Quiet Time

When Nadia outgrew her naps (around the age of four), I transitioned her to having a quiet time in her room while Ian was napping. She was perfectly happy to play in her room for an hour or more. This continued until Ian outgrew his nap a little after he turned four years old, and then her quiet time became more irregular because the transition from a nap to a quiet time for Ian did not go well At All. First of all, Ian does NOT like to be alone. He wants to be either playing with Nadia or for me to be at least in the same general vicinity of where he's playing (not even necessarily the same room but at least the same floor of the house). Secondly, he does not play quietly in his room. His bedroom is right beside Oliver's, and when I have attempted to have him play in his room during Oliver's nap, it hasn't gone well for Oliver's nap. Nadia doesn't go up to her room every day for a quiet time, but the majority of the time that's what she chooses to do during at least part of Oliver's nap. She plays with her dolls and also often listens to books on CD that we've checked out from the library. Ian is often very disappointed when she makes that choice because he knows he won't have a playmate for the next hour or more. They are much too loud if they play together in her room during Oliver's nap. So Ian and I are usually on the main floor of the house during Oliver's nap (or at least the first hour of his nap) while Nadia and Oliver are in their bedrooms. If Paul happens to be home, he's almost always on the computer in our bedroom.

When this school year started I wasn't sure whether to consider Ian to be in Kindergarten or not. He would not be old enough to start Kindergarten in the schools around here until this August because he didn't turn five until December, but he had learned his letters and sounds and such at a young age so I thought he was capable of Kindergarten work this year. In the end, I have been very laid back with him. We've done a little math and reading, and he finished the preschool handwriting textbook (for the second time). He recently started the Kindergarten handwriting textbook (which means he'll now be learning how to write his lowercase letters). He's more than half way through the Level One reading program (reading words like "quick" and "chick" and "shop"), but we have been VERY inconsistent. Some weeks I haven't done one iota of "school work" with him, and other weeks we have spent a little time every day. Mostly I have let him take the initiative. Sadly sometimes he has asked to do school work and I have put him off and then forgotten about his request. I was thinking that I needed to start figuring out how to work with Ian and Nadia at the same time. I generally give Nadia almost all my attention during school work (although of course there are many interruptions when I need to help Oliver go to the bathroom or clean up some sort of disaster he's created). At some point in time I am certain I'll be doing schoolwork with all three of them at the same time, but I am trying to enjoy these months of just being able to do it one-on-one for as long as possible. I have done some schoolwork with Ian during Oliver's nap, but it hasn't been my preference. I have viewed that hour as my kid free down time - maybe to cook dinner (I baked a batch of cookies during the first part of Oliver's nap today for example), clean, do my Bible study, take a nap, or just relax on the couch with my laptop (Facebook, email, blogging, etc.). I love my kids dearly, but I am with them for 13 or more hours a day most days (the exceptions being a 90 minute break during choir rehearsal on Wednesday nights and a 90 minute break during Sunday School on Sunday mornings). I have cherished that one hour of down time in the middle of my day and have tried to keep my interactions with Ian to a minimum during Oliver's nap.

But today I decided I am going to change our routine. I am not going to try to do Ian's school work in the morning while I do Nadia's (although he does participate in some parts such as when I am reading a picture book that is related to what she's studying in history). My new plan is that I'll put Oliver down for his nap, I will then immediately do school work with Ian while Nadia has her quiet time. It's really the perfect time to do it as he and I are down here alone for an hour or more, and school work with him won't take anywhere near one hour (not yet anyhow). If I do it first, then he can have his 30 minute iPad turn that he gets each day (on the days he does schoolwork) so I will still get at least 30 minutes of down time while the other two are upstairs and he's on his iPad. I think he'll really take off with his reading skills if we are more consistent on spending some time working together. It's worth a try anyhow. If it works, I might keep doing it this way even in the fall once he is officially in Kindergarten. Eventually I think Ian and Oliver will enjoy playing together so until Ian's schoolwork takes more than an hour or until Oliver stops taking a nap, I think it might be a good plan to let the boys play together in the morning for 2 hours while I do Nadia's school work and then I can do Ian's schoolwork during Oliver's nap and Nadia's quiet time. Thus far Ian isn't generally interested in playing with Oliver, but I'm hoping as Oliver matures that they will spend more time playing together in a positive manner. The interactions they have together are generally NOT positive ones at this stage in the game unfortunately whereas Ian and Nadia play together very nicely the vast majority of the time.