Homeschooling With a Baby: How to Make It Work

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Homeschooling with a baby is a common situation for many homeschoolers. This is especially true if you start homeschooling right from the start.

Your eldest child might be 5, but you’re quite likely to have at least one other child as well.

I currently have three children. My eldest is about to turn 5 and then my younger two are 3 and 1.

I’ve definitely had to learn how to best use our time in order to be able to teach my eldest while also caring for my younger two.

The baby is typically the one that I need to work around the most so that is what this post is about.

Pinterest image about homeschooling with a baby

Practical Tips for Homeschooling With a Baby

#1 Use Nap Time

This should be your most obvious strategy because babies typically nap a lot. You’ll know that they’re safe and sound and you can give your older children your full attention.

We have always lived on a bit of a routine in our home. When I began homeschooling my eldest child it was fairly simple to work it into our day because I knew when the baby would be occupied.

The beauty of homeschooling is that you don’t have to just do public school at home. You can pick the times that you do school.

If you have a baby, I recommend doing it when they’re napping.

In our home, we do all of our schoolwork in the morning (some while the baby is napping), and during the baby’s second nap in the afternoon everyone has rest time.

It works really well!

#2 Be Strategic

You can be strategic about when you do school with your children but you can also be strategic about what school you do with your children.

For us, there are certain school subjects that require more one-on-one and fewer distractions.

These are the things we choose to do while the baby is napping.

Many other subjects can be done with little ones in the room so don’t feel as though you can’t school AT ALL when the baby is awake. The reality is that you can do more than you think.

I try and get Language Arts done while the baby is occupied but everything else is fairly okay to get through with other little ones in the room.

#3 encourage Independent Play

Teaching your baby to play independently is of huge benefit to themselves as well as to you.

They will learn vital skills, expand their imagination, and cope with separation anxiety a whole lot better.

While for you it means extra time that you wouldn’t otherwise have.

We do independent play quite formally in the sense that I set up my babies in their crib with age-appropriate toys and some music playing. I also set a timer for the amount of time they’re going to be in there.

You can read about how to gently ease your baby into doing independent play right here in this post.

At the moment, my youngest is 16-months old and does 45 minutes to an hour of independent play every morning. She’s happy the entire time and perfectly satisfied with just a few well-chosen toys.

For younger babies and newborns, independent play may not buy you much time in the scheme of things.

Some helpful ways to keep them entertained for a while is by using a swing or playmat. I’ve certainly used both extensively with all three of my children.

#4 Babywear

Whether you have a fussy newborn or a teething toddler, babywearing is a very valid and practical way to be able to homeschool with a baby.

There are a bunch of baby sling options but the gist of it is that you can comfort your baby while also having your hands free.

Recently, my youngest was getting her molars and was utterly miserable. There was just no way I could work with my son on schoolwork without holding her. Babywearing in that situation was ideal.

You may also find that this works well if your baby struggles to sleep independently. The newborn days are notorious for this and babywearing can save so much of your sanity.

#5 Use a Playpen

Once your baby is on the move it can be really tricky to keep an eye on them while also focusing on homeschooling your other children.

A great solution is to use a playpen and set it up near where you’re working with your big kids.

Honestly, you could even just use a Pack n’ Play so you’re not having to buy yet another baby item.

You won’t have to worry about all the toilet rolls being thrown into the toilet while you’re working on a math equation.

#6 Set Up Sensory Bins

If you’re anything like me then you might freeze up at the mention of sensory bins. They sound fancy and hard to set up.

That’s not really true at all and it can be very easy to set up activities to keep your baby occupied.

While keeping in mind choking hazards and age-appropriateness, you can set up sensory activities to keep your baby distracted while you’re teaching your children.

One of my favorite things to do is to take out a few plastic containers and set them on a towel in our dining/kitchen area. I put just a tiny bit of water in each one and my baby has such fun playing with it all.

Sensory activities don’t have to be fancy.

This is also something that I do when I’m frantically trying to get dinner on the table without a baby wrapped around my legs.

#7 Pair Up Kids

If you have more than two children then a great idea is to pair one of them up with the baby and have them play together while you work with another child.

You can switch things around and get more one-on-one work done that way.

Often times I’ll ask my 3-year old to go and play with her baby sister and they do super well together.