed and devoid of our special time, I am usually reminded of this later in the morning when I hear much more whining, complaining and tattling.

INVOLVE LITTLES IN YOUR READ-ALOUD TIME

My kindergartener has awesome read-alouds that are included in his My Father’s World curriculum, and since the beginning, we’ve seamlessly involved my three-year-old in this part of our day. It’s always the same routine — squish into the big chair, my six-year-old next to me and my littlest on my lap. This is a great way to make your younger children feel like they’re “doing school” too while getting in some extra reading AND snuggle time with them.

ALLOW YOUR LITTLES TO “DO SCHOOL” WITH YOU

It’s usually much harder to trick your little ones into keeping busy than it is to simply pull up another chair and give them age-appropriate activities that feel like school to them. They really just want to be involved. My three-year-old loves when I pull out our Write and Wipe Alphabet Practice Cards from Lakeshore Learning and hand him a dry-erase marker. Sometimes he tries to trace the letters; other times he just draws on them. But either way, he’s near us, generally quiet and happy to be part of the school team. What could you set aside for your little ones to use? A small dry-erase board? Special learning coloring book? Puzzles? Tactile letters? I bet if you dig through your supplies, you’ll find some fun items that your older kids are no longer using that could easily be used for this purpose.

GIVE YOURSELF (AND YOUR KIDS) SOME GRACE

I could end every post with this piece of advice, but it’s especially relevant in this case. Remember your kids are little for such a short time. It’s so important to cherish the minutes before they slip away. It does everyone (especially YOU) a disservice to get super stressed and fight against the current of your own littles’ development, all in the name of crossing off some to-dos on your homeschool schedule. If you’re having a day when you can tell it’s just NOT going to happen, then let it go. Ask an older child to read to a little one, or break out the Duplos and have your little and middle work on something awesome – a castle, pirate ship, farm, etc. And, don’t forget that sometimes you might have greater success by pausing to build for five minutes WITH them and then slip away if you really need to. When your kids spend the day playing, living and working together, the day is most certainly NOT wasted — and PLENTY of things have been “learned.”